Baja 56 - Bahía 2022

Every adventure leads to new experiences. This is my second year teaching as a Community Learning Leader (CLL) for Project Dragonfly. Baja is a magical place and I am so thankful for the opportunity to lead as a Dragonfly. Even though I return to the same place each year, it is always such a different experience. Baja 56 was unique in each and every way. This year we got to experience rain and beautiful lightning storms, and we were rewarded with a double rainbow in the desert. 

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." -Lao Tzu

Rainbow reward

Each year I am fortunate to have an amazing group of students. We were so rewarded to have such a kind and compassionate cohort, everyone really took care of each other. Appreciating the little things seemed be be a core theme for this 2022 group. 

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful." -Alice Walker

There's a snake plant in my boot!

We try to warn our students to expect the unexpected, but this trip was one for the books. With amazing adventure, also come challenges. This year we were in a minor car accident on Day 2; Day 5 the positive COVID tests started rolling in; and Day 7, I got stung by a stingray. It is what is it, and we did our best to make the most out of the experience. I finally made it out on a paddle board for the first time! 

First time paddle boarding

My heart feels so happy as I approach the ranch. It truly is one of my favorite places in the world. I literally feel like I am on a different planet when I am there, and it's wonderful. Constantly new connections are made to the ranch, and I love and appreciate hearing all the new stories. The theme here is always passing down knowledge from generation to generation so nothing is lost.

"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter." -Rachel Carson

I will never tire of this view

Though I would love to do a Baja do-over expedition, each challenge must be viewed as a learning opportunity. There will always be challenges, and the important thing is how we adapt and overcome there challenges. 

“Together we can face challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky” -Sonia Gandhi

First time riding a mule and spending time at the lower ranch

Every year we leave a mural in the field station. This is the third mural I have been a part of and it definitely sums up our adventure. Though this year had a few extra challenges, we survived, and I can't wait to do it again sometime!

We survived...barely!

“And we wondered why so much of the Gulf was familiar to us, why this town had a "home" feeling.  We had never seen a town which even looked like La Paz, and yet coming to it was like returning rather than visiting. Some quality there is in the whole Gulf that trips a trigger of recognition so that in fantastic and exotic scenery one finds oneself nodding and saying inwardly, "Yes, I know." And on the shore the wild doves mourn in the evening and then there comes a pang, some kind of emotional jar, and a longing. And if one followed his whispering impulse he would walk away slowly into the thorny brush following the call of the doves. Trying to remember the Gulf is like trying to re-create a dream.  This is by no means a sentimental thing, it has little to do with beauty or even conscious liking. But the Gulf does draw one, and we have talked to rich men who own boats, who can go where they will.  Regularly they find themselves sucked into the Gulf. And since we have returned, there is always in the backs of our minds the positive drive to go back again. If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why.” -John Steinbeck