Indian Ruins & Archeological Sites

A Discovery Back In Time
(Week-long; all-inclusive; limited season; group or custom tour booking only.)

The reasonable all-inclusive price of this tour is $2,175.00 (single occupancy) and $1,895.00 (double occupancy). The price of this tour is subject to change and will be confirmed at time of booking.
However, we are reasonably sure our MD tour prices are set for the season. For all other general information about MD tours, company, and tour policy, refer to the main (MD) page on our Web site. Lots of good information is posted there which covers most of the FAQ's, besides. Thanks.

Please note: We prefer a limited number of guests on this tour, with a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 22. (For custom groups, however, we can accommodate up to 30 guests; sometimes more - please inquire.)

Archeological rules of the road

When booking this (or any other tour) we will always advise you what to bring with you so that your tour will be more comfortable, as well as to help cut down on your luggage.
Keep in mind our MD all-inclusive tours include the following: choice accommodations; lunch and dinner (with the evening meal starting on the first full day of your tour) (*), but alcoholic beverages are not included in the price of the tour and may be purchased separately when dining out; snacks and refreshments; transportation (from our meeting place and a return to same); all National Park/Monument entry fees and special admissions; all your camping gear (if the tour warrants); all host and special guest speaker fees (if the tour warrants); and all side excursion tours, such as rafting, jeep tours, horseback riding, etc.

(*) A continental breakfast is usually included in most of the hotels we use on all of our tours, but breakfast is otherwise on your own when not available in the hotels we use along the way in any of our SD or MD tours. Please inquire at time of booking.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
This preferential tour is for those of you who want to see and explore some of the Southwest's most awe inspiring ruins and archeological sites - all in one tour of diverse scenery, delight and things to see and do. Get ready for a grand adventure at an affordable price.

Here is a day-by-day account of what we have in store for you on this full week's adventure. . .

DAY 01/SUNDAY:
If you're traveling by air, we'll meet you in Phoenix where you will spend the night in a high quality resort hotel (pool, spa, HBO, restaurant, etc.). There is a regular airport shuttle service available to this choice location or we would be happy to arrange a limousine transfer for you. Evening is at your leisure and dinner is on your own once you get there. If you're flying into Las Vegas instead, we suggest booking a flight to Phoenix as this EZ CIRKLE tour begins and ends here in the valley. Connecting flights are inexpensive and frequent. We recommend flying (or driving) in early so that you can take in some of the great sights the Phoenix region has to offer. And if you are driving to meet us, when you leave in the morning your vehicle will be perfectly safe to leave in the parking lot of the hotel.

SPECIAL NOTE:
Taking photographs of Native Americans is forbidden without first obtaining prior permission. Most of the scenery can be photographed at will, however. We ask that you observe this culturally sensitive request so that we can continue to keep the fine relationship with the Native Americans and their sacred lands that we visit.

DAY 02/MONDAY:
Your host for the upcoming tour will meet you in the lobby of your hotel at 8:30 a.m. Following introductions, you leave for the first leg of your exciting upcoming tour, starting in Flagstaff. Just east of town is WALNUT CANYON National Monument. This impressive canyon was once the center of Sinagua (pronounced "seen-aw" meaning "without water") culture who took advantage of cave-like niches along the 400-foot cliffs.
There they built their primitive houses of limestone slabs and mud mortar - cozy extended-family dwellings that lie scattered within earshot of each other throughout the canyon. Only one site in Walnut Canyon dates as early as A.D. 800 or 900, and none dates to between 900 and 1100. For some reason the Sinaguans vacated the setting, but returned, briefly, between A. D. 1150 and 1225. Afterwards they left this fortress for good. If you're physically up to it, we highly recommend the loop tour through the canyon, which is a moderately strenuous walk down into the canyon. After your tour, you'll be treated to lunch in Flagstaff, and soon after depart for WUPATKI (pronounced "woo-pat-key" meaning "Tall House") National Monument and Indian Ruins via famous SUNSET CRATER, Arizona's most famous volcano. Wupatki, like Walnut Canyon, is the remnant of an industrious and practical people who, instead of living in cliff dwellings, built their ancient homes like apartment houses made out of sandstone rocks and other regional materials, farther out on the plains. The dwellers were both Sinagua and the Kayenta Anasazi cultures. It is one of the longest occupied sites in the Southwest. The inhabitants of this region eventually abandoned their home when nearby Sunset Crater vented its fury in 1220 A.D. After your afternoon tour of the Sunset Crater-Wupatki loop, you will drive back to your hotel on the desert floor where you will have time to freshen up before dinner. You can look forward to a fine dinner, where your host is available to answer any of your lingering questions concerning the geology, natural and human history of the region.

