MEXICAN ECOLOGY AND CULTURE 

From an old man's point of view. Mexican Ecology and Culture offers the most amazing and affordable educational opportunity for all students. Regardless, of educational interest, wildlife, agriculture, sociology, or photography there is  something in it for all students. Students can learn just by being there, hands on learning at its best.

A learning experience, the money exchange and the border crossing at Nuevo Laredo. The long line we created that went around the building at the money exchange. The tellers looked exhausted. I exchanged $200.00. Don’t get the 200 Pesos notes, they can’t make change further south. The time spent getting proper insurance. Filling out visa papers, showing proper birth certificates (a certificate of birth from the hospital doesn’t work even though the foot prints are cute) and drivers license.  Hours waiting on papers for the vans. Emporia had trouble with the papers on their van and had to have the proper papers faxed from the college. The cultural differences, as we neared the border, the areas seemed poorer. In Laredo the run down houses and businesses had locks on every door and bars on every window. Everything that could be moved or carried was chained and padlocked.

After driving most of the night we pitched camp in the cool black stillness of the night.  At first light we awoke to the pristine beauty of the Bustamante Mountain peaks. The steam rising from the hot springs on the canyon floor was a breathtaking view in all its splendor. In the early morning hours we watched a water snake swim across the hot springs while cichlids (small fish) swam below. Everyone had to go for a dip. Some students climbed one of the mountain peaks. Other students and myself hiked up the road to the top. There we met an old rancher that told of the hurricane that caused a great flood that swept through the canyon several years earlier. It washed everything away including two of his houses. The hot springs was the only thing left unchanged. The old rancher said he ran fifty cows and fifty burros to one thousand hectors of land (Approx.2500 acres). He fed them prickly pears with the stickers singed off.   

Day One: Mammals- We set cage traps and caught several species of mice and one opossum. We made study specimens from some of the mice and released everything else. A miss net was also set to catch bats. We caught two a female fruit bat Sturnira lilium and my favorite a vampire bat Desmodus rotundus murinus.

Day Two: Marine and Freshwater Fish- We started out by seining in the ocean, we made three passes with the instructors and two with students only. The students done the best job. We seined one large spotted ray, two small brown rays, crabs, several species of smaller fish and one flounder. Then we went to a near by creek were we learned how to check oxygen levels, the ph and the temperature of the water. We shocked some small freshwater fish for study specimens. After the three o’clock lunch, were we ate smoked sea bass, heads on looking at you (best fish I have ever eaten) we went to the crocodile farm.  At the crocodile farm we observed crocodiles from 12 inches to 16-18 feet in length. In the clear deep water of the river, we snorkeled seeing large crawl dads and many different species of fish in their natural habitat. We were having lots of fun until a crocodile came to close and we had to get out.

Day Three: Reptiles and Amphibians- We started early in the morning, by driving to a banana plantation to look for lizards and snakes. The first thing spotted was a thin tan snake three feet long in a banana tree which the group sacked up quickly. As we walked through the trees everyone was finding lizards, five different species. I caught a red colored snake nineteen inches in length that was semi-poisonous hiding under a rock.  The instructors said that it was the only one of that species caught on one of the trips.  We took the morning catch back to camp and made study specimens of them. After dark we went back out and caught two species of frogs for study specimens.

Day Four: Birds- We took a short drive to mountains were coffee trees grew under the jungle canopy. As we hiked up the mountain, we identified over sixty species of birds.   With the shore birds on the coast and nearby swamps we logged over one hundred species of birds. Four of my favorites were: Lilac-Crowned Parrot Amazona finschi, Osprey Pandion haliaetus, Boat-Billed Heron Cochlearius cochlearius and the Roseate Spoonbill Ajaja ajaja. That after noon we set miss nets and caught a Wilson’s Warbler Wilsonia pusilla and a Happy Wren Tyryothorus felix which was unhappy  because he was caught the day before. We took their measurements, marked and released them.

Day Five: Joint Boat Ride- Everyone joined in for the boat ride through the crocodile inhabited mangrove swamp. It was a thrilling scenic event in which we observed many species of birds, crocodiles and an iguana crawling through the top of trees. Half way through the ride there was a small café which gave everyone a chance to visit, to snorkel and swim. That afternoon we took group photographs and photographs of new found friends and said our good byes as the Mexican students packed up for their journey home.  As they are leaving we can always remember the evenings sitting around the fire, learning about each other, breaking cultural bearers, site seeing and souvenir shopping in San Blas.

Day Six: Five o’clock a.m. we pulled stakes to start the first leg of the trip home from San Blas.  It was the middle of night when we turned onto a cobblestone road that bounced up the steep grade that awoke all that were asleep. As we pulled to a stop at the road’s end all eyes were wide open staring at the entrance of the mine. Then the entrance keeper gave the go ahead to enter the two miles of  hole with lights evenly spaced so as one fads the next slowly gets brighter. A step back in time. The picturesque grandeur as we exit the Ogarrio mine, to the cobblestone streets and buildings of Real de Catorce.  The mineshaft is the only road to the village, that dates back to the 1600`s. The silver was mined out in the late-1800`s. Hiking, mule or horseback riding, sight seeing and shopping was high on everyone’s list of priorities. There are two churches, both Catholic one built about two hundred before the other. The old mint, bull fighting arena and the many other old buildings  rich in history a photographer’s or historian’s dream.

            Back home looking back, I can understand why Bruce and Dwight love to make this trip each year. Each year is a new adventure. This is the only course offered  that students from  Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma can work and learn together. Students learn from each other and forge long term relationships via Internet and E-mail. It showed as each group of students parted ways with teary eyes and lumps in their throats.  The students and faculty from Mexico, Emporia and Murray are great folks to travel,  work and learn with. Many heartfelt thanks to the faculty and students of both countries for all the hard work put forth that made this course such a great success.