We woke up early, as as planned, packed up quickly and drove the 1 1/2 hours over to Rio Grande Campground.  We arrived right behind another car and joined with the young driver to ask the park attendant how we should proceed in finding a spot.  He told us there might be a couple of spots available and that we should drive by them and if they weren’t taken yet, we could park and then come back to register.  Being the polite Canadians that we are, we didn’t rush past the young man ahead of us, but followed behind him.  The first two spots mentioned were full already, so with only one left, our hopes of staying here were quickly diminishing.  The young man in his car pulled into the last empty spot.  Rats!  We would have to circle the campground and watch for someone else leaving – what a fun way to spend our morning!  However, we were surprised as the young man came up to us and offered to share the camp spot since he was just going to sleep in his car anyways.  Wow!  So nice!!!  I noticed the other campground attendant at the next spot over and went to ask her if this would be ok.  We were in luck!  The folks in this spot were just telling her they were leaving a day early – what great timing!!!  I made sure it was ok for us to pull in and after gaining her assurance, we waited for those campers to leave and pulled in.  The best part was already knowing that we had a great neighbour.  He came over and we introduced ourselves.  Zane (probably in his early 20’s) is a Blues guitarist and was on his way to visit an aunt in Albuquerque, but stopped in to see Big Bend for a few days.  We told him we were planning to head over to the Mexican side on this day and he asked if he could come along – wonderful! 

We set about making our breakfast and about an hour later, having paid for two nights camping here, we all headed up to the border crossing (about 10 minutes away by car) where we presented our passports and received our instructions from the border guard before paying our $5 each to cross the Rio Grande.  The actual boat ride was a bit ridiculous as the river was running so low, but these are the rules here, so we hopped in for the 1 minute ride to Mexico!  

Once on the other side, we had a choice of walking about 20 minutes into the small town of Boquillas or paying another $5 each to ride a donkey or horse into town.  Well, really?  Was there any decision to be made?  A chance to ride a donkey?  Of course!!!!  Our guide got us each settled on our beasts and we were off.  His job, as it turned out, was to lead us safely into town and then show us around before getting us saddled back up for the return trip.  My donkey was just the right size for me, but I think poor Zane got the short end of this stick, being a very long legged fellow, but he took it all in good stride. 

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Zane was excited as this was his first foray into Mexico.  Not really the best introduction to this beautiful country as Boquillas is quite distant from other Mexican towns and their only source of income is tourists who come over from Big Bend.  However, we enjoyed our little adventure, checking out some of the articles made by the locals for sale.  We purchased a tortilla warmer from a stand run by our guide’s family and then a cute little wire road runner offered to us by the sweetest little girl who we just couldn’t resist.  

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Following a nice lunch at one of the restaurants in town (I think there are 3), we made our way back to our waiting donkeys for the return trip.  What a fun way to spent an afternoon. If you go to Big Bend, don’t forget your passport so you can help to support the people of this sweet little town!

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Later that day, we found a spot to walk along the river, enjoying the warmth of the day and the ability to wade in the warm slow moving river.  From there, we hiked a short distance up a bluff by the campground where we had a terrific view of the Sierra Del Carmen Mountain range across from us in Mexico.  Later, towards sunset, as we walked to the camp store to use their wifi, we could see how fantastic the light on the mountains was and vowed to head up to the bluff again the next evening to watch the sunset.

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The following day we planned to hike up the Daniels Ranch Trail which would lead us to a great lookout over the Rio Grande.  The entire hike is 6 miles out and back, but we only wanted to go out about 1 1/2 miles.  Of course, most of the first bit was up a pretty steep trail, but it was well worth the effort for the fantastic views we were able to see from there.

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We hiked out a little further before stopping to enjoy a beautiful view of the Chisos Mountains before heading back down.

From there, we drove around so that we could check out the hot springs that would have been at the end of the 3 mile hike.  Down a very long and pot holed road, we finally reached the parking lot where we checked out some old buildings before heading along the river.  We found the hot springs but it was just a very small area and already full, so we just walked a little further along the river before heading back to the van and the long and bumpy ride back up to the main road.

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Later, as sunset approached, we gathered up the camera and our phones and headed up the bluff where we joined a group of folks already gathered there to enjoy the sunset.  The wind had kicked up, making it impossible to wear a hat, but wow, was it worth the time and effort!  The views were breathtaking from every angle and we took pic after pic, stopping to just enjoy the beauty of the scene before us.  Wow!  What a spectacular way to finish our adventures here at Big Bend!

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The following morning, we said our fond farewells to Zane, wishing him safe travels as we each packed up our vehicles and headed out of beautiful Big Bend, leaving two precious camp spots open for the next campers to come.