Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, New Mexico & Eclipse

Arrive in Albuquerque. Known for its backdrop of pinky-red mountains, beautiful old town and abundance of art galleries and first nations pottery, the city is a wonderfully relaxed place to begin our journey.

And what an amazing beginning to the trip, as the dates of the eclipse happen to coincide with the world-renowned Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, one of the largest and most important festivals in the USA. You'll be dropped into the whirlwind of a packed Albuquerque on your arrival today, as thousands of enthusiasts travel from across the world to experience the fiesta.

Due to the number of evening flights into Albuquerque, your Leader plans to do the welcome meeting on the morning of day two, and will leave a message in reception with details on timings and everything else that you'll need for the day. There are no activities planned today, so you are free to arrive at any time. We do not offer airport transfers on this trip, so arrival to the hotel will be on your own account; advice will be in your final joining instructions.

If you do arrive in the morning, strolling around the Old Town is the perfect way to spend the afternoon, or you could look at the website for the Balloon Fiesta to see if there are any events on this evening (https://www.balloonfiesta.com). Stay: Sandia Peak Inn (Comfortable)

The balloon fiesta's early morning program starts before dawn, so we are not going to test our jetlag with that this morning, preferring to leave our festival attendance until tomorrow, when we will be more rested.

Instead, this morning we will get high up above the city with a trip out to Sandia Peak. This urban peak reaches over 3000 metres of altitude, and we plan to ascend every metre by cable car, giving us outstanding panoramic views over the city. We will take a very gentle two-mile loop walk at the top, to the limestone Kiwanis cabin. Views of the desert and mountain scrub are spectacular.

We'll descend again by cable car and return to the city this afternoon. The schedule for the balloon fiesta changes each year; morning events happen daily, but afternoon events do not. If there are events this afternoon then we plan to head to the balloon park for the exhibition. If not, we have the afternoon free to enjoy Albuquerque. The Old Town is a beautiful place for a stroll, its historic adobe buildings hide museums, galleries and excellent Native American artwork. There are also a growing number of craft breweries in the city which you may like to visit. Stay: Sandia Peak Inn (Comfortable)

Albuquerque has a long history of ballooning, with the altitude and topology creating the perfect wind conditions for a gentle ride. Since its low-key beginnings in 1972, the International Balloon Fiesta has grown from 13 balloons in a shopping mall parking lot to a behemoth of a spectacle, frequently termed 'the most photographed event in the world'.

We'll be making a very early start this morning to take our own photographs of this phenomenon, with the Dawn Patrol show starting around 6am. It will be more than worth the early wake-up call to witness the majesty of hundreds of brightly-coloured balloons rising up to punctuate the dawn sky. While the schedule changes each year, there tend to be morning events until 10am, with multiple launches and competitions taking place.

After a magical morning in the enormous balloon park (365 acres to be precise), we'll say goodbye to Albuquerque. Our destination is Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the USA and an absolute pinnacle of the arts, and of Native American culture, here in this corner of New Mexico. Here we have a walking tour accompanied by a leading Santa Fe guide, the author of no fewer than eight books on New Mexico. Bringing this history to life in an engaging way is no mean feat, but Ana's enthusiasm and passion for Santa Fe is unbridled, and her ancestral roots in the city go all the way back to 1692. We'll be taken seamlessly from the Anasazi people through to the arty face of modern-day Santa Fe, and get a glimpse of what makes this deeply historic city tick. Stay: Econo Lodge (Comfortable)

Today we have a full free day to explore the state capital. If you're an art lover, the Georgia O'Keefe museum is well worth a visit. Seeing her work live is like witnessing a real love affair with New Mexico, and will cast a new light on the trip ahead. Alternatively there are several other museums in the city, as well as some fantastic Native American markets to peruse. Food is also an important part of life here in New Mexico; the state is famous for its red and green chiles, and there's no better place to start our food odyssey than in Santa Fe. Try enchiladas, huevos rancheros, chiles rellenos (green chiles stuffed with cheese and then deep fried) or any number of delicious dishes, all cooked with a local flair.

Note that tickets for the Georgia O'Keefe museum should be purchased in advance. Information is in the Optional Excursions section of these notes. Stay: Econo Lodge (Comfortable) (B)

Driving north out of Santa Fe this morning, we are journeying towards historic Taos, where the adobe buildings in the old downtown demonstrate its roots in the Pueblo culture. This tight-knit small community is filled with art shops, galleries, cafes, museums and of course the adobe architecture. Inhabited for over 1000 years, the indigenous people's history of the area far pre-dates the Spanish conquistadors who arrived in the early 1600s, which has shaped a rich cultural tapestry amid this high desert landscape that continues to inspire local artists. As well as enjoying a meander around the streets of this quaint community, we'll go to the Visitor's Centre for the historic Taos Pueblo, and get a taste of local food with an included lunch.