DAY 03/TUESDAY:
After breakfast you will continue your scenic drive across the Painted Desert. Your first destination is MONUMENT VALLEY, near Kayenta, where you will see the most photographed desert vista in the world. These serene remnants of sandstone cathedrals and spires, buttes and mesas are breathtaking as they are monumental in stature. After lunch, we will drive to nearby Navajo National Monument, where two of the most famous cliff dwelling ruins are found, KEET (or Kiet) Seel (meaning, "broken pottery") and BETATAKIN (pronounced, "buh-tata-kin" meaning "Ledge House"). Both are the former homes of the Ancestral Puebloans (formerly known as the "Kayenta Anasazi"). The great cliff house ruins of Betatakin can only be viewed from an overlook near the visitor center, while Keet Seel is located up a tributary of nearby Tsegi Canyon, about 8 miles from the same spot. Both are among the largest prehistoric cliff dwellings in North America, each tucked away beneath the high arching overhangs of Navajo Sandstone- a thoroughly arresting sight to the unprepared. From far away either site seems to appear like a miniature in a fragile setting. Once there, however, you soon realize these sites are terribly large. Your next exciting stop is to the equally impressive CANYON DE CHELLY (pronounced "dee-shay" meaning "among the rocks" or "rock canyon") National Monument, in Chinle, Arizona. By early evening you will spend the night just outside the monument, where you will have some time to freshen up for dinner. The unusual thing about the tour you're on is that it just keeps getting better and better.

DAY 04/WEDNESDAY:
After breakfast you will take a four-wheel tour of Canyon de Chelly, as conducted by your Navajo guides. Also called the "Dineh" (pronounced "dee-nay" which means "The People"), your host will drive you into the narrow flanks of the canyon, where you will cross a glistening thread of meandering water in your journey into the canyon's deep interior. Along the way the host will point out the frequent Indian rock art (prehistoric icons depicted as petroglyphs and pictographs) that decorate some of the polished canyon walls. These ancient symbols are left over from the Ancestral Puebloans who once lived here centuries before the Navajos arrived. What do these strange symbols mean? Your guide will explain his or her side of the story. Canyon de Chelly and its main tributary Canyon del Muerto (pronounced "me-where-toe, meaning the "Canyon of death") have sustained and sheltered human culture for over two millennia. These ancient dwellers built famous ruins such as White House, Antelope House, Standing Cow Ruins, and Junction Ruins, which you will see along the way. Mummy Cave, which is farther up the canyon, will also be seen on the tour. To many visitors, Canon de Chelly is the quintessential canyon-desert setting and just may be the most impressive site for cliff dwellings anywhere around. You will also enjoy hearing the stories and legends of the Dineh and no doubt you will have lots of questions to ask your host. However, please don't be offended if they don't answer all of them. Sometimes these Native Americans choose to answer in silence if they feel the question is too personal or indiscreet. After the tour of the canyon, and just after lunch, you will bid farewell to this region and find yourself back on the road to the next treat in store for you, AZTEC and CHACO CANYON, both near the Four Corners region (where New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado come together). Tonight you will stay in Farmington (New Mexico), at yet another luxury hotel, with a sumptuous New Mexican style dinner (if you prefer) to cap off your night.

DAY 05/THURSDAY:
They call New Mexico the "Land of Enchantment," and you will soon find out why. As you discovered in Canyon de Chelly, there is something unique and incomparable when it comes to describing the desert and canyon country of New Mexico. The numerous Indian ruins and archeological sites found throughout the state are no less impressive. Your first stop, just after breakfast, is to visit the Aztec Ruins National Monument near Farmington. Newly restored, you will finally have a chance to get into these dwellings, or some of them, so that you can sense and feel what it must have been like to have lived here. Here you will find the remains of an ancient pueblo that had an estimated 405 rooms and 28 kivas. A kiva is the sacred place that united the Ancestral Puebloans in spiritual ceremony. These exclusive chambers usually had circular openings for the spirits and shamans (or holy men) to enter through. One of the reasons we want to share Aztec ruins with our guests is because this site, in particular, was originally built by the nearby Chacoan people (your next stop), and had been occupied by the early 1100s. In the West Wing of the ruins you may enter a series of rooms that appear in nearly their original condition. All of the walls, ceilings, and architectural details are intact. When you finally do leave these ruins, and just after you have had an enjoyable lunch, you will drive to, what most consider, the prime ruins of the Southwest, Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The ruins of thirteen prehistoric pueblos are all accessible within this very special place, where geology, archaeology, solar astronomy, and climatology all blend together. There is mystery here, too, because when the Chacoans finally abandoned these ancestral lands, they also took many of their secrets with them. You will learn how these people were a widespread and highly developed prehistoric culture who once lived here in the thousands; they were also widespread travelers and traders with great imagination and determination. What most impresses new visitors is their marvelous building and engineering skills. When you finally enter into the shallows of Chaco Canyon, however, you begin to see what the Chacoans once saw in the way of building their homes in this setting where the famous places, like Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl, still stand in brute and sacred silence. On either side of Chaco Canyon lie the ruins of large multistoried masonry pueblos, some of them excavated and restored to near perfection, while others are still unexcavated mounds, waiting for future discovery. By late in the day we have a long and dusty drive across the floor of the desert, this time heading almost due south, toward Gallup. Your hotel for the night is Gallup's most famous landmark as far as accommodations go; where scores of movie stars once stayed in this elegant, and newly restored, setting. You'll find the hotel walls are highly decorated with the memorabilia and signed autographs of many of the famous film stars from the 40s and 50s, most of them common to the Western film genre. The hotel also has a great restaurant where your table is ready just after you've had time to freshen up.

