WEBVTT 00:08.141 --> 00:10.810 align:start The colonial city of Alamos in northwest Mexico 00:10.810 --> 00:13.646 align:start has plenty to offer visitors. 00:13.680 --> 00:17.150 align:start There's Spanish legacy and rich natural treasures. 00:17.150 --> 00:19.986 align:start Perhaps most interesting is the traditional knowledge 00:19.986 --> 00:24.991 align:start from some of the area's longest residents, the Mayos. 00:30.363 --> 00:33.299 align:start Major funding for The Desert       Speaks was provided by 00:33.299 --> 00:37.871 align:start The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation. 00:37.904 --> 00:40.707 align:start Additional funding was provided by Desert Program Partners. 00:40.740 --> 00:42.709 align:start And by Arizona State Parks. 00:55.288 --> 01:16.910 align:start               music 01:16.943 --> 01:19.212 align:start The Mayos of southern Sonora, Mexico, have lived for centuries 01:19.212 --> 01:22.015 align:start in a land that varies from near desert along 01:22.048 --> 01:25.418 align:start the coast of the Sea of Cortez through thorny lowland scrub 01:25.418 --> 01:28.888 align:start and up into tropical deciduous forest. 01:28.888 --> 01:32.759 align:start This amazingly diverse landscape appealed not only 01:32.792 --> 01:35.395 align:start to the Mayos but to a remarkable collection of birds as well. 01:35.428 --> 01:40.934 align:start And now to bird lovers. 01:43.069 --> 01:45.105 align:start A group of bird watchers from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum 01:45.138 --> 01:47.574 align:start are venturing into southern Sonora 01:47.607 --> 01:50.743 align:start to check out the huge variety of species there. 01:50.777 --> 01:53.079 align:start Before I meet up with the group, I want to see my old friend 01:53.079 --> 01:57.650 align:start and guide Vicente Tajia, in the Mayo village of Teachive. 02:00.553 --> 02:02.555 align:start Most of these villages are located out in more or less 02:02.555 --> 02:05.391 align:start undisturbed bush or       monte as they call it, 02:05.391 --> 02:08.895 align:start and most of the villagers get a lot of important things 02:08.928 --> 02:11.965 align:start in their life from that vegetation, from the plants, 02:11.998 --> 02:15.101 align:start particularly firewood. 02:15.101 --> 02:18.371 align:start But they also get a lot of herbs, roots, wild fruits 02:18.371 --> 02:21.374 align:start and still many, many are used. 02:21.374 --> 02:23.943 align:start That little addition that they get from this are 02:23.943 --> 02:26.846 align:start semi-tropical vegetation here, the thorn scrub, 02:26.846 --> 02:28.581 align:start makes all the difference in their lives 02:28.581 --> 02:32.352 align:start and enables them to survive. 02:34.387 --> 02:38.057 align:start This is a native composite plant 02:38.057 --> 02:42.595 align:start that Vicente has brought for cough and for cold. 02:42.595 --> 02:46.332 align:start And it's very pungent smelling stuff. 02:46.332 --> 02:50.436 align:start It's called cuchu pusi, which means fish eye. 02:54.440 --> 02:56.876 align:start This is a shrub here. 02:56.876 --> 03:02.115 align:start It's a tree farther up but they call this san juanico. 03:02.148 --> 03:05.418 align:start They call it tasiro in Mayo but some tribes, 03:05.418 --> 03:08.354 align:start particularly the Seris, use it for adornment. 03:08.354 --> 03:10.790 align:start It's so sharp on the end that you can actually stick 03:10.790 --> 03:14.194 align:start them right into your skin without too much pain. 03:14.227 --> 03:16.729 align:start And some people even adorn themselves in the nose 03:16.729 --> 03:18.831 align:start with these very sharp things. 03:18.865 --> 03:21.167 align:start It doesn't particularly hurt. 03:21.167 --> 03:23.403 align:start And if you're really ugly, as some of us are, 03:23.436 --> 03:27.340 align:start it helps make you less ugly. 03:30.810 --> 03:34.914 align:start They mash these little fruits and mash 'em well 03:34.914 --> 03:40.687 align:start and then mix them in water and it makes a shampoo. 