A Day in the Desert | San Carlos | Mexico

The desert is quite interesting - around here we sometimes have horses roaming free as well as cows, along with the regular desert critters like coyotes, snakes and other wildlife.  Luckily, in all my desert wanderings, I have not yet seen a snake.  I have heard coyotes, and in Tucson, I have seen them multiple times trotting down the street an RV park during the day.

One of the more interesting things I have seen in the desert, is the photo below.  The Mexican Marines (not really like the U. S. Marines) were target shooting.  If we had gotten closer, we would have been stopped and questioned.  The long lens on my camera got me this close.   I got a grand tour this day from a friend who took me to some ranches, and the critters were both free range and in corrals, and this just happened to be the first thing we happened to see. 

This horse was a cutie and got a carrot reward for posing.

 

These cows didn't get any reward, but I don't think they cared.

Fences at this ranch are all like this, and they looked pretty much bullet-proof if an animal decided to start kicking.

This building has intrigued me since I came down here 3 years ago.  It is being built for monks, but construction has been stopped since they need to do work in another area.  The first photo on this page was taken from the top floor.

I have been told that they will be starting construction again soon. 

 

This is the outside chapel.

Interesting plants are all around the grounds.   These are called "Mother of  Thousands".

And this is Thai Basil.

Papayas!

On one floor of the building, we found this homemade wooden cross.

  

This young horse is free range, along with the mom a couple of others.

More cows!  Sonoran Beef is said to be the best in the country, and this is some of it.

We found some interesting trees, this one has a branch on the left that follows the line of the Tetakawi and another peak in the distance.

  

Greenery is growing from all the branches and limbs of this tree.

This Jito tree (pronounced hee-toe) is all gnarled.  When they're healthy, they have nice greenery, but when you look closer, they have sharp little points on the ends of the leaves.

Another ranch has this saddle on the fence.

The grounds here are beautiful.

Eucalyptus tree.

Thanks to my tour guide, Jan, who has been coming to San Carlos for decades.  She knew all about the plants, trees, rocks and other things in the desert.