I know this thread is a bit old, but I recently went on a short 'vacation' and came back with some photos that I enjoy. Figured I'd share them here for the sake of sharing.
This was taken in Boquillas, Mexico. I crossed the Rio Grande in a boat and got a ride from the Mexican side of the river in a vehicle with a Mexican national who brought me to town. While there I ate dinner and walked around the small village, but while eating sat and chatted with this guy. My Spanish is almost non-existent, and his English wasn't very good either. We spoke for about 30 minutes though.
The man was in his mid 80's (I forget his exact age), and when I told him I did not believe his age he showed me his ID which showed he was born in the 1930's. He looked well and healthy for his age, despite having a broken leg at the time. His guitar was as old and wore out as he was, out of tune, and to be quite honest sounded pretty awful.
He asked me why I was travelling alone, and I told him I just like travel by myself. He said he was married for 18 years, and one day his wife was just gone. He said he never heard back from her, doesn't know where she went and he never re-married or found anyone else. They had 12 children together, one of which he told me was gunned down in a car elsewhere in Mexico years ago.
He said he used to have a large ranch that had hundreds of animals, however as he got older and was unable to care for them that people stole them and cut his fences. He now lives in town in a small house where he said he grew tomatoes, peppers, onions and had chickens.
Nice fella, but needs a new guitar or needs the existing one tuned....
This was taken on my property in SW Texas. Land out that way is comically cheap, and although this somewhat remote 20 acre plot is completely off grid it does actually border a fiber run from the local ISP. After contacting them, I have confirmed that they would run fiber to the property for a modest install fee!
While surveying the property and taking photos I kept noticing piles of shit... it was too small to be horse shit, so I assume it was from burros. On the second day returning to the property I was taking some photosphere images and panoramas when I started to hear some huffing/puffing from the brush. Sure enough, there were a couple wild burros on the property who were starting to get a bit territorial about me being there. Because I honestly do not know if they would attack if I got too close (I know they will stomp to death small animals like dogs/coyotes/cats/etc) I figured I didn't want to agitate them and let them be. After all, they were there first...
Wild burros/donkeys are increasingly rare so it was exciting to see them taking refuge on my property. There was also evidence of deer, rabbit, and saw quite a few coyote tracks. Saw no scorpions or signs of rattlesnakes, which is a plus, however they do exist in the region ( as well as bears and mountain lions).
Taken on the bank of the Rio Grande. The river/stream at it's deepest part is the international border between the USA and Mexico. I am taking this photo from the edge of the United States however could have walked to Mexico with ease as it is on the other side of this shallow area of water. In cities that border Mexico, there are big pushes to build large fences and have citizen/militia ran border patrols. Out here, there is none of that. On both sides of the border it remains so desolate and almost untouched that problems with immigration are
almost non-existent, as such, things remain as they have since forever and no fencing or large scale surveillance of the border is required in such areas.
Animals know no boundaries and borders. This photo was taken on US soil but these cattle are grazing on Mexican soil. A shallow stream separates the two countries and it's honestly not possible to tell (without checking the tags, if any) if the cattle is 'American' or 'Mexican'. They have dual citizenship and will come and go as they please on both sides of the river where it's not uncommon to see free range livestock.
Notice a theme yet?
The cliffs on the left are in Mexico. Where I am standing as well as the cliffs on the right are America. Between the two cliffs is a canyon created by the Rio Grande which flows between them and cuts east (left from this view) and follows the cliff base all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Got ton more, may add more later.
Most were actually taken with my S3 or my old Fujifilm Finepix something or another... I used to own a D60 years ago, which is now outdated, but would like to get a new DSLR, espeically as I begin to spend more time down in that region. It's such a beautiful and unique region that is more or less untouched and unchanged.
