[Sacred Succulents] Baja Botanical Journey

[benkamm at monitor.net]

(do not ?reply? to this email, send all correspondence to - 
sacredsucculents at hushmail.com )

7/5/11

Greetings to all,
Here is the info for the Baja trip our friends are organizing and we are 
contributing to this November. Contact Gabriela at the email below if you 
have questions.
Hope to see you there!

BAJA BOTANICAL JOURNEY: NOVEMBER 2?6, 2011
Come discover the Cape region of Baja California! Enjoy traveling with 
experienced plant experts, from the Sarcocaule desert, sacred cardon 
cactus forests and tropical coasts to the subtropical dry forests and 
oak/pine mountains of the Southeastern region of the Baja Peninsula. Here 
is a land where white granite takes on sensuous forms, where towering 
cardon cactus, aromatic copal trees, crystalline pools and feral 
hotsprings dream extinct dreams. Amazing diverse ecosystems home to myriad 
rare medicinal and edible cacti, succulents and other fascinating plants, 
as many as 88 endemic species. Visit Buena Fortuna Botanical Garden 
created by renowned botanist Gabriel Howearth. Enjoy deserted beaches, 
wildflower displays, exotic native fruits and voluminous nights brimming 
with stars. Learn about local plant uses and contribute to conservation 
efforts. Immerse in the calming medicine of the land. 
Join us for this incomparable adventure!
$750 dollars per person. Space is limited! Register Now!

Extension Trip: Journey to the Mountain Top of Sierra la Laguna: November 
6?9
With local guide and mules make the pilgrimage on foot from the 
subtropical dry forest canyons up through diverse changing habitats of 
cardon cactus, endemic oak and torote (copal oro) trees to the unique 
oak/pine ecosystem at the 5,600' mountain summit where we make camp. 
Marvel at the expansive views of the peninsula, learn about the unusual 
confluence of plant species found only in this rarely visited 
one-of-a-kind ecosystem.
Extension Trip $350
Prices include all in country transportation, lodging, food, guides and 
nature reserve fees. It does not include gratuities, airline tickets nor 
travel insurance.
With: 
Ben Kamm ? Director of Botanical Preservation Corps and Sacred Succulents 
nursery and seed bank. Ethnobotanical researcher and student of the 
herbalist traditions of the world. A conservation horticulturalist working 
with ecologically innovative propagation methods of rare beneficial 
plants. Ben is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of 
traditional and contemporary plant knowledge as well as the plants 
themselves.
Dennis Sharmahd  - Edible Landscaper, Herbalist, Mycologist. Dennis has 
been exploring Baja since he was a child. Cultivates rare and edible 
cactus fruits on his farm in Escondido, CA. He has been teaching about 
wild edible & medicinal plants for almost 30 years.
Gabriela Flores ? Conservationist, Baja guide and trip coordinator
For registration and other inquiries contact Gabriela at - 
Gabriela at ecobaja.com 
www.ecobaja.com