03:43.489 --> 03:46.259 align:start The Mayos usually render the shampoo 03:46.292 --> 03:48.728 align:start in their outdoor kitchens where Vicente's wife, 03:48.728 --> 03:53.333 align:start Teresa, is making us breakfast while we discuss our itinerary. 03:58.204 --> 04:01.374 align:start So if we're lucky, we'll go to Masiaca 04:01.374 --> 04:03.743 align:start and find a parade celebrating the other revolution. 04:03.743 --> 04:05.545 align:start From there we'll go to find a Mayoan mask maker, 04:05.578 --> 04:06.846 align:start who makes traditional masks. 04:06.846 --> 04:09.749 align:start Then it's on to the Pitayal, 04:09.749 --> 04:12.452 align:start the reserves protecting the Organ Pipe Forest. 04:12.485 --> 04:15.021 align:start Then up to the city of Alamos and nearby to Aduana, 04:15.054 --> 04:18.024 align:start where we will see a huge celebration 04:18.057 --> 04:21.527 align:start honoring the most sacred plant in all of Sonora, 04:21.527 --> 04:23.730 align:start an organ pipe cactus, 04:23.763 --> 04:27.600 align:start and we'll see several thousand people adoring it. 04:40.680 --> 04:42.248 align:start Everybody loves a parade and it's no different 04:42.248 --> 04:44.684 align:start here in Masiaca, Sonora. 04:44.717 --> 04:47.954 align:start It's a Mayo town but the celebration is Mexican, 04:47.987 --> 04:51.724 align:start honoring the day of the revolution, November 20th. 04:51.724 --> 04:54.027 align:start It began in 1910, but it's still considered 04:54.060 --> 04:58.398 align:start to be a contemporary thing here in Mexico. 04:58.431 --> 05:02.969 align:start Everybody turns out in Masiaca. 05:03.002 --> 05:06.205 align:start But the Mayos have their own way of celebrating it. 05:06.205 --> 05:09.409 align:start They are mostly Mexican but they still retain a lot of customs 05:09.442 --> 05:15.381 align:start and if you look carefully you can see Mayo-ness everywhere. 05:21.387 --> 05:24.390 align:start The Mayo culture pre-dates the Spanish conquest 05:24.390 --> 05:27.393 align:start and many of the rituals are pre-Columbian. 05:27.393 --> 05:29.195 align:start Their traditions and culture have survived 05:29.195 --> 05:33.232 align:start through artists like Paco Gamez. 05:36.602 --> 05:38.371 align:start Paco learned when he was very young to make 05:38.404 --> 05:41.507 align:start ceremonial masks like this one. 05:41.507 --> 05:44.510 align:start The design he is making, which is a mystical wolf, 05:44.510 --> 05:47.714 align:start is more for people to use as decorations in their houses 05:47.747 --> 05:50.917 align:start and many tourists, he has found, buy them. 05:50.950 --> 05:52.618 align:start He has been making his masks for twenty years or so. 05:52.618 --> 05:55.688 align:start His father made them before him. 05:55.688 --> 05:59.425 align:start The wood is known as torote prieto, it's a member of the 05:59.425 --> 06:03.429 align:start bursera family and it has a very nice delicate odor to it. 06:03.429 --> 06:06.232 align:start The hair is horsehair. 06:06.232 --> 06:08.401 align:start If you walk around the Mayo community there are a lot 06:08.434 --> 06:12.972 align:start of horse around with very short manes and very short tails. 06:14.874 --> 06:16.709 align:start The Mayo ceremony is a curious combination of pagan, 06:16.709 --> 06:21.981 align:start pre-Columbian customs and Catholic elements. 06:21.981 --> 06:24.283 align:start There are actually three different kinds 06:24.283 --> 06:27.053 align:start of festival dancers and participants. 06:27.086 --> 06:29.922 align:start The most sacred of the dancers is the deer dancer 06:29.922 --> 06:31.791 align:start and they actually wear an actual deer head 06:31.824 --> 06:33.559 align:start on top of their heads. 06:33.559 --> 06:36.963 align:start In the middle we have the very ancient custom, 06:36.996 --> 06:41.167 align:start the pascola dancer who wears this kind of mask 06:41.200 --> 06:44.337 align:start with their bells or they call them coyoles around the waist. 06:44.370 --> 06:46.939 align:start And then finally there is the Fariseo, or sort of the 06:46.939 --> 06:50.076 align:start ceremonial bad guys who wear this foul, evil-looking mask 06:50.109 --> 06:54.480 align:start made out of javalina skin. 06:56.482 --> 06:58.184 align:start The most important part of all of the Mayo ceremonials 06:58.217 --> 07:00.887 align:start is the head of the deer. 07:00.920 --> 07:03.890 align:start The deer often symbolizes Christ. 