.COM Visit An Authentic
Eco Tourism and Adventure at the Local Ranches Santiago is a town at KM 84 on the highway that leads from San Jose to Los Barriles. A town steeped in local history, Santiago was founded as a mission com- munity in 1723 and was abandoned in the late 18th century when the Pericu In- dians rebelled. Nowadays in Santiago you will find a
San Dionisio Canyon -
December 19th
Ranch In The Hills They’re passed down through generations, live traditionally, and some take visitors
BY ALBA MONROY
Todos Santos on the Pa- cific side and Santiago on the Sea of Cortez side. On a road at the north end of Santiago you can enter the San Dionisio Canyon and the foothills of the Sierra. Only one half hour and two cow gates away you will enter the protected biosphere. Along the road to the foot- hills you will find a com- munity of ranchers who
land. Visitors are required to purchase a park day pass from any of the ranchers at a cost of $25 pesos per day. Hiking in the Sierra is an eco-adventure where you will learn about a com- pletely different side of the Baja. In the Sierra you will find flora and fauna unique to the Baja as en- demic plants and animals mix it up with plants and animals introduced by the Spanish missionaries and pirates. In this lush land, where water flows down from the mountains and bubbles up from the ground, flourishing pine and oak forests are inter- spersed with wide valleys filled with grass and wild-
todiansof the cus-
flowers. The woods and water attract deer, pumas, and coyotes. In the sierra you can also find feral pigs, horses and bulls. You can explore cave paintings cre- ated by the Pericu thou- sands of years ago, you can hunt for fossils, breathe clean air, and take in amaz- ing views.
However if hiking in the Sierra is not an activity that interests you, you can still get to know the ranch folk and obtain a glimpse into authentic old timey living off the grid.. The San Dionisio canyon has water which has enabled the ranching com- munity to become farmers and this is how most ranch- ers survive. Most of the farms grow mangos, or- anges, grapefruit, guava, plums, lettuce, tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, water- melon, purslane, and what- ever else they can coax out of the ground.
El Refugio ranch is home
, 2011
to one of the most famous Sierra la Laguna guides, Don Catarino who has been leading people through these hills for the last 25 years. In addition to guiding people on trails and providing them with beasts of burden, El Refugio offers a variety of recreational ac- tivities. They have a restau- rant where Dona Luz serves home-style ranch cooking using farm grown vegetables. The Dona makes everything from scratch, including perfect tortillas, and you might luck into to some wild pig carnitas, if Don Catarino has managed to bring a wild pig home.
Look for the San Dionisio signs
When Don Catarino isn’t taking care of the beasts and the garden and leading people on grueling hikes of nearly 40 miles, he works with leather. He cures leather using local bark and then sells it to his neighbor who fashoins the leather into handicrafts.. Dona Luz also makes mango preserves, mango candies, and dried mango with their eight different va- rieties of mangos. She makes a very spicy ‘plums in vinegar’ dish that will make your eyes water. All of the Rancho el Refugio products are available at the ranch for about 50 pe- sos a container. You can also find them at various lo- cal fairs and shows. At El Refugio they also offer bird watching tours and local ranch tours. continued on page 28
quaint plaza with a few stores, restaurants, a gas station, hotel, a zoo and roads. Roads that lead to high places. Santiago is a
make their living produc- ing goods in ways that have been passed down through generations. Local and state gov-
good place to organize yourself before embarking on an adventure that will take you to the magical, relatively untouched pock- ets of nature in the Sierra la Laguna, the UNESCO pro- tected biosphere that is up to 7,000 feet high, along the spine of the Baja between
ernments have lately taken a great interest in these communities, trying to pro- tect the traditions which are being lost as the younger generation moves away from the ranch life. They also want to protect the environment and con- sider the ranchers to be the
21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40