27-January-2024 Mexico! 🇲🇽

Today was my last day at Big Bend National Park and I headed over to the far east side to Rio Grande Village. It took more than an hour to drive there from my hotel, which is on the far west side of the park. I started my day with a short hike Into Boquillas Canyon - another picturesque hike ... there are so many beautiful places here!

Then I went to a border crossing operated by the National Park Service where I was able to cross into Mexico to the town of Boquillas.

The Rio Grande River is only about 20 yards wide and you have the option of paying $5 to get a round-trip ride on a small boat .... or you could wade across to Mexico in the knee-deep water. I was very tempted to walk but decided to keep my hiking boots dry and pay to have a Mexican grab the bow of my boat and pull me over to the other side

You have the option of taking a horse the 0.5 miles into the village or walking. I opted to walk and was immediately assigned a local to accompany me to the village of Boquillas. His name is Raul and he told me that the village only has 250 occupants and that the nearest supermarket and gas station are 160 miles away. Wow! This village (like the one on the US side where I had eaten the previous night) flourished during the early 1900s when the mining industry was strong but when the mines closed down there was not much left to do. Some inhabitants stayed and enjoyed a relatively open border with the US until 9/11.

This tiny village relies exclusively on tourists. I had lunch at one of the 2 restaurants and enjoyed goat tacos and a margarita. There's really not much else to see or do there and so I walked back and got a boat ride back to the US. I stopped and checked out 2 more places in the park. First I went to a place called Dugout Wells - aptly named because an early settler had hand dug out a well where there was a natural spring and it is still flowing today thanks to the pump action of a weathervane. The oresence of water has resulted in a little oasis in the desert with a few trees and greenery. There is an interpretive nature trail through the oasis and desert.

My final stop was at a fossil exhibit. The thing I found most interesting was the recreation of a pterodactyl skeleton that they had hung on the ceiling – that sure was a big bird (50+ foot wingspan).

I enjoyed one last desert sunset on my way to get dinner ... you guessed it ..... more tacos! I tried beef, pork and tongue this evening. Time to have a non-taco dinner tomorrow!