The road to and from camp.
Hello from Camp Arivaca, about 20 miles north of the border in the middle of the Sonoran desert. Actually, I am in Tucson today with Jason and his Dad, and will be heading back to the desert later on today. It has been lovely to have a day to eat ice cream, swim in a swimming pool, take a shower and sit on a real toilet...
All in all, it has been a fantastic week. I have yet to encounter a migrant while on patrol, but that's good because it means people are doing okay and we aren't having to help anyone in really bad shape. The desert is incredibly beautiful; I've never seen so much sky at once that I can remember. There are huge lightning storms almost every day, and since it is monsoon season, lots rain as well.
A typical day out here consists of getting up at 5:30, having breakfast and planning out the patrol routes for the morning, driving a few miles out to our trailhead (with everyone crammed in the back of 'the Roja,' the big red pick-up that is camp's main vehicle) and splitting into groups to walk the different migrant trails, equipped with food packs, medical packs, clean socks, and lots of water which we leave at points along the trails. We get back for lunch, rest a few hours during the hottest part of the day, and then do the same thing again in the afternoon, on different trails. Life in the camp is really fun, everyone pitches in with cleaning, cooking, etc. and there are always great conversations (or card games, as it may be!) going on. Tarantula hunts have been a popular evening pastime, though I have yet to see even one. Among the creatures I have been lucky enough to see are a Gila monster, two rattlesnakes (one huge one I nearly walked into and one baby), ENORMOUS jackrabbits, cottontails, tons of cows (they wander into camp), a scorpion, a dead horned toad, vultures, white-tailed deer, and lots of lizards.
All in all, it has been a fantastic week. I have yet to encounter a migrant while on patrol, but that's good because it means people are doing okay and we aren't having to help anyone in really bad shape. The desert is incredibly beautiful; I've never seen so much sky at once that I can remember. There are huge lightning storms almost every day, and since it is monsoon season, lots rain as well.
A typical day out here consists of getting up at 5:30, having breakfast and planning out the patrol routes for the morning, driving a few miles out to our trailhead (with everyone crammed in the back of 'the Roja,' the big red pick-up that is camp's main vehicle) and splitting into groups to walk the different migrant trails, equipped with food packs, medical packs, clean socks, and lots of water which we leave at points along the trails. We get back for lunch, rest a few hours during the hottest part of the day, and then do the same thing again in the afternoon, on different trails. Life in the camp is really fun, everyone pitches in with cleaning, cooking, etc. and there are always great conversations (or card games, as it may be!) going on. Tarantula hunts have been a popular evening pastime, though I have yet to see even one. Among the creatures I have been lucky enough to see are a Gila monster, two rattlesnakes (one huge one I nearly walked into and one baby), ENORMOUS jackrabbits, cottontails, tons of cows (they wander into camp), a scorpion, a dead horned toad, vultures, white-tailed deer, and lots of lizards.
1 comment:
I love this! Your blog is going to be so much fun to check! I can't believe all the wildlife you have seen...a GIla Monster? Arn't those only in the South Pacific? Hehehehe...just kidding. You are so amazing, I love you!
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