TRIP ITINERARY
Wednesday Nov 2nd
Arrival in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Lovely drive from coastal desert to the mountain foothills and our base 
camp at Rancho Acacia, a beautiful traditional ranch nested inside the 
Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve. This solar powered ranch was built 
from local materials by the residents and our stay supports conservation 
and sustainable travel in the area. Our rustic camp is sheltered by a huge 
?zalate?, one of the native fig trees, Ficus palmeri, and surrounded by 
many other interesting native plants such as Baja black sapote in full 
fruit, ?palo de arco? Tecoma stans, with its vibrant yellow blooms buzzing 
with the activity of native pollinators, scrambling ?San Miguel coralvine? 
Antigonon leptopus, with brilliant displays of ruby colored flowers. A 
short walk from camp is the river and white granite slopes covered in 
semitropical dryland forest full of a diversity of cacti (Pachycereus, 
Stenocereus, Lophocereus, Pereskiopsis, Ferocactus, Mammillaria), Yucca, 
Jatropha trees, huge ?torote? (copal) trees (6 Bursera species in the Cape 
region!), bizarre Fouquieria, the pineapple relative Hechtia, Heimia 
salicifolia, several palms, oaks, morning glories, and all manner of 
fascinating birds, butterflies frogs and lizards.
Amongst all of this wondrous diversity we?ll make our introductions and 
share dinner together.
Thursday Nov 3rd
After breakfast we make a short excursion to another local ranch inside 
the nature reserve. Here the knowledgeable rancher will guide us through 
his groves of grapefruit and mango and on a medicinal plant walk within 
the native forest. All of the original natives tribes of southern Baja 
perished shortly after Spanish arrival, so those who now have the deepest 
relations to the native flora are ranchers like our guide Catarino, whose 
families have been in the region since just after Mexico?s independence. 
If our timing is fortuitous we will be able to sample some delicious 
native fruits like the ?hog plum? from the thick gnarled trunked 
Cyrtocarpa trees and ?pitaya agria? from the Stenocereus cactus. We?ll 
share a tasty locally prepared meal in the shade of the mango grove and go 
for swim in the large granite pools that have been carved out by the 
steady caress of the river over millennia. After returning to our camp 
we?ll have time to relax and better explore the surroundings before 
dinner.
Friday Nov 4
Breakfast then a drive through cardon and torote forests to another canyon 
where natural hot springs bubble up in shallow rocky pools along the 
creek. After a rejuvenating soak we can share lunch and make the easy hike 
further up the watershed to swim in a series of deep emerald pools carved 
into the multicolored granite rocks. Here we will get to see endemic Agave 
and Plumeria, along with additional species of palms, cacti, Erythrina 
flabelliformis and the other unique dry forest trees. Dinner back at base 
camp.
Saturday Nov 5
After breakfast we drive to the coast on the Sea of Cortez and Cabo Pulmo 
Marine Reserve for a morning swim in the warm waters of the bay. The bay 
cradles the only hard coral reef in the region and a high diversity of 
marine life. A walk through the nearby coastal landscape reveals a 
wonderland of naturally dwarfed and bonsai Bursera, Fouquieria, and 
Jatropha, caudiciform Ibervillea vines, succulent Pedilanthus, and cacti 
such as Echinocereus, Cochemia, and the rare Wilcoxia striata. Here we can 
also pay our respects to Mexico?s most famous aphrodisiacal herb, Damiana, 
growing in the sandy granitic soil. Next is a tour and lunch at the nearby 
Buena Fortuna Bioenergetic Botanical Garden created by Gabriel Howearth, 
world renowned botanist, landscape architect and Seeds of Change 
cofounder. This fantastic collection contains 3,700 species of rare and 
endangered plants from the far corners of the world. We?ll get to spend 
the rest of the day in the garden learning with Gabriel about his unique 
vision and the joys and trials of ex-situ plant conservation.
Sunday Nov 6
A final celebratory farewell breakfast together at base camp. Transfer to 
Los Cabos for those flying out. Departure of those hiking up the mountain 
for the extension trip.

Extension Journey to Sierra la Laguna Mountaintop

Sunday Nov 6
With our local guide and mules we begin the full day 8 mile hike up the 
mountain through the changing diversity of forests and landscapes. As 
subtropical dry forest gives way to a more oak and torote dominated forest 
we?ll see new species of Jatropha, Passiflora, Dudleya, Arracacia, Begonia
, cacti, rock ferns, flowering bulbs, morning glories and more. Our final 
destination is the endemic oak/pine forest that covers the valley at the 
5,600'+ mountain top. We?ll set up camp here and have dinner.
Monday Nov 7
Full day at the top of mountain for amazing views of the surrounding 
peninsula and exploration of the unique oak/pine forest, a rarely visited 
ecosystem that is a confluence of plant species from further north in 
California and the southern mountains of Central America and the Andes! 
Here we will get to learn more about the uses of the local plants and see 
Nolina, a stately kin of Yucca, understory plants including several 
species of aromatic marigold, large colonies of the purple flowered 
salvia-like Lepechinia, tuberous Peperomia, Oxalis, ferns and orchids. 
Meals at camp.
Tuesday Nov 8
After breakfast we have the day to hike back down the mountain, further 
observing and communing with the varying flora and fauna as we descend. 
Return to Rancho Acacia late afternoon, set up camp and share a final 
dinner together under the branches of the magnificent zalate tree. Time to 
celebrate and reminisce what we have observed and discovered during our 
travels through this enchanting land. 
Wednesday Nov 9
The final farewell breakfast and departure.


SACRED SUCCULENTS
PO Box 781, Sebastopol, CA 95473 USA
Email: sacredsucculents at hushmail.com
http://www.sacredsucculents.com
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