Todays Trip--Part 2 (Giant Saguaro Cactus Forest)

Todays Trip--Part 2 (Giant Saguaro Cactus Forest)

When we had looked at the maps, Ciro had shown us 3 different places where the giant cactus grow in abundance. We left Guaymas and headed toward Empalme where one of the locations is, actually behind one of the schools. Ciro says the the school has a program where they are planting some of the cactus to preserve the area. You can tell which ones have been planted as they are in rows and are quite small as yet. I read on a website that it can take up to 15 yrs. for one to reach 1 foot in height and 40 years to reach 10 feet, it is around this time that they will begin to bloom. They will continue to grow for 100 years and can live for 200 years. It was amazing to see how huge they are. Roy is over 6 feet tall, so we estimated their height at around 25-30 feet.
Roy examining one of the cactus.

Gary and some prickly companions.

A small section of the cactus forest.

Irene laughed at this one, saying that it looked arthritic.

The base of the cactus, Irene said that it reminded her of the folds in an elephants skin.

There are lots more photos here: http://travel.webshots.com/album/556573532iXnQQT?vhost=travel After looking around for awhile and taking some photos, we headed out into the countryside to see the next area where they are growing. We bumped and bounced over some roads in the desert, at times turning around to take a different route if the holes were too large or filled with water. Ciro, would just say, no problem there are 100 roads and truly there are roads all over the desert, it would be so easy to get lost. Some of the plants and shrubs are still blooming and we saw blue, yellow, orange, and red flowers. The big cactus are not blooming at this time of year. We found a birds nest in one of the cactus and also picked up some obsidian stone which the flint knappers used to make arrowheads, etc. out of. Ciro did find 1 arrowhead; but the rest of us found none. He knows what to look for, as he collects them. After looking at the cactus in this area we headed onto the third place. We again, walked and gawked in amazement. It is impossible to describe or show with photos the immensity of the many cactus that we saw.

We then proceeded into the town of San Jose de Guaymas where they showed us an old hacienda. Irene pointed out where the large gardens had been, it is largely in ruins now; although they said that someone does live in part of it. The gates were locked, so we couldn't go inside to look around.

Before heading home we stopped at the home/office of one of the orchards as Irene wanted some oranges and grapefruits. We bought a few mandarins and an odd citrus fruit. I can't remember the name of it, it is not an orange, lemon or grapefruit. We were also given samples of red grapefruit which was very sweet and good; quite different from the sour grapefruit that I was used to in Canada. They were also huge, I have never seen such big grapefruit. We also made a stop for Irene to purchase some crab and other things.

We arrived home after 3 PM and were ready to relax. Irene came up with some soup/stew for us to try and we are going out for dinner, thanks to an invitation from Gary.

A great day.