Day Four in Ajo

 Today we all woke up around 5-5:30 AM to get ready for the day ahead of us. We then drove around an hour to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument where we met our tour guides, Park Rangers Blaine and Oliver. We then drove to the border where Loraine taught us about the history of her ancestors and the national monument. Quitobaquito was the natural spring that we saw there. There used to be three natural springs, but now there are only one or two on a good day. Whilst looking at the spring the Park Rangers told us about the endangered species such as the pup fish and specific types of snails and mud toads.  After that we went back to the visitor center and ate our packed lunch. We went and looked around the gift shop before listening to Loraine talk about her ancestors in the Tohono O'odham Nation and how they lived with the limited resources they had. We also learned that it is illegal to chop down a Saguaro Cactus. After our adventure to the National Monument, we went back to our hotel. We had downtime for an hour, and then we went to a cooking class. During the cooking class, we learned how to create a delicious dessert, Fresas con Crema. Once we finished making those, we had downtime for two hours. We relaxed in the lounge, browsed the gift shop, and enjoyed the air conditioning in our rooms. At 6:00 PM, we met a wonderful person named Josh who is an instructor for the apprenticeship program in Ajo and member of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance. Josh showed us around the hotel, which used to be his school. He also brought us to the Ajo Plaza, and told us history about Ajo. It was an amazing experience and we learned a lot. After that, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. One of our Dragons instructors, Sabina cooked a delicious meal that consisted of salad, steak patties with spinach inside,  small baked potatoes, and squash. We then ate our desserts that we made in the cooking class. After that delicious meal which Blaine and Oliver joined us for, they swore us in as junior park rangers, and gave us badges. We then went to our rooms to get ready for the next day ahead of us!!!


- Madison W and Audrey K

              Quote of the Day:

"Is the water cold?" -Ms. Parnika

    "Yeah"-Obasi Winn

"Can you taste it to make sure"-Ms. Parnika

    "Aight,....yeah it's cold"-Obasi Winn

"Like it's chilled?"-Ms. Parnika

    "YES"-Obasi Winn

"For really really?"-Ms. Parnika

           "For really really."-Obasi Winn 

 

 



 

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