I was fortunate to visit an off grid ranch in central Mexico, a regeneration project that's re-greening the semi arid environment. I was lucky because the time I arrived there had been a lot of rain, and flowers were popping up everywhere. There were also interesting pieces of stone and crystals scattered all around, the whole area is basically an archeological site.
There were so many beautiful kinds of flowers, i wish i knew all the names of the plants, if you know or recognizes any of these from the photos, I'd appreciate a comment below. I also loved these little insects, the colors were so iridescent and metallic, the picture below does not do them justice.
There were also lots of tiny cactus, so you had to watch were you were stepping the whole time. This particular specimen was smaller than my hand, its so cute! There were also lots of dead cactus lying around, and I did actually step on one, it was so painful, and the thorns were stuck in my shoe... ouch!
The cactus pictured below was absolutely huge, almost as big as me, granted im only 5ft3 but still, quite a tonker! Its probably at least 50 years old maybe more. I find cactus so fascinating, and I really love the aesthetic of the desert, but honestly i never expected to see cactus growing like this, in what looks like a country garden, its all so green and lush around.
I also really love the decaying fibers of the cactus, they look so beautiful, like an art work, especially next to the yellow flowers pictured below. As you can see, it still has its spikes and that what you have to watch out for as your walking around, you cant keep your eyes of the ground, but then neither would you want to because there are so many interesting things happening around your feet.....and dangerous too. I was warned about rattle snakes, although i did not see one, the owner of the ranch had a close in counter with one that day :0
The semi arid desert is a harsh environment, there can be a lot of strong winds, it can get very very hot, it seldom rains but when it does it comes hard. It was really fascinating to see how a small community of people were living off grid here. Im going to do more detailed posts about it and im just in the process of editing a video, explaining it all more in depth, how they capture water, solar, built swales, water retention ditches, earth domes, and rammed earth houses. I got a lot of footage and there lots to work through, its probably going to take some time, ive already laid down some sequences and there is over 4 hours of content, i need to reduce down. Im glad to be back home because its difficult to edit these kinds of videos on the go, but leaving it a while means i forget a lot and the work gets backed logged but im trying my best to focus and get organized to get through it all.
Looking back at these pictures was a nice reminder of my short time there, I only spent 3 nights but it was truly magical. I didn't realize how much I love desert environment, be surrounded by old endangered cactus species and colorful flowers was definitely very healing for the soul, maybe it was the fortunate time of year, maybe I wouldn't enjoy it so much in the blazing summer, and cold winter.
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STOPI love these, they remind me of the arid grasslands where I live in South Africa