We had an opportunity to tag along on an exploratory tour with Sonoran Rovers of Tucson. This tour took us to El Pinacate Biosphere, which is a large preserve in Mexico, north of the Sea of Cortez. This area used to be open to the public, but is now only available by permit and is extremely rare to get access to. This biosphere is in a beautiful desert setting, with more than 400 craters and cinder cones within its boundaries. The apex of the trip was traveling and camping in old imported Land Rover Defenders. They are incredibly capable, and oh so fun!
We explored five of the main craters in the area, as well as a tinaja, or watering hole. With the expert knowledge of our guides and some of our fellow travelers, we learned so much about the flora, fauna, geology and history of this area.
We even had a chance to hike up some lava flows.
A skull and other bones of many unfortunate animals could be found in the tinaja.
El Elegante was the largest of the craters we visited. It was also used by the Apollo 14 astronauts as a training ground.
After two nights in the desert and craters of El Pinacate, we moved our camp to a private beach at the north end of the Sea of Cortez. We didn’t arrive until the end of the day, so we set up camp and ate a relaxing dinner.
Our first sunset on the beach felt so magical.
The next morning we headed out into the estuaries of the preserve to learn about the marine and bird life of these unique saltwater canals.
When we left the estuaries, we headed to the largest sand dunes in North America, created with deposits from the Grand Canyon. We could see some rainy weather coming in, but kept our fingers crossed that it we wouldn’t get too wet.
The Pinacate beetles live only in the dunes of the preserve, and we were lucky enough to see one.
We were spared by the rain at the dunes, but when we returned to camp, we found everything that we left out was soaked through. The campfire was more important than ever. We had a wonderful warm dinner and enjoyed our final sunset of the trip.
Our final morning was leisurely and relaxing, allowing time for a stroll on the beach at low tide.
We even caught a view of some rare pelicans as we were pulling out to come home.
This was an incredible trip, put on by Sonoran Rovers. We learned so much, and met so many fun explorers, who like ourselves, love nature, and learning.
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