11: Salsa and Éspecial

11/5/17

DSC_7892Up early and into Big Bend by 10am. Big Bend is the NP that sits right on the Mexican border (the Rio Grande) and as the name implies the Rio Grande does a “Big Bend” right at the park. The park is a desert park with an old caldera in the middle. We headed straight for the Rio Grande Village and the crossing to Mexico. Since starting out this trip the only thing D has talked incessantly about is “crossing the Rio Grande into Mexico”. (The border of Texas and Mexico is the middle of the Rio Grande river- the same one we swam in the hot springs in New Mexico). Our guide book had been a bit vague on how you cross but there is an official border crossing post at the bottom of the park where you pay your $5 and you are rowed across the river (or at the moment more like a fast flowing creek). So we were in. Passports in hand we left US soil and crossed the river into Mexico. Boquillas is the town across the river and it is a pretty typical Mexican desert town. A few houses made of mud bricks, a pub, a church, school and hospital. The only thing untypical is the solar panel farm at the back of the town that powers the whole community!

DSC_7883Anyway, after getting off the boat you have three options to get to the town (about a mile from the river); motorised (back of a pickup), four legged (donkey or horse) or two legged (walk yourself). We chose; motorised and four legged. I was on a donkey (he was a good donkey) and M+D chose a red pickup. Apparently, it took quite awhile to get the pickup going, the donkey took off straight away, hauling me up the hill. I think I prefer a donkey ride to a horse ride.. few reasons for this; donkey’s walk slowly (no need for this hopeless rider to worry about falling off) + they know where they are going (heck they must walk and up and down from creek to river 10 times a day) so no need for me to steer. My donkey owner was Eduardo. Who promptly decided he was going to take us around the town and show us the sites. I was regaled with stories about his family, the town and the all-important solar panel farm that he and the town are so proud of.

DSC_7881At the top of the hill sits the village of Boquillas (pronounced Bo-keey-es for the non Spanish speaking readers). Went through passport control (a small airconded portable building) before heading straight for Eduardo’s mate’s bar and restaurant. It was deliciously cool under the mud brick roof, we ordered some beers and tortillas and salsa and sat back and enjoyed the view. Boquillas sits up on a plateau above the Rio Grande so really pretty to sit up with a cool breeze and watch the river and mountains. Tortillas and salsa were amazing and the beer was cold so all in all a nice relaxing lunch. Straight after our relax, Eduardo took us for a walk around town and showed us where he and his grandfather live (who sold us some tack- far better than the tack in Roswell), the local church, school and small day hospital. Its actually a fairly ok little village, the closest town is Mesquitas (not mosquitos but almost) apparently 3hrs drive so if anything major happens it’s a long ride in the ambulance/ major supplies.

DSC_7884The town is very reliant on the tourists crossing the boat. The border is only open five days a week and I’m guessing it won’t be open for too much longer! Eduardo told us that if the border crossing closes again (it was closed for years) then he will have to take up farming to keep his family fed.. Tough when you don’t have great job security. Anyway, Boquillas was a great experience.

DSC_7888After arriving back into the US and speaking to a border official in El Paso (magic of modern tech) we hopped in the car and headed for a drive down to Rio Grande Village to take a look around. Temperature has finally heated up (well over 30deg) so we didn’t do any hiking but took a drive around the area before heading to our sleeping area for the night, Chisos Basin.

Chisos is the old caldera in the park and the in park accommodation is on the side of the caldera. There are also some great hikes within the basin so a popular area to set yourself up. M+D had a snooze and I went for a walk to check out the facilities and do a little hike. On the way back I grabbed some cold beer + chippies (chips were more exy than the beer…) for afternoon tea and we all enjoyed sitting out on the deck of our cabin soaking up the view (“aah the serenity”). After our afternoon rest and refreshments D+I headed up the Chisos basin for a walk. There was a nice breeze blowing at the accom but up the basin it was stifling hot!! Geez! Puffing like a bellows and hot hot hot… not the most pleasant of hiking conditions (mental note to self, all hiking in this park happens at first light). The only critters we saw were flying.. birds or insects. In fact, we saw this enormous waspy looking bug- bright orange and black and almost the size of my big toe. It was huge! We asked a passing hiker what they are called- the Texans call them blister bugs.. apparently, if they bite you, you blow up with a big blister! I can believe it looking at the size of the wasp/ bug thing.

Dinner saw us head to the park restaurant and a beer on the balcony watching the sun go down (sun goes down well after 8pm). Awesome day with a side trip into Mexico.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *