Arrive on Saturday, January 21 and depart on Monday, January 30, 2023 — 9 nights, 10 days in textile heaven! Starting at $3,195.
This tour is strictly limited to 10 participants – 6 single rooms and 2 shared rooms.
At Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, we aim to give you an unparalleled and in-depth travel experience to participate and delve deeply into indigenous culture, folk art and celebrations. If for any reason we must cancel this tour, you will receive a full 100% refund. See notes below about COVID vaccination requirements and testing to travel with us.
To register, please complete the Registration Form and email it to us. When you tell us you are ready to register, we will send you a request to make your reservation deposit.
Cost is $3.195 per person shared room or $3,995 per person for private room. See details and itinerary below.
Please complete this Registration Form and return to Norma Schafer at norma.schafer@icloud.com to participate. Thank you.
This entire study tour is focused on exploring the textiles of Oaxaca’s Costa Chica. You arrive to and leave from Puerto Escondido, connecting through Mexico City or Oaxaca.
We go deep, and not wide. We give you an intimate, connecting experience. We spend time to know the culture. You will meet artisans in their homes and workshops, enjoy local cuisine, dip your hands in an indigo dye-bath, and travel to remote villages you may never get to on your own. This study tour focuses on revival of ancient textile techniques and Oaxaca’s vast weaving culture that encompasses the use of natural dyes, back-strap loom weaving, drop spindle hand spinning, and glorious, pre-Hispanic native cotton in warm brown called coyuchi, verde (green) and creamy white. We cover vast distances on secondary roads, traveling to secluded mountain villages. This tour is for the most adventurous textile travelers! For hearty travelers only!
Villages along the coast and neighboring mountains were able to preserve their traditional weaving culture because of their isolation. The Spanish could not get into those villages until the late 18th century. Much now is the same as it was then. Stunning cotton is spun and woven into lengths of cloth connected with intricate needlework to form amazing garments. Beauty and poverty are twin sisters here.
We have invited a noted cultural anthropologist to travel with us. She has worked in the region for the past 15 years and knows the textile culture and people intimately. We learn about and discuss motifs, lifestyle, endangered species, quality and value of direct support.
What we do:
- We visit 7 weaving villages in Oaxaca and Guerrero
- We meet back-strap loom weavers, natural dyers, spinners
- We see, touch, smell native Oaxaca cotton — brown, green, natural
- We participate in a sea turtle release with sunset dinner on the beach
- We swim in a rare bioluminescence lagoon
- We visit three local markets to experience daily life
- We travel to remote regions to discover amazing cloth
- We learn about Africo-Mexican identity on the Costa Chica
- We support indigenous artisans directly
- We attend Dreamweavers annual sale
- We escape WINTER in El Norte
Take this study tour to learn about:
- the culture, history and identity of cloth
- beating and spinning cotton, and weaving with natural dyes
- native seed preservation and cultivation
- clothing design and construction, fashion adaptations
- symbols and meaning of regional textile designs
- choice of colors and fibers that show each woman’s aesthetic while keeping with a particular village traje or costume
- the work of women in pre-Hispanic Mexico and today
2023 Itinerary — Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour
- Saturday, January 21: Fly to Puerto Escondido—overnight in Puerto Escondido, Group Welcome Dinner at 7 p.m. (D)
- Sunday, January 22: Puerto Escondido market meander, lunch and afternoon on your own. Late afternoon departure for turtle release and Manialtepec bioluminescence lagoon with beach dinner. (B, D)
- Monday, January 23: Depart after breakfast for Tututepec to visit a young weaver who is reviving his village’s textile traditions, visit local museum and murals — overnight in Pinotepa Nacional. (B, L)
- Tuesday, January 24: After breakfast, we go to the Pinotepa Nacional market, the largest in the region, then on to the weaving village of San Juan Colorado to visit two women’s cooperatives working in natural dyes, hand-spinning, and back strap loom weaving. Overnight in Pinotepa Nacional. (B, L)
- Wednesday, January 25: After breakfast, we return to the mountain and the village of Pinotepa de Don Luis. Then, we visit the Converse shoe project where talented artists hand-paint footwear, carve gourds and make amazing graphic art prints. We have lunch with Tixinda Cooperative members and caracol purpura purple snail dyers in their home, complete with show and sale, and cultural talk. Overnight in Pinotepa Nacional. (B, L)
- Thursday, January 26: After breakfast, we travel up the coast highway into the state of Guerrero, where we visit two outstanding Amuzgo weaving groups in Xochistlahuaca and Zacoalpan. They are working to revive ancient designs and incorporate locally grown native, wild cotton. Overnight in Ometepec. (B, L)
- Friday, January 27: After breakfast, we begin our six-hour road trip back to Puerto Escondido, with a stop at the Afro-Mexican Museum to understand Mexico’s Black history. We stop in Pinotepa Nacional for lunch. Overnight in Puerto Escondido. (B, L)
- Saturday, January 28: This is a day on your own to explore the area, return to the Puerto Escondido market, take a rest from the road trip, enjoy the beach and pools, and begin packing for your trip home. Overnight in Puerto Escondido. (B)
- Sunday, January 29: After breakfast, the morning is on your own. Then, attend the annual Dreamweavers Expoventa featuring the Tixinda Weaving Cooperative from Pinotepa de Don Luis. Other regional artisans are also invited, making this a grand finale folk art extravaganza — a fitting ending to our time together on Oaxaca’s coast. Grand Finale Dinner. Overnight in Puerto Escondido. (B, D)
- Monday, January 30: Depart for home.
