(EMAILWIRE.COM, June 03, 2009 )
MONTICELLO, Utah—The American Southwest holds plenty of appeal for the average visitor. For travelers seeking a deeper understanding of the mysteries of the region, there is Southwest Safari Camps. A program of the non-profit Four Corners School of Outdoor Education, “Southwest Safari Camps” offers experiential learning adventures to lesser known Southwest sites; places just as fascinating as their more popular counterparts. Guides are anthropologists and naturalists, giving travelers exceptional insight not offered by competitors.
“The Other Chaco Canyon” is is such a journey. There are three departure dates for the 7-day, 6- night trip this September (starting the 13th, 20th, and 27th). Each trip leaves from and returns to Durango, Colorado. Accommodations for each are a Safari Camp, a tented camp with special amenities and where the physical work of “making camp” is done for guests. All meals are prepared by outstanding camp chefs. Guests enjoy day and evening programs led by an archaeologist or other guest lecturers.
The trip slated for September 20 is archaeoastronomy week focusing on the study of how ancient cultures made sense of the stars, planets, and calendar. In the southwest, early societies sometimes positioned petroglyphs where sunlight and shadow patterns would interact with the images on the calendar dates corresponding to the changing of seasons. Archaeoastronomy Week is during the equinox, so the group can see how these sites function.
ItÂ’s a journey exploring Chaco Canyon and the eponymous park, with at least six less travelled archaeological sites outside of the park, but likely linked to Chaco. Much exploration is done on foot. Hikes range from one to four miles per day at elevations up to 6,800 feet. Some treks are relatively flat, others lead to the canyon rim providing unforgettable vistas of the valley where the Anasazi culture flourished 1,000 years ago. Seven hundred years ago the Anasazi people vanished. Conjectures for their disappearance are based on what they left behind, 1,200 ruins in the park alone.
Chaco is remarkable for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings, distinctive architecture and engineering projects, complex system of roads and irrigation systems. The artistic abilities of the people are seen in numerous petroglyphs and pictographs, some interpreted to represent major astral events witnessed by the artists and recorded for eternity.
Many hikes lead to Chaco ‘”Great House,” including the magnificent Pueblo Bonito. An enormous complex rising four stories from the desert it contains 600 to 800 rooms and numerous kivas, (subterranean rooms believed to have been used by ancients for religious and spiritual purposes). None of the great houses were residential, instead for political and governmental meetings and spiritual ceremonies.
Although the Chaco influence stretched across an area the size of the state of Ohio,) the culture abruptly disappeared about 1125. Hypothesis surrounding the cultureÂ’s demise or abrupt departure include drought, warfare, and/or internal political strife.
What is certain is the people who madde Chaco Canyon their home were people in tune with their world, including the skies. They created a complex urban center that continues to amaze and inspire a thousand years later.
This World Heritage Site and other lesser explored nearby ruins of the ancient Anasazi culture are the focus of “The Other Chaco Canyon” trips this fall. Groups are limited to size and places can be reserved at the website or by calling Southwest Safari Camps at 1-800-525-4456.