After lunch we go on our way, making a brief stop at at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge for a look over one of the world's most famous (and, in parts, infamous) rivers. Then its onwards to the state border with Colorado, and our night stop in the adventure town of Durango. Stay: Adventure Inn Durango (Comfortable) (B/L)

Winding its way across rocky mountain passes, through towering canyons and past rushing rivers, the Durango and Silverton narrow-gauge railroad is a stunning piece of engineering that we'll have the opportunity to experience today. The vintage locomotives have been pulling passengers on these trains since the 1800s, and much of the landscape has been unchanged since then. We'll zip past the dense green of the San Juan National Forest and hear the engine work to chug up the different grades of the narrow gauge, before arriving in Silverton in the early afternoon.

The train runs as a return from Durango to Silverton, giving us a couple of hours before our journey back. Silverton itself is a historic mining town, hence the importance of the railway. Its colourful clapperboard buildings and mountain landscape make it a delightful place to stroll around, enjoying a leisurely lunch with some scenic views before taking the train back to the city of Durango. Stay: Adventure Inn Durango (Comfortable)

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mesa Verde is home to some of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the world. The national park was established in the early 1900s, as an attempt to preserve the heritage of the Ancestral Puebloan people who had made the area their home as early as 600 AD. Dwellings and other structures have been carved out of the rock faces, with some cliff-built villages counting hundreds of painstakingly built rooms. As part of our journey through these native lands, Mesa Verde is an unmissable stop.

After viewing the Native American exhibits at the Visitors Centre, we take a guided tour of the site and pay a visit to the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum.

Upon leaving the site we cross the state border to Arizona, driving to Kayenta, on the largest First Nations Reservation in the country, founded in 1888 to provide a protected region for the Navajo people.

Monument Valley lies within the heart of this vast tribal area and in spite of its familiarity through the exposure by Hollywood, nothing can truly prepare you for the sheer grandeur and spectacle of this incredible setting. Isolated monoliths, sandstone pinnacles and towering spires rocket skywards, as much as 1000m above the desert floor. This will be the dramatic location of our eclipse viewing tomorrow. Stay: Hampton Inn Kayenta (Comfortable)

An annular eclipse of the Sun will take place today, 14th October 2023. Our location for the eclipse is Monument Valley. As the only way to experience the park's dramatic backcountry, we'll be accessing the eclipse location by Jeep, with another Navajo guide. We won't just drive directly to the location, but we'll also have the privilege of being guided around some of Monument Valley's most iconic and cinematographic scenery.

This morning, at around 10.29am, you can expect to experience some four minutes and 27 seconds of annularity (weather permitting).

Eclipse glasses will be provided to allow you to view this natural wonder safely and we will be accompanied by an expert astronomer to provide an insight on the science behind the eclipse, and to answer any questions you may have. There will be other Explore groups with us, and we'll be able to share stories about our travels so far.

According to weather records, this day in Monument Valley has had some level of cloud cover 21% of the time (since 2000), although we are unable to make any guarantees regarding the weather conditions and the likelihood of seeing the eclipse.

In the afternoon, we'll drive further into native lands at the Canyon de Chelly, back in New Mexico.

Note: While on your jeep tour and at the eclipse, food will be provided - we have listed this as 'lunch', but depending on timings it may be more like a 'brunch'! Stay: Thunderbird Lodge (Comfortable) (B/L)

Settled by different Native American populations throughout the centuries, Canyon de Chelly's immense natural resources has been sustaining families for thousands of years. Homes were astoundingly built into the sheer rock faces, similar to Mesa Verde, in order to take advantage of the sunlight and increased protection, while livestock and crops are still raised and planted in the canyon by the existing Navajo populations today. We'll drive to the canyon today for a Jeep tour run by a Navajo (or Dine, as they call themselves) business. The guides know the canyon like the back of their hands, and with their expert knowledge we'll learn a huge amount of the history and geology of the canyon, seeing ancient cliff-dwellings such as the White House Ruin and Antelope House Ruin along the way, which date back to around the 11th Century.

In the afternoon we drive back east towards Gallup, on the old Route 66. In the 1950s, this 'Mother Road' became the primary route linking Chicago to LA, connecting small towns like Gallup to the wider USA. As the largest town near many of the Native American reservations around New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona, Gallup was already of strategic importance as a trading post. Today, its stretch of Route 66 has some of the best Native American art anywhere along the famous road, along with an array of extremely well-preserved iconic neon signs. We'll explore some of this history as we walk the city streets of Gallup this afternoon. Stay: Comfort Suites Gallup East Route 66 and I-40 (Comfortable)

Our trip ends today on our return to Albuquerque, with a drop off at the Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) at 10am. International flights should therefore be booked from 1pm onwards. (B)