07:03.923 --> 07:06.058 align:start It is worn by the deer dancer on top of the head 07:06.092 --> 07:08.828 align:start and then gathered under the chin. 07:08.861 --> 07:12.265 align:start The dancer bends over and the eyes of the deer 07:12.298 --> 07:14.500 align:start then look out at the world. 07:14.500 --> 07:16.869 align:start It seems to be looking for good and evil 07:16.869 --> 07:19.572 align:start and the head moves back and forth. 07:21.941 --> 07:23.476 align:start Mayo culture has broad appeal to visitors 07:23.509 --> 07:26.078 align:start including my birding friends. 07:26.112 --> 07:30.683 align:start Fortunately for them Paco has a supply of his artwork for sale. 07:39.625 --> 07:41.894 align:start There's a lot of species of moths that would do this type 07:41.894 --> 07:44.831 align:start of cocoon, different type of shapes but overall 07:44.864 --> 07:48.768 align:start it's the same pattern of silk cocoon. 07:48.801 --> 07:51.137 align:start The little stones that they put inside the cocoons 07:51.170 --> 07:54.507 align:start are taken from anthills and the reason is 07:54.540 --> 07:58.611 align:start the ants bring up stones that are primarily, 07:58.611 --> 08:00.112 align:start they're very small, but they're quite round. 08:00.146 --> 08:02.582 align:start Then what they do, they cut the tip of the cocoon 08:02.615 --> 08:04.650 align:start and then they fill them up with pebbles. 08:04.650 --> 08:07.653 align:start Not completely full, as you can see. 08:07.653 --> 08:11.724 align:start This is what represents the novelties here. 08:13.726 --> 08:16.362 align:start The sonapo is a little instrument which the 08:16.362 --> 08:21.033 align:start Pascola shakes to a very fine rhythm and at the same time 08:21.033 --> 08:25.271 align:start moves his legs to swish the tambourine or the coon rattle. 08:25.304 --> 08:28.574 align:start The combination of the two makes for a 08:28.574 --> 08:33.546 align:start mesmerizing beat of music. 08:39.385 --> 08:41.954 align:start From Paco's house it's an hour's drive through Mayo lands 08:41.954 --> 08:44.524 align:start to the coast of the Sea of Cortez. 08:44.557 --> 08:50.129 align:start There we'll find a cornucopia of bird species. 08:50.129 --> 08:52.632 align:start There's an enormous range of birds available 08:52.665 --> 08:55.868 align:start to bird watchers that come to Sonora. 08:55.868 --> 08:58.905 align:start There are well over 500 species of birds found in Sonora 08:58.938 --> 09:02.441 align:start and almost all of those birds are here 09:02.441 --> 09:06.212 align:start at some point during the year. 09:08.781 --> 09:11.918 align:start Given the wide variety of habitats, from sea level 09:11.951 --> 09:15.321 align:start to over eight thousand feet, in the state of Sonora 09:15.354 --> 09:20.326 align:start through Sonoran Desert, Sinaloan thorn forest, 09:20.359 --> 09:25.464 align:start Pine Oak Woodland, you would expect to have very different 09:25.464 --> 09:30.169 align:start birds communities and all within close range of one another. 09:30.169 --> 09:33.606 align:start It doesn't take a long drive to leave 09:33.639 --> 09:37.977 align:start any one habitat and access the next. 09:38.010 --> 09:40.313 align:start This is living proof that we are on a bridge 09:40.346 --> 09:44.450 align:start under which flows the excretions of several thousand pigs 09:44.450 --> 09:49.555 align:start who are pooping up a storm and it smells exactly like that. 09:49.555 --> 09:50.590 align:start And the birds flock here. 09:50.623 --> 09:53.426 align:start Yes, they do. 09:53.459 --> 09:56.028 align:start It strikes me that birds don't have much of a sense of smell. 09:56.028 --> 09:57.897 align:start With a few exceptions they do not. 09:57.930 --> 10:03.736 align:start The kiwis have a sense of smell, so do turkey vultures. 10:03.736 --> 10:05.738 align:start Of course some birds are partial to salt water. 10:05.738 --> 10:08.608 align:start They find their food in salt water, some in deep water. 