The Trip that Changed My Life (Part 2 of 3)

After a long and bumpy (emphasis on bumpy!) drive, we reached our new home!

Rancho San Gregorio! Little did we know how deeply our hearts would connect to this unfamiliar place. This ranch has been managed by a single family for many generations. The current patriarch, Rafael, guided us around the ranch, teaching us the benefits of using native plants in foods and medicines.

In addition to teaching us the survival skills of knowing which plants can help us and which can harm us, Rafael shared the beautiful and personal story of his family's history on this land. This is Rafael at the old home site, where he used to play with his cousins as a child.

The home was nestled among the surrounding desert mesas.

In addition to Rafael's extensive knowledge, we also learned through experience. Watch where you put your head! Everything is pokey.

At the ranch, we ate together as a family. The amazing food was cooked by Rafael's wife, Esmeralda and children, Lalo, Alex, Andreas and Jasmine.

We drank tea boiled from the branches of the trees on the ranch.

And we slept under the stars. Life was good. Life was very good.

Our time on the ranch was jam-packed with lessons, collaboration and exploration. We learned about each other, we learned about our surroundings and we learned about ourselves.

We broke into groups, created mini research projects and set out to collect data; which we organized and presented to the class. 

We reflected on what we discovered and recorded our lessons in our journals. Sometimes we got a little help from the local fauna.

Everything we did was as a team. We all came with different strengths and were given so many opportunities to share what we knew with each other.  It is amazing how fun it is to teach and learn at the same time.

After our lessons were over, we were invited to find a way to give back to the ranch in our own small way. Some of us chose to assist in the harvest of Ejoton pods, which are ground and made into tea or serums that help support the immune system. Rafael offers it to many people who come to him seeking help with ailments.

The bushes were rather spikey, so it took some finesse to reach the pods without scraping your hands or dropping the pod out of reach. But, we stayed focused and picked as many as we possibly could.
Lily and I were quite pleased with our haul.

We also helped fill capsules that can be used to treat folks who were not well. We were happy helpers!

On our last morning at the ranch we hiked up the mesa before the sun came up. It was a hard climb, but oh so exhilarating. Everyone was panting and grinning. The view was simply amazing.

As usual, we explored along the way. Here is a barrel cactus that has been nibbled by a hungry animal. By looking at all of the available evidence, we deduced that only the bottom of the cactus was nibbled, because this was the only place where there were areas free from spines. Mmm, tasty.

We said our goodbyes and hit the road, heading for the coast.