Private Day Tour including Artisan Villages of Alebrijes and Black Pottery

Great tour with Juan and Jesus to Jacobo Angeles Alejibres in San Martin Tilcajete (hand carved wooden painted animals), Mercado Santo Tomás Jaliez (woven cotton products), Maestro Jose Garcia Antonio in Ocotlán(red clay ceramics) and Mercado Ocotlán and La Cocina de Frida (indoor market and restaurants), Palacio Municipal Ocotlán (murals). Juan was well informed and interesting and Jesus a great driver, we can recommend this tour !

This was a great route from start to finish. The communication and coordination with Orlando beforehand was very quick, and they modified the tour to suit our agenda. They picked us up on time, the van had plenty of room for all of us. Our guide spoke perfect English, and was very knowledgeable about the culture, history, customs of Oaxaca, and made sure that we were happy with our experience, and catering to our desires. We will be touring with them again!!

Juan was an amazing tour guide for the Artisan Villages tour! He’s very knowledgeable about and familiar with the different artists in the area and he allowed us to tailor our stops to the ones we most wanted to see. His recommendations really made the tour exceptional! We started at the Workshop of Jacobo and Maria Angeles where artisans were working on colorful alebrijes, we saw beautiful ceramic ware and other art pieces. We were even shown how natural dyes are made, and our Protector animal and birth year animal were looked up from a chart. Next stop was another workshop - “An Inspiration of My Life” where artisan and proprietor, Victor Ortega, welcomed us with incense and a taste of his family’s mezcal. Here we saw alebrijes decorated with the natural dyes as well as more colorful alebrijes and other beautifully detailed painted pieces. After this, a stop at the workshop of Jose Garcia Antonio who is known around the world for his sculptures in spite of loosing his eyesight nearly 20 years ago. We were so fortunate to find the artist and his wife in the studio and they were very generous in taking time out to chat and take pictures with us. On to a community weaving center where local women and men were weaving their craft on blackstrap looms. Juan asked if I could give the loom a try and I was able to weave a couple rows myself - it is definitely not as easy as these professionals make it look! So much sightseeing needs replenishment so a delicious lunch at ‘la Cocina de Frida’ in Octolan de Morelos market where Dona Beatriz Vazquez graciously took pictures with us. The day was filled with many extraordinary moments for us and I can credit our guide Juan for these once in a lifetime opportunities. Thank you ????.