10:08.641 --> 10:14.180 align:start We were looking for boobies, we were looking for loons 10:14.213 --> 10:19.752 align:start today out in the open ocean because they dive for fish 10:19.752 --> 10:25.124 align:start whereas the shore birds are using the extensive mud flats 10:25.124 --> 10:29.662 align:start that occur in the big estuaries. 10:31.430 --> 10:34.166 align:start It is amazing how rich these estuaries are. 10:34.166 --> 10:36.435 align:start They're actually richer than the ones farther south 10:36.435 --> 10:41.007 align:start as far as the aggregations of birds go. 10:41.040 --> 10:44.243 align:start The farther north you are the cooler the water and more oxygen 10:44.243 --> 10:51.250 align:start that it can contain and the greater the plankton. 10:51.250 --> 10:54.220 align:start It'll support just this much more biomass 10:54.253 --> 10:56.489 align:start when it comes to birds. 10:56.522 --> 10:59.091 align:start Birds have wings. 10:59.091 --> 11:00.860 align:start You're always finding the unexpected and it's 11:00.893 --> 11:03.929 align:start something I think that hooks people 11:03.929 --> 11:08.567 align:start and makes them into bird watchers. 11:08.567 --> 11:11.704 align:start And the enormous range of people join bird watching tours 11:11.737 --> 11:15.975 align:start and natural history tours to travel outdoors 11:16.008 --> 11:19.311 align:start and to experience the planet they inhabit first hand. 11:25.217 --> 11:28.154 align:start Most Mayos live not on the coast but inland 11:28.187 --> 11:31.824 align:start and depend on the native forest for much of their livelihood. 11:31.824 --> 11:34.727 align:start Lately the cactus forest has come under attack from 11:34.760 --> 11:41.801 align:start agriculture, development and near the coast, shrimp farming. 11:41.834 --> 11:44.136 align:start This is the Coteco Biological Reserve. 11:44.136 --> 11:46.005 align:start It was set up by local people in the 11:46.038 --> 11:48.874 align:start indigenous community of Masiaca. 11:48.874 --> 11:51.310 align:start It's viewed as a reserve for plants that might get 11:51.310 --> 11:55.381 align:start hammered elsewhere and it's also a nesting or growing area 11:55.414 --> 11:58.317 align:start for deer where they can breed and grow up 11:58.317 --> 12:00.686 align:start without any fear of being hunted. 12:00.686 --> 12:04.857 align:start Hunting isn't permitted in here. 12:04.857 --> 12:08.561 align:start In the long run, this is a way that this pitayal, 12:08.594 --> 12:10.996 align:start this incomparable forest, nowhere like it in the world, 12:10.996 --> 12:14.500 align:start this is how it's gonna be saved. 12:19.772 --> 12:21.607 align:start There are a number of plants that are very common here, 12:21.607 --> 12:24.076 align:start especially the organ pipe cactus or pitaya. 12:24.076 --> 12:27.313 align:start This habitat is best characterized as thornscrub, 12:27.346 --> 12:31.117 align:start not real tall but it's spiny and thorny 12:31.150 --> 12:32.952 align:start and you can't walk through it without 12:32.985 --> 12:36.288 align:start getting stuck one way or another. 12:36.288 --> 12:37.923 align:start But there are over five hundred species of plants 12:37.923 --> 12:41.160 align:start within a five mile radius here, extremely rich habitat. 12:41.193 --> 12:43.529 align:start The ideal place for hunters and gatherers who 12:43.562 --> 12:46.098 align:start have at least one water source to be able to come 12:46.098 --> 12:51.036 align:start and gather things from the desert. 12:56.108 --> 13:04.150 align:start This is a caper called juavena and you chew it for a toothache. 13:06.485 --> 13:11.323 align:start It's bitter and it also tastes like water cress 13:11.323 --> 13:13.893 align:start and it actually gives a little tingling like a 13:13.926 --> 13:16.228 align:start little early feeling of novocaine and it 13:16.228 --> 13:20.366 align:start literally begins to numb the tongue. 13:24.670 --> 13:26.572 align:start Farther inland and higher up in Mayo country 13:26.605 --> 13:30.242 align:start is a very different habitat. 