We are living one of the greatest adventures on the planet as are all the other inhabitants of this land too. We are sailing away in a northwest direction at 1.6 inches a year on a boat known as The Baja California Peninsula. According to the Continental Drift Theory, the surface (crust) of the planet is divided into many floating pieces (something similar to a soccer ball but with irregular shapes instead of hexagons) that are moving and crashing against each other. We are at the edge of one of these called The Pacific Plate. The rest of México, with the USA and Canada, are on the North American Plate, which is pushing us.

This has been happening for millions of years and it is the reason why the Peninsula and the Gulf were created 6 million years ago. During this time life has adapted and specialized due to climatic changes also. Can you imagine that this place was a tropical forest just 2 million years ago? We have one of the highest rates of “ENDEMIC” (plants and animals living exclusively in one region) species in the world, beaten just by Australia, a Continent! Researchers from all around the world are interested in places like this to try to understand how life has evolved on our planet, due to the huge diversity of species and “local” climates.

We are facing a huge challenge as we live on Nature’s Ultimate Experimental Field. We MUST not just admire and enjoy it but also preserve it. Let us respect all the other species who live with us on this Ark of stone. Do you dare to accept the challenge?

We are fortunate to be neighbors to the masters of adaptation in the desert, and there is still time to learn and improve our life’s quality. We are talking about the cacti, which is the right way to refer to this group of plants as the word cactus is used for a single plant.

These plants have modified the shape of their bodies in order to store the most valued currency of the desert… water. Most of them do this using their ribs which are folds formed all along their bodies to allow the plants to expand and shrink as accordions to store water during the dry season. Then they face their greatest challenge, to protect all this water. That is why their leaves became thorns to discourage any animal to eat them.

The most admirable fact about them is the way they produce their own food. While other plants go through photosynthesis during the day and lose water by evaporation, cacti can release oxygen during the night to avoid dehydration. They have synchronized their blooming season to avoid competing with each other and to become a constant source of food for the desert inhabitants. Like them, we must adopt this balanced relationship with the environment and do something more that just guarding our resources in order to become positive beings.

Join us in our expeditions through our magic land and let’s learn together from our wise neighbors.