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Why Travel With Us: Help sustain traditions.
- We know the culture! This is our land! We are locally owned and operated.
- Eric Chavez Santiago is tri-lingual --Spanish, English, Zapotec.
- Eric was founding director of education, Museo Textil de Oaxaca + folk art expert
- Norma Schafer has lived in Oaxaca since 2005.
- Norma is a seasoned university educator.
- We have deep connections with artists and artisans.
- 63% of our travelers repeat -- high ratings, high satisfaction.
- Wide ranging expertise: textiles, folk art, pottery, cultural wisdom.
- We give you a deep immersion to best know Oaxaca and Mexico.
We organize private travel + tours for museums, arts, organizations, collectors + appreciators.
Creating Connection and Meaning between travelers and with indigenous artisans. Meet makers where they live and work. Join small groups of like-minded explorers. Go deep into remote villages. Gain insights. Support cultural heritage and sustainable traditions. Create value and memories. Enjoy hands-on experiences. Make a difference.
What is a Study Tour: Our programs are learning experiences, and as such we talk with makers about how and why they create, what is meaningful to them, the ancient history of patterning and design, use of color, tradition and innovation, values and cultural continuity, and the social context within which they work. First and foremost, we are educators. Norma worked in top US universities for over 35 years and Eric founded the education department at Oaxaca’s textile museum. We create connection.
OCN Creates Student Scholarship at Oaxaca Learning Center Giving back is a core value. Read about it here
Meet Makers. Make a Difference
Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university, textile and artisan development experience. See About Us.
Programs can be scheduled to meet your independent travel plans. Send us your available dates.
Arts organizations, museums, designers, retailers, wholesalers, curators, universities and others come to us to develop artisan relationships, customized itineraries, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.
Select Clients *Abeja Boutique, Houston *North Carolina Museum of Art *Selvedge Magazine-London, UK *Esprit Travel and Tours *Penland School of Crafts *North Carolina State University *WARP Weave a Real Peace *Methodist University *MINNA-Goods *Smockingbird Kids *University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tell us how we can put a program together for you! Send an email norma.schafer@icloud.com
PRESS
- WEAVE Podcast: Oaxaca Coast Textiles & Tour
- NY Times, Weavers Embrace Natural Dye Alternatives
- NY Times, Open Thread–Style News
- NY Times, 36-Hours: Oaxaca, Mexico
Our Favorites
- Cooking Classes–El Sabor Zapoteco
- Currency Converter
- Fe y Lola Rugs by Chavez Santiago Family
- Friends of Oaxaca Folk Art
- Hoofing It In Oaxaca Hikes
- Living Textiles of Mexico
- Mexican Indigenous Textiles Project
- Museo Textil de Oaxaca
- Oaxaca Lending Library
- Oaxaca Weather
- Taller Teñido a Mano Natural Dyes
Vendors of Oaxaca: On the Streets, in the Markets
Whether it’s the selling of food at a street corner, hand woven palm hats from a seat at the edge of a high concrete planter box, or from behind a market stall, commerce is alive and well in Oaxaca.
At night, returning from a delicious dinner of coconut shrimp at Los Danzantes restaurant, we turned the corner to get to our hotel and found this: Burger Movil (the moving burger) and Equito Elotes (corn on the cob). Think Food Truck, which I believe must have been invented by Mexicans!
Some of my favorite street vendors are the hat weavers. It’s catch as catch can with them. If you see them one day, you may not see them again for weeks. They move from place to place depending on the traffic. Her fingers are like flying shuttles, I could hardly keep up with them. Handmade hat: 220 pesos and photo with permission!
The women from the red clay pottery village of San Marcos Tlapazola, southwest of Tlacolula in the mountains, are part of a cooperative that makes almost entirely utiliarian ware, primarily comales or griddles, bowls, and jars. The Zocalo in Oaxaca city provides a ready market for approaching prospective buyers who sit at outdoor cafes. Small comal was 20 pesos. I had to buy one in order for her to stop long enough and to agree to get a photo of her.
Little bags of potato chips and crunchy cheese rings drizzled with chili sauce make a great portable snack. After about 20 minutes, when he had no takers sitting in front of the Catedral on the Zocalo, he picked up and moved on. I saw him later that day at another spot closer to Santo Domingo Church.
And how does she balance those gardenias and roses on her head?
At the Benito Juarez Market and the 20 de Noviembre Market just two blocks away from the Zocalo, there is a buzzing corridor where men put chorizo and salchicha and flank steak on the grill along with fresh veggies. The corridor is lined with cafe style tables and benches filled with hungry families.
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