Big Bend National Park - Boquillas Village, Mexico

Anyone who spends much time eat Big Bend park usually makes the obligatory visit to Boquillas village.  Boquillas is a remote Mexican village just across the Rio Grand River on the eastern end of the park. The village has a population of about 300 and the nearest neighboring Mexican town is about 160 miles away. We visited the village on February 17th.

There is no bridge crossing the Rio Grande.  To visit the village you get a customs briefing by a border patrol agent at the US port of entry (a two room concrete building). A short walk down to the river from the port of entry brings you to a young man with a row boat.  Five dollars purchases a round trip ticket to the Mexico side of the river.

On the Mexico side you can choose to ride a burro to the village. We chose to walk the one half mile of dirt road.

Once in the village you must get your passport stamped by Mexican customs (housed in a couple of trailers). Passports must also be stamped for exit when you are ready to leave.

 We had lunch at one of the several cantinas that line the main street.  We also browsed the numerous individuals and shops hawking hand-made souvenirs.  Ina bought one of the walking sticks  which are made from the flowering stem of the harvard aguave (aka century plant). Other common souvenirs included emboidered fabric items and road runner & scorpion figures crafted from beads and twisted copper wire.

There is not really much to do in the village.  There are some "tours" that you can take of a local copper mine as well as a couple of hot springs.

 We chose to return to camp and enjoy another gorgeous sunset.