Cuajimoloyas Tour: Explore Zapotec Community Life

Embark on a guided hiking adventure in Pueblos Mancomunados and discover the breathtaking scenery and rich culture of Sierra Norte. Explore picturesque towns, lush forests, and enjoy stunning mountain views.

Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Cuajimoloyas - In the northern mountains of Oaxaca, there’s a network of zapotec communities that cooperate with each other and have established an ecoturistic project which offers exceptional integrated trekking and outdoor experiences for visitors.
What's Included
  • Snacks
  • Certified guide
  • Entrance to protected areas
  • Bottled water
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Breakfast
  • Insurance
  • Tea and coffee
Additional Information

We’ll gather at 7:00 AM at the Coyote Aventuras Office, signaling our arrival by ringing doorbell “A.” Located between Bicibella and Café Punto Paz on Macedonio Alcalá street, our trip leader will then provide a brief orientation before we embark on a tour to Cuajimoloyas, a remote town in the Sierra Norte mountain range. Cuajimoloyas is part of the…

Location
C. Macedonio Alcalá 802
Calle Macedonio Alcalá
We meet in Coyote Aventuras (Macedonio Alcalá 802, Colonia Centro, Oaxaca)
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(10 Ratings)
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Q6823mnmarks
Sep 6, 2024
Two Magical Days - My tours were super amazing, yes, I took two! The Caujimoloyas and the opportunity to trek and have fun with rescue dogs from Caravana Canina. Both treks were incredibly memorable experiences; my guides were beyond super knowledgeable about the local area (particularly about the herbs and flora), really great people to spend a day of adventure with, and all-around fun. The pups were a great bunch, and the day is a delight for dog lovers. So many mushrooms and delightful picnics as an extra bonus. Thank you so much!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ekaterinig2018
Feb 8, 2024
The beauty of Sierra Norte - This hike is absolutely amazing as you're guided thru the trails and learn all about the various plants used to make medicine. The guides (Paola & Matilda and Don Tokyo) are fantastic and you get to hike to the top of a mountain 10K feet high with a spectacular view. The bridge is also exciting. You learn so much about the community and by far the best meals are here as the hot choco, bread, chicken, beans and rice are out of this world given the foods natural tastes. It's a beautiful eco tour and community. I highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Clay_f
Feb 3, 2024
Our guided hike was an... - Our guided hike was an amazing experience and one of the highlights of our trip to Oaxaca. Santi and Pao were excellent guides and the natural beauty of the Sierra Norte is remarkable. Pao is incredibly knowledgable about the flora and fauna of the region and showed us all of the edible plants we encountered during our hike. While the hike and Coyote staff were amazing, what stood out most was their relationship with community members in Cuajimoloyas that made the trip special. Our hosts for breakfast and lunch were community members that provided us delicious food and were gracious enough to share with us their knowledge of the land and traditions of Cuajimoloyas. Dona Marta, our lunch host, spent an extra hour with us talking with us about the medicinal uses of plants in the region that has sustained the people in Caujimoloyas for generations. Our local guide for the hike, Israel, similarly shared his knowledge about the Sierra Norte and we all walked away with a much greater appreciation for just how special a place and its people are. I recommend Coyote and this particular hike to anyone and am incredibly grateful for the experience.
Review provided by Viator
Brendabo2881qa
Jul 26, 2023
Excellent - My group and I did multiple adventures and had a great time. The Coyote team was super helpful and we really enjoyed the time we spent in Oaxaca, Mexico. We really enjoyed the hiking in Cerro del Jaguar and the adventures to the archeological sites.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Znegin
May 23, 2023
Incredible tour of the Sierra Norte - We couldn't have been more happy with the Coyote Adventuras. The amazing Shai and her dog Mesa along with Choche our driver took us up to the Sierra Norte Mountains and were very adaptable to our needs. There were four of us and we asked if we could do a more intense/longer hike, and Shai easily adapted the plan to allow for this. The area we hiked in were unbelievably beautiful and rural. We hiked from one village to another on the first day, and then to old gold processing ruins on the second day and went swimming in the river!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sunshine34808344154
Jan 10, 2023
Skilled guide, amazing hike - Ximena led an outstanding trip through old forests, craggy rock faces, and amazing viewpoints. Her thorough knowledge of the plant life added to a fantastic day! She was engaging, intentional, and passionate about sharing her love of mountain communities and wilderness. Everyone in the group had an amazing day, and I recommend Coyote and Ximena highly!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Williambe2837vf
Jul 15, 2022
Peaceful hike in the Sierra Norte - I had an amazing experience with Shai and Coyote Aventuras hiking in the Sierra Norte. I was the only person on the tour that day and Shai went out of her way to tailor the experience for me. The breakfast at our morning stop was one of the best meals I had in Mexico. The hike itself is through a very quiet part of the forest that feels a million miles from other people, and the views along the way, especially at lunch, are breathtaking.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Liyddc
May 27, 2022
