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Quiet crossroad

Town of Caborca a quiet stop on the way to Hermosillo

CABORCA, SONORA - This city of 125,000 some 230 miles from downtown Phoenix, is not on anyone's list of must-see tourist destinations. That is why, in part, it makes such a novel getaway.

Known as La Perla del Desierto (the Pearl of the Desert), Caborca is a modern and prosperous crossroad and home to Mexico's grape and olive industries, cattle grazing and cotton, asparagus and spinach cultivation. It is a burgeoning commercial, residential and transportation hub linking the capital of Sonora, Hermosillo with Baja California and the western United States. Its modern agro-tech status is complemented by a rich history including petroglyphs (rock carvings) from the Hohokam culture and vestiges of Spanish and Italian missionaries.

On the outskirts of Caborca are ranches, hunting preserves and (within an additional hour's drive) virgin coastline along the Sea of Cortez. The history of Caborca makes Arizona's Old West look comparatively new. Caborca has been continuously inhabited since its founding in 1688 by Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino. (The city is included in many of the Kino missions tours offered at intervals by the University of Arizona.) It was moved a few kilometers to its current location in 1790.

Visitors coming from Arizona have three routes from which to choose. None requires a visa or car permit, for Caborca is in a zona libre or free zone. They may enter Mexico in Sonoita (opposite Lukeville, Ariz.) and take Highway 2 east for 90 miles. The Lukeville/ Sonoita port of entry is open daily from 6 a.m. to midnight. They may also go through Nogales (which is open 24 hours), take Highway 15 to Santa Ana and then drive Highway 2 west for 60 miles.
But the quickest way is the method least-frequently used: the Altar-Sásabe highway. The traveler willing to buck the interstate highways must first go to Tucson, take Ajo Way (Arizona 86), west for 20 miles to Arizona 85. It is then a one-hour trip to the border crossing at Sásabe, which is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The unpaved, but graded, road from Sásabe, Sonora to Altar (10 miles from Caborca) takes about 90 minutes at 50 miles per hour. The scenery is beautiful and one gets a lesson in politics, as well as van after van of U.S.-bound workers headed to the border. Under the cover of night, these workers will attempt illegal entry into the U.S.

Is it safe? This is the heart of Mexico's people-smuggling business. Yet this visitor has traveled the road a dozen times with no incident of any kind nor has the Sonora Department of Tourism registered any complaints from foreigners.

The visitor is well-advised to start with a visit to Casa de la Cultura, on Avenida N, No. 205 between Avenida 14 and 15, tel. 372-1378 and 372-22364.

Some must-see sights: Caborca's main church, Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Concepcion de Caborca, established by the Jesuit Eusebio Kino, is one of northern Mexico's most beautiful cathedrals. Carvings of the Hohokam culture depict horses, turtles, adults and children. Other symbols represent sea waves and maritime life.

While the city of Caborca is landlocked, the traveler willing to spend 45 minutes at the wheel will find more than 75 miles of ocean shoreline including such communities as Puerto Lobos, Desemboque, Estero Los Tanques, Santo Tomas, Las Salinas and San Jorge Bay.

Las Palapas water park is a few minutes east on the road to Pitiquito.

And from June to the first week of August, the Rojas (Reds) of Caborca minor league baseball team plays at the municipal stadium.