In the middle of nowhere – Chihuahuan Dessert!

Chihuahuan Dessert – never heard of it?

You’re not alone. Until recently, I also didn’t know that here in the south, not far from the Mexican border, is one of the four largest deserts in the USA. Texas is a wide land. Since San Antonio the country is less and less populated, the villages are further apart, the vegetation has become sparser.

When we took up quarters here at the edge of the Big Bend National Park, I immediately felt: This is a good place to rest, to cultivate idleness after all the impressions of the last months. And also a place to wait for the new credit card, which my parents have kindly sent to us. 

Infinite vastness

The horizon dissolves into nothingness somewhere. It seems like time is slowing down here. The area is perfect for a western setting. In Terlingua, less than 200 people live under the stars. The neighbours are called National Park and Chihuahua Desert (How do you think to pronounce it correctly?). Most people here are accommodated by caravans, mobile homes or small cottages. There are no street lamps, at night it gets really dark – light pollution is a foreign word here! And actually we read up: This is the darkest area in the US. The Big Bend National Park was already recognized by Unesco as a biosphere reserve in 1976.

Not much happens here

That’s how I too have reduced my activities. No alarm clock tells me when it is time to get up. Mostly I wake up with the first sunrays that bathe the desert landscape in a yellow sea of lights. Throughout the day I do what is necessary, but also what is left over from mail and administration.

Finally I cooked daily again, wrote a diary, oiled the wood in the Amigo, cleaned the house, played slope, took pictures, meditated, listened to the radio, watched TV and explored the area. In the village there is live music every evening, which we already enjoyed.
And we had visitors. We met Jenny, Joe & Molly on the street at a photo stop and stayed in contact. They are also on the road with their sprinter, which they call Wander, here in the area. If you want to know more about them, then have a look here: https://truenorthattitude.com. We are happy that fate has brought us together and we will certainly see each other again this year.

Hooray for our Amigo

Since our return, I appreciate our amigo even more. He’s really a loyal friend, he’s never let us down before. Not only has he always started and unwound like clockwork his almost 100,000 km without a single ache: We can also store, cool, cook, sleep, get ready and go to the toilet in him. In principle I wouldn’t have to leave him at all. For me it is our home, and a warm and cosy one at that.

Yesterday he explored the Old Maverick Road in Big Bend National Park with us. I was very impressed by his performance. At the entrance of the road there were several signs. The message was clear. Four wheel drive vehicles have a clear advantage and are also favoured. We were sure that our Amigo will make it and we were not disappointed. Of course we were the 21 km slower than the few cars we encountered. But we have time. And so there was plenty of time to enjoy the landscape.

Enclosed are a few photos at the bottom of the slider. More photos from this month can be found here:

https://www.sama.report/digital-art/

We will continue to explore the Big Bend National Park until our departure early next week. It extends over 3200 square kilometres. If the weather permits, we will do a larger hike and drive to the Rio Grande. This time to the east. Here there are hot springs in which we would like to swim. The river is also the border to Mexico.

Have a nice weekend for all of you – who likes carnival.

See you soon again
Saradevi