Rio Grande - Big Bend

First of all … it is HOT HOT HOT. Today our outdoor thermometer says 102, and the indoor one says 101. So it is probably off a little, but still …….

Ours had a more brilliant orange body and scarlet head

We have taken our showers at the camp store and gotten a shady spot under some trees and we decide to rest and read in the shade. Still sweating in our chairs but it is tolerable. Inside is too warm and without elec hookups our air conditioner does not run, but we find it noisy and irritable anyway so would rather be under this big tree in 
the shade. Steve grills some tri tips from the 

freezer over mesquite for our dinner (yum) with a nice salad and we watch the birds all around us. This park is famous for birding opportunities. 


Over 450 species have been found here. We have a vermillion flycatcher hovering over us and hanging out in the tree above our dinner table. He is incredible. The colors are vibrant and bold. People say that many of the birds here have more dramatic colors than in their other habitats. No photo as our camera is not that good, but I am stealing one off the web for example.

 This National Park marks the northern most range for many plants and animals. The ranges of typically eastern and typically western species come together or overlap here. Many species here are at the extreme limits of their range.  Latin American species, many from the tropics, range this far north, and many from the north will range this far south. Also the Rio Grande River is a migration route.  Birding seems to be at its height in the spring but we are happy with our sightings and hope to come back here again when it cools a little. Temps in the winter are in the 80’s so it sound like a good place to hang out for a while.

We take our evening walk to the Rio Grande river and overlook. The river is slow and lazy and very green at this point and ducks swim in and out amongst the tall bamboo like grasses. We are on the border and can easily wade across at many points if we want to. And many of the locals at the small village of Boquillas del Carmen just across the river do just that. They are crossing the river and putting out jars for ‘donations’ for some of their carved walking sticks and handicrafts. These things are set up along the short nature trail with handmade cardboard box signs.  The Park Service is trying to crack down on these ‘visits’ and craft sales and says that it is illegal to purchase any items and they will confiscate anything we buy, blah, blah, blah.  There is nothing we want, but we are saddened at the plight of the poverty and lack of opportunity for these people in this very small and very isolated village. We leave some small change in a few of the jars. Any  donation to their lives that we can offer is minimal. We watch a few Mexicans walking on the other side of the river, a few donkeys are hanging out in the shade. It is maybe a foot deep at the most and not wide. There is no feeling of threat or danger here.

 
At 10pm it had cooled down to 84 degrees and at 2 am it was down to 80. Sleep is difficult, even with all the windows open and no covers. We wake in the still dark at 7:30 am to a cool 78. So we will move on again. It is too hot for us to stay here for very long. We are not interested in staying in the RV park with elec hookup and running our noisy air conditioner all day/night and staying indoors, and it is too hot  to survive on hikes without carrying heavy loads of water. We hope to come back in the winter.