Come experience with us the wisdom, power and healing associated with this ancient way of bridging life and death.
Discover the Power of Spiritual Healing
October 28 - November 5
Join us for an insider’s perspective on this sacred world-class festival.
We will: Sample the traditional foods served on Day of the Dead, decorate altars, explore ancient sites, come to know the pre-hispanic understanding of the relationship between life and death, visit indigenous people in their homes, meet local artisans in small villages, peruse colorful markets, attend costume parades, join families in candle-lit ceremonies as they welcome back their departed relatives, and learn how all of it relates to the traditional Mesoamerican healing system called curanderismo.
Come experience with us the wisdom, power and healing associated with this ancient way of bridging life and death.
Tour Leaders
Proud to bring inspirational leaders from across the globe.
Memories from Previous Tours
Experience the magic and profound connections made during our previous tours. This is not the first time we've hosted such an immersive and transformative journey. Take a look at the moments captured from our last tour, showcasing the vibrant celebrations, spiritual ceremonies, and the rich cultural heritage of Oaxaca.
Travel Itinerary
October 28
Arrive in Oaxaca City Airport. Check into Nueva Antequera Hotel right on the famous Zocalo where we will stay throughout the tour.
Evening orientation and welcome dinner at Cabuche Restaurant.
October 29
Breakfast at Mayordomo Restaurant. Travel to Mitla Caves. A hike takes us through desert cactus and brush to a series of caves that we enter to admire ancient cave paintings. This is the birthplace of corn as evidenced in cave paintings and ancient corn grinders (as well as archaeological investigations). These caves are also considered the entrance to Mictlan or the land of the dead. While in the caves, Laurencio leads us in our first ceremony of the tour. Travel on to Mitla Archaeological Site, the surprisingly intact ancient city and entry point to the land of the dead. Founded in 900 BCE, it was the most important Zapotec religious center of its time, and the spiritual “feeling” of the place is palpable when visited today. In this amazing zone you will explore geometric mosaics with designs that symbolize earth and sky, a feathered serpent and additional other worldly beings in sophisticated stylized forms. Lunch together in Mitla. Explore the artisan market, a place to shop for shirts, rebozos, skirts, blouses, hammocks, clay items, alebrijes (wooden sculptures characteristic of Oaxaca) and more, all hand-made by local artisans. Travel back to hotel. Dinner on your own.
October 30
Breakfast at La Choza Restaurant. Presentation on the ancient calendrical system of the Mexica (Aztecs) known as Tonalpohualli used in divination practices. Receive a name based on your unique tonal and nagual energies based on your date of birth. Lunch on your own. Travel to Sanchez Easter Market to pick up the flowers, candles, fruits, breads and everything needed to create our offerings for the Dia de los Muertos celebration. Together, we build an altar with offerings for our ancestors who have departed this world. (For this, please bring with you photos or small objects that belonged to your departed loved ones). Dinner on your own.
October 31
Breakfast at Quince Letras Restaurant. Presentation on Mictlan, the place of the dead. Learn about the journey the spirit takes after death to the nine levels of the Underworld. Discover the various customs and traditions associated with the dead. Learn what happens at death and where we go upon our own death. Meet with make-up artists who (optionally) paint your face with traditional designs associated with death and the Dia de los Muertos celebration. Lunch on your own. Free afternoon to wander the Zocalo in the heart of Oaxaca City where you’ll find shops and folk-art galleries, restaurants and the local market. At night travel to Atzompa Cemetery for their Fiesta de Muertos and then on to Xoxo Cemetery, one of the most famous places to celebrate Day of the Dead. Experience the party of the dead, where the living go to the cemetery to put out candles, food, offerings, flowers, and mezcal. They sing to the departed, pray for them, and make a party during this celebration of death. Join in the music and festivities where we are joined by the spirits of the dead.
November 1
Breakfast at Terranova Restaurant. Enjoy presentation by a local painter. Learn from him techniques he uses in pastel painting and pyrography. Try your hand at creating locally-inspired art. Lunch at Levadura de Olla Restaurant. Afternoon free to tour the exhibition of altars all over the heart of Oaxaca City. Dinner on your own. Enjoy all the fireworks, sand art, costumes, dancing in the streets, skeletons, skulls and religious images that honor the dead throughout Oaxaca City.
November 2
Breakfast at Reynita Restaurant. Travel to the magical pueblo Teotitlan del Valle. Visit Casa de las Velas to observe the crafting of the elaborate handcrafted candles and candle sculptures used throughout the area in ceremonies. Observe pueblo festivities associated with Dia de los Muertos. Visit downtown Teotitlan to observe the production of and learn the background on the fine wool weavings known as tapetes, hand-made on pedal looms. Travel to Casa del Mezcal Chagoya to learn about the preparation of artisanal mezcal. Experience tastings of this beverage that is legendary in Oaxacan history since prehispanic times. Lunch at Casa del Mezcal. Return to hotel, where we remove the offerings we previously made to the ancestors and pray to send them off with a reverent farewell. Dinner on your own.
November 3
Breakfast at Market. Travel to San Martin Tilcajete to observe how alebrijes are made. San Martin Tilcajete is an artisan community known for its alebrijes, death figures (and additional other-worldly figures) hand-carved from copal wood and painted in bright colors. Visit home of famous alebrije makers Jacobo and Maria. Peruse the Alebrije Market. Lunch at Azucena Zapateca Restaurant. Travel to Ocotlan de Morelos to meet a famous local blind craftsman who makes beautiful sculptures out of red clay. His gallery is called Manos Que Ven, “Hands That See.” Dinner on your own.
November 4
Travel to Laurencio’s house (our guide and beloved teacher and friend!). Enjoy a breakfast prepared by his daughter Adreana and wife Queta. Learn all about cacao: its history, kinds of cacao, chemistry, pharmacology as well as its roasting and grinding. Sample cacao as a beverage in ceremony. Learn the preparation of one of the traditional moles of Oaxaca. For lunch we enjoy the mole we have prepared. Experience a temazcal ceremony led by Laurencio (see below for explanation). This will ceremonially express our gratitude for our lives and all that we have shared as a group over our days together. Light dinner.
November 5
Breakfast on your own. Closing activities at hotel. Travel to Oaxaca City Airport for departures.
Cost Includes
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8 Nights hotel accommodations (dual occupancy) in Hotel Nueva Antequera directly on the Zocalo.
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14 Meals:
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Dinner on October 28th
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Breakfast and lunch on the 29th
- Breakfast on the 30th
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Breakfast on the 31st
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Breakfast and lunch on November 1st
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Breakfast and lunch on the 2nd
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Breakfast and lunch on the 3rd
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Breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the 4th
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All ground transportation
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Entrance fees to sites as described above
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Cultural Activities
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Workshops
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Temazcal experience
Not included
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Airfare to and from Oaxaca City Airport
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Meals besides those specified above
Choose your pricing plan
Spot Reservation Plan
775$Reserve now for $775. Pay the remaining balance of $1,000 by September 1st, and the final payment of $1,000 by October 1st.Valid for 9 daysFull Payment Plan
2,775$The Healing and Life-Affirming Experience of Honoring Death in Oaxaca, MexicoValid for 9 days- 8 Nights hotel accommodations
- 14 Meals
- All Ground Transportation
- Entrance fees for sites
- Cultural activities
- Workshops
- Temazcal Experience