13:30.242 --> 13:33.312 align:start It's home to a distinct array of plants and birds. 13:33.312 --> 13:36.448 align:start This is tropical deciduous forest. 13:36.482 --> 13:38.818 align:start A majority of the trips that I run here in the 13:38.851 --> 13:44.924 align:start Alamos area and for that matter throughout Mexico 13:44.957 --> 13:48.327 align:start I would say the majority of people are from the southwest, 13:48.327 --> 13:55.367 align:start Tucson/Phoenix area, but from all over the U.S.; 13:55.367 --> 13:58.871 align:start people with a great interest in all sorts of natural history. 13:58.904 --> 14:00.306 align:start There he goes. 14:00.339 --> 14:03.475 align:start There goes the elegant trogon. 14:03.509 --> 14:08.147 align:start This is the bird that probably converts many people with 14:08.180 --> 14:12.218 align:start a casual interest in natural history to bird watching. 14:12.251 --> 14:14.753 align:start I mean, they're such beautiful birds 14:14.753 --> 14:17.990 align:start that people just go nuts when they find them. 14:17.990 --> 14:19.658 align:start Cool. 14:19.658 --> 14:21.760 align:start In the left side of that cypress tree 14:21.760 --> 14:23.829 align:start about where that trogon is there's some yellow in the tree. 14:23.829 --> 14:24.897 align:start Yeah. 14:24.930 --> 14:27.032 align:start And he's back in behind there. 14:27.032 --> 14:28.901 align:start Arizona's sort of the tip of the iceberg for 14:28.934 --> 14:33.739 align:start tropical dry season deciduous forest species. 14:33.739 --> 14:37.509 align:start We barely get a taste of them and of course it attracts 14:37.543 --> 14:41.447 align:start twenty five thousand or more bird watchers 14:41.480 --> 14:45.417 align:start a year to southeastern Arizona. 14:45.417 --> 14:48.387 align:start But here we have a reasonable expectation 14:48.387 --> 14:54.927 align:start of finding them in riparian areas along the Río Cuchujaqui. 14:54.960 --> 14:57.429 align:start This little kingfisher's sitting there above the pool 14:57.429 --> 15:00.900 align:start waiting for an opportunity to grab. Grab breakfast. 15:00.933 --> 15:03.435 align:start Grab his breakfast, exactly. 15:03.435 --> 15:04.703 align:start It's actually sort of surprising 15:04.703 --> 15:08.574 align:start how big of a fish they'll pick out. 15:08.607 --> 15:11.911 align:start What you have here in Alamos is a phenomena 15:11.944 --> 15:15.915 align:start that doesn't occur anywhere else in the western hemisphere 15:15.948 --> 15:18.951 align:start in that the tropical deciduous forest runs further up the 15:18.984 --> 15:22.254 align:start west coast of Mexico than it does 15:22.254 --> 15:24.356 align:start on the east coast of Mexico. 15:24.356 --> 15:26.592 align:start So you have this thin band of tropical forest 15:26.625 --> 15:29.194 align:start going up the west side of the Sierra Madre 15:29.194 --> 15:33.599 align:start and terminating here in the Alamos area. 15:33.632 --> 15:36.101 align:start That's the netting that just called right there. 15:36.101 --> 15:39.138 align:start There are pockets further north but here in Alamos 15:39.171 --> 15:43.676 align:start you have convergence of the Sonoran Desert, 15:43.709 --> 15:47.947 align:start the coastal habitats that are within thirty five miles of here 15:47.980 --> 15:50.616 align:start and the tropical deciduous forest. 15:50.649 --> 15:52.885 align:start And also pine oak habitat which is very close. 15:52.918 --> 15:55.421 align:start Look at the rose throat on that guy. 15:55.454 --> 15:56.722 align:start There he goes. 15:56.755 --> 15:59.959 align:start He's coming over right now. 15:59.992 --> 16:02.795 align:start Nice bright reddish throat and beautiful feathers 16:02.828 --> 16:08.467 align:start and turning his head around. 16:08.467 --> 16:11.337 align:start There goes the black hawk. 16:13.105 --> 16:17.443 align:start At this time of year where you've got not only 16:17.476 --> 16:19.178 align:start the resident riparian species such as we've seen 16:19.211 --> 16:22.314 align:start this morning, the black hawk, common black hawk 16:22.314 --> 16:26.518 align:start and the green kingfisher, great blue herons, 16:26.518 --> 16:29.355 align:start but you also get highland species that 16:29.388 --> 16:31.957 align:start have been driven down from the Sierra Madre 16:31.957 --> 16:33.592 align:start from the pine oak woodland. 