Note: You can add days on to the tour — arrive early or stay later — at your own expense.
Cost to Participate
- $3,195 shared double room with private bath (sleeps 2)
- $3,995 for a single supplement (private room and bath, sleeps 1)
Your Oaxaca Cultural Navigators: Norma Schafer and Eric Chavez Santiago
Norma Schafer is founder of Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, which she started in 2006. a retired university administrator, she is an author, photographer and textile maker Eric Chavez Santiago is an expert in Oaxaca and Mexican textiles and folk art with a special interest in artisan development and promotion. He is a weaver and natural dyer by training and a fourth generation member of the Fe y Lola textile group. He and his wife Elsa started Taller Teñido a Mano dye studio where they produce naturally dyed yarn skeins and textiles for worldwide distribution. Eric is a business partner with Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, too. He is trilingual, speaking Zapotec, Spanish and English and is a native of Teotitlan del Valle. He is a graduate of Anahuac University, founder of the Museo Textil de Oaxaca education department, and former managing director of folk art gallery Andares del Arte Popular. He has intimate knowledge of local traditions, culture and community.
We sell out each year so don’t hesitate to register if you are interested in participating.
Some Vocabulary and Terms
Who Should Attend
- Explorers of indigenous cloth, native fibers
- Collectors, curators and cultural appreciators
- Textile and fashion designers
- Retailers, wholesalers, buyers
- Weavers, embroiderers, dyers and collectors
- Photographers and artists who want inspiration
- Anyone who loves cloth, culture and collaboration
Full Registration Policies, Procedures and Cancellations– Please READ
Reservations and Cancellations. A $500 non-refundable deposit is required to guarantee your spot. The balance is due in two equal payments. The second payment of 50% of the balance is due on or before August 15, 2022. The third payment, 50% balance, is due on or before November 15, 2022. We accept payment using online e-commerce only. We will send you an itemized invoice when you tell us you are ready to register. After November 15, 2022, there are no refunds. If you cancel on or before November 15, 2022, we will refund 50% of your deposit received to date (less the $500 non-refundable deposit). After that, there are no refunds UNLESS we cancel for any reason. Then, if we cancel, you will receive a full 100% refund.*
We will send you an itemized invoice when you tell us you are ready to register. After November 15, 2022, there are no refunds.*
Required–Travel Health/Accident Insurance: We require that you carry international accident/health insurance that includes $50,000+ of emergency medical evacuation insurance. Proof of insurance must be sent at least 45 days before departure.
We require proof of COVID-19 vaccination. We also require that you send us results of a NEGATIVE covid test two days taken two days before the tour starts.
Be certain your passport has at least six months on it before it expires from the date you enter Mexico! It’s a Mexico requirement.
Plane Tickets, Arrivals/Departures: Please send us your plane schedule at least 45 days before the trip. This includes name of carrier, flight numbers, arrival and departure time to our destination.
All documentation for plane reservations, required travel insurance, and personal health issues must be received 45 days before the program start or we reserve the right to cancel your registration without reimbursement.
Access and Rugged Travel, Terrain, Walking and Group Courtesy: We will do some walking and getting in/out of vans. If you have mobility issues or health/breathing impediments, please reconsider your participation. This is off-the-beaten-path travel. If you require a luxury van and hotels, this is NOT the tour for you. Our hotels on the road are safe, clean, secure and have air-conditioning. They are not luxurious. They are the best the region has to offer, however. Our van is a standard Nissan with manual transmission and limited storage capacity. Luxury vans are not available here. Our drivers are safe and friendly. Some mountain roads we travel are winding and unpaved. I’d call this trip one of the more rugged that we offer, designed for the more adventurous among us. It takes some wherewithal and stamina to get into the remote areas where some of the best textiles are made.
Our travel to remote villages will be by van on secondary roads with curves, usually not for more than two hours. When you tell us you are ready to register, we will send you a health questionnaire to complete. If you have walking or car dizziness issues, this may not be the trip for you.
Traveling with a small group has its advantages and also means that independent travelers will need to make accommodations to group needs and schedule. We include free time to go off on your own if you wish.
Note: Itinerary subject to schedule change and modification.
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