We went for a walk along the river, and above is a picture of Lee Curtis and some of the gourds that grow in the area.
We went for a discovery of a typical Mayo village, and started at one of the homes. There the family demonstrated the technique of making corn tortillas. We got to make our own and then sample them with butter, tomatillo tomatoes and a little salt. They were excellent.
We then went to an elementary school where each of us were met by a student in the second grade and taken to their classroom. All of the students were asked what they wanted to be when they grow up, and most wanted to be school teachers, but there was one boy who wanted to be an engineer. They also sang a song for us and we asked many questions of the instructor.
We were then led by our student outside to sit on some benches. There we were given a demonstration of singing and dancing. After the professionals were finished, they invited members of the group to join in.
Some of us went on a nature float trip down the river. We were picked up in a big SUV with a trailer behind it. We all sat in the trailer on padded seats and had to listen to the blaring music. The music wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been so loud. The poor guy driving got an ear-full from everyone once we stopped. But the birds along the river were great. Here are some of the herons nesting in the trees.
Half way through the float trip we stopped on an island to walk to some petroglyphs. This was the worst place for the bugs. It wasn't so bad near the hotel, but on the island they were out in full force. This was the one day we really needed the deet bug spray. But below is one of the petroglyphs, and during the flood stage of the river it is under water.
Here's Bill Hartman hamming it up for the camera. Below is a kapok tree, some of the natural vegetation in the area, and you can see some of the cactus as well. I'm not sure which species it is. 
Day Ten
Today we left all influences of the canyon and headed for the coast. We stopped in the town of Navajoa for a nice lunch in a beautiful house. The owner also has a hotel in El Fuerte where we spent the last two days. Yesterday on the float trip we saw numerous birds, including three trees with great blue herons nesting in the top.
Another big stop in Obregon was at the Walmart. This was our chance to pick up mexican alcohol at greatly reduced prices, plus other sorts of snacks. Our hotel for the next three nights is in San Carlos at a "resort" several miles out of town. And the hotel gift store has typical inflated prices.
At dinner tonight we were talking about where to go next, and we all agreed that it really does¨not matter much, but everyone wants to go somewhere else. This has been a great time to meet new people in other classes and also other non-HMC people. The non-HMC people have also gotten a chance to learn more about Harvey Mudd College and are very impressed.
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