DAY 06/FRIDAY:
After breakfast, you will drive due east to visit one of the true wonders of New Mexico, the Acoma Pueblo. Built as a safeguard against other raiding tribes, this impressive pueblo stands on top of a sandstone mesa rising 357 feet above the plains. At one time, the pueblo-fortress was home to several thousand Indians, although only a few hundred remain on the small mesa today. The pueblo was most likely built around the middle of the 12th century and is, along with Taos Pueblo, one of the two or three oldest continually inhabited settlements in North America. A guided tour of the pueblo begins at the bottom of the mesa and works its way to the top, where three and four story houses adorn the narrow ancient streets. The San Estevan del Rey Mission in the village is still in use today. Vendors sell their world famous jewelry and pottery throughout the village, and fry bread and soda stands also line the way. From across the plain far below Acoma, you will see Enchanted Mesa, a steep-sided prominence said to be the ancestral home of the Acoma people. Another famous strato volcano on par with the San Francisco Peaks is nearby Mt. Taylor. As in Flagstaff, this region has been the scene of repeated eruptions, where copious amounts of lava once covered the barren landscape for hundreds of miles. Sometime after lunch it will be time to make the journey west again, this time heading across the border to Arizona. Your destination is Winslow, where a gala farewell dinner awaits you. But there's still one more special place your host wants to fit into your busy week touring with us.

DAY 07/ATTURDAY:
Just after breakfast, you will drive to Homol'ovi Ruins State Park, which is near Winslow. It means "the place of the little hills," which is a Hopi description, and whose reservation is nearby. This archeological site situated along the Little Colorado (LC) River is primitive, but we think you will enjoy the tour of what Homol'ovi represents to the ongoing archeological and anthropological work that still uncovers new information from these ancient ruins. From the ruins, you can look down over the LC and enjoy a view that stretches to the Hopi Buttes and San Francisco Peaks. The five pueblo ruins in the park are located in vast, open country and consist of mounds, some of which have been extensively pot hunted in the past. Somewhere in the earthen mounds lies the upper story of the original pueblo. These primitive ruins offer yet another unique view of the distant past, and you can take a short walk down the trail to see a series of amazing petroglyphs, which are painted icons left over from the Ancestral Puebloans who once lived here. Sometime by the early evening you will be let off at your hotel in Phoenix, where your host will bid you farewell, safe travels and happy trails. The evening as well as dinner is on your own, but your spacious comfortable room is still on us. Bus/limo or cab service is available and there are decent to fine restaurants within walking distance if you prefer to eat away from the hotel).

HAPPY TRAILS from all of us here at ECOSOUTHWEST.COM and we hope to see your smiling face on this exciting adventure. Contact us (preferably by e-mail) and let us know if you need more information. We're good for it and a whole lot more.

FYI: The following (average) mileage between the major scenic points is what highlights this particular tour:

Phoenix	Flagstaff	145 m.
Flagstaff	Walnut Canyon	8 m.
Flagstaff	Wupatki	36 m.
Flagstaff	Cameron	51 m.
Cameron	Betatakin	90 m.
Cameron	Kayenta	98 m.
Kayenta	Monument Valley	25 m.
Kayenta	Chinle	71 m.
Chinle	Cortez	140 m.
Chinle	Farmington	151 m.
Farmington	Aztec Ruins	16 m.
Farmington	Chaco Canyon	64 m.
Chaco Canyon	Gallup	111 m.
Gallup	Acoma Pueblo	63 m.
Gallup	Winslow	128 m.
Winslow	H'omolovi Ruins	18 m.
Winslow	Flagstaff	62 m.
Flagstaff	Phoenix	145 m.

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