16:33.592 --> 16:35.427 align:start Have to go quick. 16:35.427 --> 16:40.299 align:start He might not be there anymore. 16:43.669 --> 16:47.306 align:start If you look against the sun, even now, you can see 16:47.339 --> 16:50.709 align:start all kinds of insects floating around. 16:50.709 --> 16:54.780 align:start It's this food that draws them south. 16:54.813 --> 16:56.315 align:start First time I saw the trogon. 16:56.348 --> 16:57.649 align:start That's made the trip for us. 16:57.683 --> 16:59.551 align:start Yes. 16:59.551 --> 17:01.520 align:start That elegant trogon was just unbelieveable. 17:01.520 --> 17:03.956 align:start They'll strike this pose where they'll look there 17:03.989 --> 17:06.025 align:start very regally and then they'll sort of turn their head 17:06.058 --> 17:11.697 align:start sideways and sort of look down at you out of one eye. 17:11.730 --> 17:13.265 align:start There he goes. 17:13.265 --> 17:14.967 align:start The bird of the day. 17:15.000 --> 17:18.570 align:start Much better looking than my shirt. 17:21.373 --> 17:24.410 align:start Most of the plants here are unfamiliar to outsiders. 17:24.443 --> 17:26.812 align:start Fortunately Vicente has a natural knack 17:26.845 --> 17:28.781 align:start for describing them and their uses. 17:28.814 --> 17:30.482 align:start He has a kindred soul 17:30.482 --> 17:34.653 align:start in Mexican naturalist and guide Jesus Garcia. 17:38.123 --> 17:40.325 align:start Bacum in Mayo. 17:40.325 --> 17:42.327 align:start In Spanish it's batamote and if you cut the leaves of this 17:42.327 --> 17:44.263 align:start plant and you put it in your shoes, if you had 17:44.296 --> 17:49.201 align:start bad odor in your feet, basically this will take care of it. 17:49.201 --> 17:52.704 align:start If you have dandruff, you crush the leaves of the sip willow 17:52.738 --> 17:55.274 align:start and mix it with water and wash your hair with it 17:55.307 --> 17:57.976 align:start and you will take care of dandruff. 17:57.976 --> 18:01.513 align:start If you have like a urinary tract infection, 18:01.513 --> 18:04.249 align:start if you make a tea out of the thorns, 18:04.249 --> 18:08.187 align:start that would be good to help you pee. 18:16.428 --> 18:19.798 align:start The great sabinos, or bald cypresses as we call them, 18:19.798 --> 18:21.967 align:start ahuehuetes they call them in southern Mexico, 18:21.967 --> 18:24.903 align:start are a bird watcher's delight. 18:24.903 --> 18:27.473 align:start They're tall, they're open and it's easy to see 18:27.506 --> 18:31.376 align:start birds doing, well, what birds do. 18:31.376 --> 18:32.845 align:start They're now protected by the Mexican government 18:32.878 --> 18:34.847 align:start which is a good thing. 18:34.880 --> 18:37.049 align:start Because not too many decades ago they formed 18:37.082 --> 18:42.221 align:start the beams for many elegant homes in colonial Alamos. 18:44.923 --> 18:47.960 align:start Alamos was essentially put on the map as the next step 18:47.993 --> 18:53.866 align:start in a northern expansion by the Spanish. 18:53.899 --> 18:57.069 align:start And it became a relatively important beachhead 18:57.102 --> 19:00.906 align:start mostly due to the fact that the Yaqui Indians 19:00.939 --> 19:04.877 align:start weren't allowing the Spanish to proceed north. 19:04.910 --> 19:08.413 align:start During that time a lot of the expansion was sort of 19:08.413 --> 19:12.084 align:start piling up here in Alamos and then when eventually silver 19:12.117 --> 19:19.525 align:start was discovered that was really when it's hay day began. 19:19.558 --> 19:22.294 align:start Alamos became one of the richest cities in the world. 19:22.294 --> 19:24.496 align:start It had its own mint. 19:24.496 --> 19:26.131 align:start It was the capitol of northern Mexico 19:26.131 --> 19:29.334 align:start on two different occasions. 