“Norberto loves his horses; has a strong ethical commitment to preserving the land and its people, and wants to expose others to the Sierra Tarahumara with as little impact as possible.”
Norberto Padilla Rodriguez
In the past 17 years Norberto has developted his project El Aventurero, worked as a gide and as a host.
Norberto was born 6 February, 1974, in Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua. He grew up on his family’s ranch, dedicating his time and interests to his growing herd of horses, breeding, gentling them and riding them for pleasure. At age 18, Norberto enrolled in the Northern Regional University in Chihuahua to pursue a graduate degree in tourism. At the same time, however, Norberto continued to participate in his favorite sport, rodeo bull-riding. Thanks to rodeo, he had the opportunity to visit many beautiful places in Mexico. (As a professional-status bull-rider, he also earned some of his college expenses as well as some handsome belt buckles.)
Norberto also took time out from his studies to travel in the United States, first as a cowboy in Nebraska and Wyoming; later joining a construction company in Atlanta, Georgia. While in the southeastern U.S., he took advantage of opportunities to ride in rodeos in Alabama and South Carolina. Two years later, Norberto returned to Mexico with a head full of dreams, but felt that somehow, his adventures were now behind him.
So, Norberto completed his studies in 1996, and left the rodeo to dedicate himself to a career. It was while managing an important hotel in Creel he began to explore the many beautiful and extraordinary places surrounding this gateway town to Copper Canyon. The lovely Tarahumara people so impressed Norberto with their kindness and quiet lifestyle that, as much as he admired them and their environment, he wanted to share his experiences with other appreciative people. But Norberto also knew that to do so, he needed to create an opportunity for others to experience this part of Mexico with minimal impact on the Tarahumara and their environment. Thus, in 1999, Norberto starts El Aventurero, in the Sierra Tarahumara. You might say Norberto’s world is his oyster, “enchilada-style”.
Offering many kinds of tours, by van, by horseback, hike and by carriage, Norberto knows that his adventures are not over; they are growing and expanding!
