Day 1
The meeting point will be at 12:30pm in the city of León Guanajuato, in the lobby of Hotsson Hotel Blvd. Adolfo López Mateos 1102, Los Gavilanes, 37266 León, Gto. From there we will visit a local saddlery shop, with traditional clothing and equipment of the Mexican equestrian culture. Will be the perfect opportunity to buy clothing, for those who wish to dress up in the Mexican horseman style for the following days.

After the visit, we will be transferred by car (about 2-hour drive) to a former Jesuit Hacienda located between the mountainous area of Sierra de Lobos, it is currently composed of 2,650 hectares of beautiful landscapes and more than 3 million native oak trees of the region, some with more than 500 years of Antique. We will enjoy a rich welcome dinner and stay for the night.

Day 2
After breakfast at our accommodation, we will be transferred to the community of El Salto del Ahogado where our horses await us and place where we will join the group of riders coming from El Torreon who will stop here to receive us and allow us to join their contingent of pilgrims. Then we all will depart on horseback from this community in the direction of Nuevo Valle de Moreno. A horseback ride through ancient roads in the mountainous area of Santa Barbara, until we reach the community of Nuevo Valle de Moreno, where we will stay overnight and enjoy dinner with a local family who will open their home doors for us.

Day 3
After a quick early breakfast, we must be ready so we can be in the saddle before 6am, long before dawn, to ride out together glinted on the spurs and accoutrements of hundreds of Mexican riders. We will ride by starlight until the sky turns grey and pink and continue like that till a flare of cerise draws over the hills as the sun rises. Then, with the light of a new day we will be surprised by the immense number of riders riding in the same direction as us, moved by their faith. Until we reach Tuna Mansa on the slopes of the Cubilete Mountain, considered the geographical centre of Mexico.

We will stop for lunch, as hundreds of riders will do. Our support team will have ready for us a delicious lunch in a wonderful place, of typical food just prepared by local cooks specially for us. After a delicious lunch and a short break, in our comfortable makeshift dining room, it is time to do the maximum resistance test for our horses, since they will have to make an ascent of 657 meters on 7.6 kilometres until we reach the Cubilete Mountain top, place where the monument to Cristo Rey is located. 

At the top of the mountain we will gather with hundreds of horsemen and horses who have traveled from different parts of Mexico to meet annually as a decades long tradition. We will witness the hospitality of Mexicans since we will receive various invitations to each of the different campsites to enjoy food and drinks. Most of local riders will remain there the whole night before the big celebration. We will be transferred to our comfortable accommodation just few kilometres from there.

Day 4
After an exquisite breakfast at the Parador, we will attend the celebration of Holy Mass with the presence of the archbishop and with more than 3,500 horses and riders. This is an experience difficult to describe in words. It is a very unique experience to share with thousands of riders, riding their horses in the local traditional Ranchera way, and who participate with great devotion in this unique event. Today we will spend much of the day witnessing and living the equestrian tradition wrapped in faith and discovering Mexican culture.

At lunch time. we will enjoy delicious food of the region, served by one of the most recognized traditional cooks, from the area of Sangre de Cristo. After lunch we will be transferred to Hacienda Jesus Maria, a charming hotel located in a historic place and part of a sustainable tourist complex of the Sangre de Cristo community along with the Caminos D’vinos vineyard. The perfect place to relax after long days on horseback.

Day 5
After breakfast on the hacienda and having concluded the pilgrimage together with thousands of local riders, we now continue on our own. Today we will do a round-trip on horseback through what is known as The Mystery Villages - three old communities of Chichimeca indigenous people, the communities of Sangre de Cristo, Mineral de la Luz, and San Ignacio. They are the three oldest communities in the state of Guanajuato, containing great historical and cultural value. We will ride accross the areas known for the The Old Cristero War that has inspired Hollywood, and silver mining. 

At the end of the 19th century, the three villages became ghost towns, however this was one of the most prosperous mining enclaves in the region. The Mineral de la Luz had thousands of inhabitants and had their own bullring, tobacco factory, sugar plantations and profit haciendas. In 1929 this territory was reincorporated to the municipality of Guanajuato and today has only about 300 inhabitants.

Day 6
After breakfast at the hotel, it’s time to continue the journey and ride our horses in the direction of El Varal a nature reserve that is in the north of the state of Guanajuato, adjoining the rural communities of Joya de Lobos, Santa Rosa, La Concepción and Los Mexicans.

The predominant type of vegetation is the Encino Forest, combined with native species such as Madroño and Pinguica. It is also natural habitat for mammalian species such as the white-tailed deer, wildcat, cacomixtle (ring tailed cat), listed skunk and long-nosed bat, more than 170 species of birds such as cooper’s hawk, the peregrine falcon, and the cuckold owl, among many more.

We will head to the valley of the blue birds, where we will set up our camp and enjoy our night camp in this magnificent natural setting.
A true natural paradise where we will have the opportunity to spend the night in a safari style camp, and where we can enjoy a night of barbecue ranchera, campfire and guitars.

Day 7
After breakfast in the camp, accompanied by the singing of the birds and with spectacular views of this magnificent natural setting, we will continue our last day on horseback to the rural community of Santa Rosa.
We will ride along the springs ancient path, that borders a mountainous area and passes through a cavern that houses a spring of crystalline water that filters through the Santa Rosa mountains. We continue ascending and descending through natural landscapes, interned in the forest, home to hundreds of animal species, such as the puma, the coyote, raccoons, armadillos, and many others. Until we reach Santa Rosa where we will enjoy lunch and end our adventure on horseback.

Day 8
After breakfast at the hotel we will take a walking tour to discover Guanajuato City. You will be amazed by this unique town. The first known inhabitants of the area were the prehispanic indigenous groups Otomi, who were then displaced by the Chichimeca. There was Purépecha presence as well due mostly to ancient trading routes. The oldest known name for the area is “Mo-o-ti,” which means “place of metals.” Later, it was called “Paxtitlán” by the Aztecs, which means “place of straw.” The current name of Guanajuato comes from Purépecha “Quanax huato,” which means “hilly place of frogs”.

Mining had been done in this area long before the Spanish arrived. Late in the pre-Hispanic period the Aztecs were here specifically to look for metals to make ornamental objects for their political and religious elite. Some stories from this time state that the area was so rich in minerals that nuggets of gold could be picked up from the ground.

Currently, the city of Guanajuato is a colonial city with beautiful buildings, that contain the elements from the two main cultures that created the city, indigenous and Hispanic, and marking the source of Mexican nation, conserves its architectural features and environment. Protected by its inhabitants and government, state and municipal, Guanajuato was declared by UNESCO as the “Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines” in December 1988.

Day 9
Depart after breakfast.