19:29.334 --> 19:31.537 align:start The architecture is a big draw to Alamos from the 19:31.570 --> 19:33.639 align:start tourism standpoint and rightfully so. 19:33.672 --> 19:35.541 align:start It's one of the most beautiful cities 19:35.574 --> 19:40.379 align:start certainly in northern Mexico. 19:40.412 --> 19:41.914 align:start Alamos is a fairly good size town. 19:41.947 --> 19:44.116 align:start Maybe six, seven thousand people. 19:44.149 --> 19:47.386 align:start And a lot of them depend upon the foreigners 19:47.419 --> 19:51.623 align:start who come in and restore houses, old colonial houses. 19:51.623 --> 19:54.359 align:start It's quite an industry, brings a lot of money to town, 19:54.359 --> 19:57.529 align:start and it's great in the winter months. 19:57.529 --> 19:59.765 align:start But in summer here it's hotter than blazes and a lot 19:59.798 --> 20:02.367 align:start of the foreigners leave so employment tends to dip 20:02.367 --> 20:06.438 align:start and it makes for a hardship in the very hot months. 20:09.374 --> 20:12.878 align:start In many of the old homes in Alamos people have moved out 20:12.911 --> 20:15.380 align:start and when people move out, other things move in. 20:15.380 --> 20:20.485 align:start I've heard there are bats. 20:25.390 --> 20:27.326 align:start There are also bats in the abandoned 20:27.359 --> 20:30.195 align:start silver mines of nearby Aduana. 20:30.195 --> 20:32.531 align:start It's pretty much a ghost town most of the year 20:32.564 --> 20:35.067 align:start except around November 20th when thousands 20:35.100 --> 20:39.771 align:start of pilgrims flock to the village. 20:43.842 --> 20:46.745 align:start So Vicente says it's a very common belief that 20:46.745 --> 20:50.682 align:start this organ pipe cactus grew out of the side of the church 20:50.682 --> 20:54.720 align:start right after it was built, more than three hundred years ago. 20:54.753 --> 20:58.190 align:start It is certainly the most revered plant in Sonora 20:58.223 --> 21:01.426 align:start and probably in all of northwest Mexico. 21:01.426 --> 21:03.962 align:start And how it continues to survive growing out of sheer stone 21:03.962 --> 21:07.432 align:start is anybody's guess but the thousands and 21:07.432 --> 21:12.504 align:start thousands of pilgrims who come here believe it's a miracle. 21:12.504 --> 21:15.107 align:start Everyone here who has made the pilgrimage is 21:15.140 --> 21:17.809 align:start fulfilling a promise to the Virgin Mary 21:17.809 --> 21:21.680 align:start as a result of a prayer they made, a request that 21:21.713 --> 21:27.085 align:start she has answered or will answer in the near future. 21:27.085 --> 21:29.988 align:start Since the Virgin Mary appeared here within this cactus, 21:29.988 --> 21:33.125 align:start it is said that the cactus, born out of rock, 21:33.158 --> 21:38.330 align:start is sacred in the image of the Virgin Mary. 21:38.363 --> 21:41.500 align:start Everyone who believes in this miracle comes here each year. 21:41.533 --> 21:45.570 align:start Some even come once a month. 21:45.570 --> 21:48.740 align:start And believers come by foot from towns as much as 21:48.740 --> 21:51.543 align:start sixty kilometers away like Navajoa. 21:51.543 --> 21:53.545 align:start It takes him twelve to eighteen hours 21:53.545 --> 21:56.615 align:start to walk here to see this sacred cactus. 21:56.648 --> 21:59.751 align:start They bring offerings of candles, flowers, crosses, 21:59.751 --> 22:04.389 align:start watches, pictures and so on. 22:07.292 --> 22:10.028 align:start It may look as though people are just camping out here, 22:10.028 --> 22:12.197 align:start doing nothing in particular. 22:12.197 --> 22:14.032 align:start But they really are the faithful. 22:14.032 --> 22:17.703 align:start They wait here with the hope that they, one time 22:17.736 --> 22:21.606 align:start in their lives, will get a vision of the Blessed Virgin. 22:21.606 --> 22:25.077 align:start This event has been going on for hundreds of years. 22:25.110 --> 22:28.213 align:start We come here to ask assistance for work, food 22:28.213 --> 22:32.984 align:start and mostly importantly for health. 22:38.623 --> 22:42.594 align:start In the light of day we venture into primeval Mayo forest, 22:42.594 --> 22:45.397 align:start a place where not many Mayos have visited. 