Excellent - I really can't speak highly enough of the overall Cayote experience and the Sierre Norte trek. We were contacted the day before the tour to be advised the planned tour guide unexpectedly pulled out and the new tour guide didn't have great English so asked if we wanted to move to a different day, which we gratefully took up. I thought this was incredibly considerate and professional as I'm sure 9/10 tours wouldn't have said anything. The fact the day we moved days meant that it was only us 2 on the tour (unbeknownst to us at the time) highlights just how seriously Coyote takes customer service. The tour started with an exquisite breakfast at a local place at the start of the trek and the day was led by Fernando (not to be confused with Francisco) and Carlos. We did a picturesque 10km loop and the route and pace was clearly tailored perfectly to our ability which the guides must have sussed out very quickly. Carlos had an encyclopedic knowledge of the plants across the terrain as we stopped countless times to better understand the name of the plant and its medicinal properties all of which was incredibly interesting. Fernando was also excellent. So friendly, personable, easy to spend the day with and he answered all of our random questions every 20 seconds. After the hike we stopped at a different local place and was treated with a delcious and diverse lunch with an array of homecooked dishes from chicken, deer (caught the previous day), pork and soup. There was no going hungry. An excellent tour with an excellent company. I wouldn't hesitate for a second booking a trip with them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
H403gbphilipd
May 19, 2022
Great trek in the Sierra Notre - These mountains were really beautiful, and provided a real opportunty to see the fantastic scenery, and talk to the local people. The Coyote guide was backed up a local guide, and between them their knowledge of the mountains and culture was incredible. Good long walk, to a superb view point across the Coyote Canyon. The team (Juan in particular) in the office was incredibly helpful. They helped us arrange accommodation in the villages for an extra night, and a guide so we could do our own walk the following day. Beautiful place to stay over looking the village and mountain. The cabin was really good quality and had log fire (it was 3000+m up so cold at night) and good food in the restaurant. The village even had a zipline! The officestaff seeemed to be available, 24x7, and nothi seemed too much trouble. They even helped me retieve something in left in the van, a few days after the trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
John
Mar 10, 2023
Enjoyable outing; lots of time spent on things other than hiking - For anyone considering this hike, we strongly encourage you to read the full description of it on Coyote’s website. We had read it carefully in advance and came prepared, but were surprised that many others on our trip had not. Our comments below are just to provide a little more information on how the day is structured and how the limited time on the trip is allocated. The hike is at an elevation of 10,000 feet. That means it may (or may not) be quite cool and you may (or may not) need a warm jacket or rain gear or both. Total elevation change over the entire hike is only about 1000 feet, and most of that is fairly gradual. However, when combined with the 10,000 foot elevation, some hikers may find it a bit strenuous. The trip includes two meals, breakfast and lunch, so you may (or may not) want to skip breakfast at your hotel. Overall the hike was fine. Our guides were well informed, open to questions, and did what they could to adjust the hike to the differing interests of the hikers (some of us wanted to see and learn about the flora and fauna, others wanted a fast-paced hike). Still, we were disappointed in one or two aspects. First and foremost, the website describes it as a 10 km hike. After we’d finished, our guide told us that in fact it was 5+ km. (This is consistent with a tracker one of the other hikers on our trip used, which he said reported 6+ km.) We would have preferred to spend more time hiking and to get the full 10 km hike as described. For us, too much time was spent at the two meals. (More than an hour for breakfast and 1 - 1/2 hours for lunch.) We knew the meals were included and understand that this is a source of income for the village, and that’s totally fine. Still, since it is advertised as a 10 km hike, we would have preferred to have eaten more quickly and gotten on to the hike sooner and stayed out longer. (The food was cooked and all ready to go each time when we arrived so cooking time wasn’t an issue. In addition to the meals, after breakfast more time was spent reloading us all on to the van again to drive a couple hundred yards back to a gate to fill out the waivers (it seems these could have been signed in the office in Oaxaca City while we waited for late arrivers to show up? Or at least, in the 1-1/2 hour van ride up the mountain?) As we were finally leaving the village for the hike, we had a somewhat awkward prayer-circle. Again, we sincerely welcomed the introduction to an indigenous custom, but felt it went on too long. We wish to emphasize that other potential hikers may find the meals, prayer-circle and suspended bridge more interesting than the hike; we understand this is a matter of personal preference. We mention all of this just so that potential hikers may have a better idea of how the ten hour day is structured. Although we’d have preferred a full hike, we would still say this was one of the better activities we did in Oaxaca. Great, upbeat staff and a good opportunity to see a different part of the area.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 10 guests
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December 2024
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