Day 1: June 13th

It's our first day on our GIP trip and everyone is extremely excited to be here! We arrived at LAX at 7:15 am; once we were done checking in, we went through security where we all went through TSA Pre-Check, except Tom and Cali, who claimed that "Pre-Check is stupid." We arrived at the gate almost 2 hours early and so many of us went to go look around the terminal until it was time to take off.

We touched down at the international airport in Cabo where we learned that there had been a miscommunication and we ended up waiting for a while for our tour guides to arrive. Some of us played cards, others talked, and some looked at pictures on a camera.

 When they finally arrived, we loaded up all of the luggage on top of a van and split into two different groups to finally get to the reach where we will stay for the next three nights. On the way there, we listened to some music that some of us sang along to. There were a couple of crosses on the side of the roads which we learned were set up to honor those who had died on the road. As we arrived to our camp for the next few days, Rancho El Refugio, we were greeted by a horse and her foal, a ton of goats, and flocks of chickens. The second we stepped out of the cars we noticed the bunches of mango trees.  Some students were quick to take to the trees ravaging them for ripe mangos. 

We were given a quick tour of our camping area which was flat and surrounded by hammocks. After we got to rest from our strenuous travels, we were given some delicious plum water as we waited to individually sign our names in El Refugio's guest book. After we did this and listened to a quick lecture on the rules, we helped our guides Stephanie, Alan, and Bernardo unpack our stuff from the vans with an efficient assembly line. We set up our tents with our tent partners and made sure we were well protected from the mosquitoes although we haven't seen any yet. On the ranch there are a couple dogs, one is a momma dog who just recently had a litter of 14 puppies. We were told a cautionary tale about he wildlife on the ranch in context with the puppies. When the mama dog had her litter of puppies, a rattlesnake slithered in to actually cuddle with her puppies for warmth because it had sensed the heat of the puppies and their mom. Next we chilled in our tents until we were called to gather up before dinner to play the name game! The creative names that we came up with to help our guides remember are below. Our guidelines was that it could be in any language as long as it exists in Baja and starts with the same sound or letter as our name:
Mariano Mango. Erica Eggplant. Cali Chupacabra. Rattlesnake Rowan. Renee Radish. Esteban Eagle. Robyn Rana. Katie Krill. Luna Laguna. Alexa Ant. Nathan Naranja. Tarantula Tom. Liam Limon. Betsy Bee. Kara Cara Cara.

For dinner, we had tortillas, beans, cheese, shredded beef, and salad with beet root juice; everyone enjoyed our first meal in Baja! After dinner, we decided to take a hike to a nearby mini waterfall. On the way there, we learned about multiple plants and animals and what they are, including barrel cacti, deer grass, lizards, and so on. We eventually made it to the waterfall: a beautiful space filled with smooth rocks, a small waterhole, and a beautiful view of the nearby mountains. We stayed there for a while, looking at the snails and fish in the water that we learned would eat your dead skin cells if you stayed still for long enough. After splashing around in the water, we rested on the boulders nearby until the sun started to set and decided to hike back to the main camp site.

Once we got back from our adventure to the waterfall and pools, we gathered around a campfire despite it being relatively hot aside and were able to learn stories about how the ranch came to be and got its name "El Refugio". Our guide Stephanie was able to catch a toad that was burrowing outside her tent and she came over with it to teach us about the differences between a frog and a toad. Apparently there are 2 glands on the side of the toad that releases a toxin that travels throughout the whole body which is why we only eat frog legs not toad legs despite them being similar creatures.


With love from Baja,
Katie and Erica