22:45.430 --> 22:50.836 align:start This is Vicente's first time. 22:54.706 --> 22:56.341 align:start Vicente, have have you ever seen a forest like this one before? 22:56.341 --> 22:58.377 align:start What is different here? 22:58.410 --> 23:01.513 align:start The trees here are so tall. 23:01.513 --> 23:03.849 align:start Point out some plants that you are familiar with. 23:03.882 --> 23:09.654 align:start This is a bursera tree called the palo mulato. 23:09.654 --> 23:14.459 align:start It's widely used for sores. 23:14.459 --> 23:16.828 align:start It doesn't smell much, has a slightly sweet smell, 23:16.828 --> 23:23.034 align:start but you can see the red. 23:23.068 --> 23:25.337 align:start This bark is good for diabetes. 23:25.370 --> 23:28.840 align:start You brew it into a tea and drink and it helps alleviate it. 23:28.840 --> 23:35.380 align:start This is also, the tea from this, for cleaning out your bladder. 23:35.380 --> 23:40.352 align:start But it turns your urine red. 23:40.385 --> 23:45.757 align:start As you can tell, the reddish color does come off on things. 23:50.929 --> 23:52.397 align:start Where Vicente lives a tree 23:52.397 --> 23:54.633 align:start called the joso is the tallest one. 23:54.666 --> 23:56.368 align:start It's over thirteen meters tall, perhaps oh, 23:56.401 --> 23:59.704 align:start gets up to forty feet tall. 23:59.704 --> 24:02.007 align:start Figs here are the biggest tree 24:02.040 --> 24:03.809 align:start in the tropical deciduous forest. 24:03.842 --> 24:06.978 align:start They get up to sixty to seventy feet tall. 24:06.978 --> 24:09.080 align:start And they don't grow in a straight up and down fashion, 24:09.114 --> 24:10.449 align:start they wander all over the place. 24:10.482 --> 24:12.551 align:start They may grow in a twist. 24:12.584 --> 24:15.020 align:start They may grow into an almost pretzel. 24:15.053 --> 24:18.290 align:start But they are huge and they provide gobs of fruit 24:18.323 --> 24:20.992 align:start and it becomes a variable ecosystem 24:20.992 --> 24:25.630 align:start for all kinds of birds and mammals. 24:27.966 --> 24:30.702 align:start The land of the Mayos is hardly recognizable 24:30.702 --> 24:33.438 align:start from the way it was, oh, four hundred years ago. 24:33.438 --> 24:36.775 align:start But a great deal still remains for those who value 24:36.808 --> 24:42.881 align:start ancient knowledge and the discoveries of nature. 24:42.914 --> 24:45.817 align:start The Mayo lands with forests, thorn scrub and coastline, 24:45.817 --> 24:48.920 align:start are full of natural and cultural riches. 24:48.920 --> 24:52.057 align:start A new source of discovery for the adventurous visitor 24:52.090 --> 24:56.761 align:start and now a livelihood for the residents. 24:59.531 --> 25:02.200 align:start Next time on The Desert Speaks , 25:02.200 --> 25:05.504 align:start Santa Rosalía is the end of the line for the ferry 25:05.537 --> 25:10.342 align:start that leaves mainland Mexico and crosses the Gulf of California. 25:10.375 --> 25:15.146 align:start But it is the beginning of the adventure for exploring wild, 25:15.180 --> 25:20.719 align:start woolly and eccentric Baja California. 25:30.228 --> 25:36.401 align:start The use of organ pipe is really clear here. 25:36.401 --> 25:39.771 align:start It's a fence that has thousands of pieces of branches 25:39.771 --> 25:42.641 align:start that have been cut off, split and then made into a fence. 25:42.674 --> 25:45.210 align:start And it's, parts of it are thirty years old. 25:45.243 --> 25:46.778 align:start So if it doesn't rain a lot, it lasts as if 25:46.778 --> 25:48.547 align:start it were very strong wood. 25:48.580 --> 25:51.116 align:start It's hard to believe that an organ pipe fence is 25:51.149 --> 25:56.688 align:start the reality the best fence in the world where it's available. 25:59.257 --> 26:01.993 align:start Major funding for The Desert       Speaks was provided by 26:01.993 --> 26:05.263 align:start The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation. 26:05.263 --> 26:09.501 align:start Additional funding was provided by Desert Program Partners.