Add your name to the waiting list by emailing desertlaboratory@gmail.com
The late author and borderlands journalist Charles Bowden described the tropical deciduous forest surrounding Álamos, Sonora, Mexico, as a “wonderful collision of desert and tropics and sierra,” a forest yielding the raw ingredients for the spiritual as well as everyday needs of its inhabitants. The dry tropical forests of Mexico are one of the least-known and most endangered habitats in North America. They are the crossroads of the deserts and the tropics, where jaguars stalk mountain-savvy white-tailed deer and military macaws flounce through forests of two faces; dry from December to June, turning emerald green at the onset of the rains, marking the true beginning of the new year. These beautiful, remote forests cling to the skirts of the mighty Sierra Madre Occidental and very few people are afforded the chance to explore their secret canyons and native stories.
The Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill has brought together a team of expert biologists, naturalists, authors, and photographers to lead a small group into the heart of the “secret forest” from October 19 to 28, 2019. The group will travel by four-wheel-drive convoy from Tucson, Arizona, to Álamos, Sonora, where we will spend two days at El Pedregal Nature Lodge, acclimating and exploring this Pueblo Mágico. The core of the trip will be six days and five nights exploring the Monte Mojino Reserve, managed by Nature and Culture International, where we will be immersed in the land of barrancas (deep canyons) and jaguars, where the real stories begin.
