World Wildlife Fund

Join WWF’s Cathy Plume for an insider account of how WWF is conserving this place. Meet local people whose eco-businesses are the hope of this desert. Experience nighttime border crossings, a day on horseback and the culture of the Southwest. Learn what WWF and partners are doing to keep water flowing through the Rio Grande – while also meeting the needs of the five million people who call this desert home. 

Part 1: Arrival in Chihuahua | Part 2: Goals and Ghouls | Part 3: Thirsty Rivers | Part 4: Hermelinda's Story | Part 5: Señor Vallina's Vision | Part 6: Bighorn Sightings | Part 7: Starry Night | Part 8: Coffee and Congress | Part 9: Re-thinking Water | Part 10: Conserving Together

Part 7: Starry Night

"The Brits" (Dave Tickner and Rob Shore of WWF-UK) on horseback during our bighorn sheep tracking expedition.
© WWF/Cathy Plume

Around 3PM we hit the road and head to the border towards Las Cruces, New Mexico.  For the Mexican team members and me it was a cinch to get across into the U.S.  For the Brits, it was a bigger ordeal. After flagging the car through, we had to wait while they got their visas processed.  By this time it was well after 9PM and there was still quite a bit of traffic – most of it going from Mexico into the U.S. 

While we waited for the Brits, I chatted with the border guards.  I learned that they’d just had a drug trafficking incident before we arrived and that’s why it was taking so long for the Brits to get through.  During our chat I asked them how their families enjoyed living in Presidio. They looked at me as though I was crazy.  None of their families live in Presidio – where there is no mall or other services.  They live in El Paso and the guards travel the three hours north on their days off to spend time with them.  All of them applied to work in El Paso, but Presidio was as close as they could get.  Since many of the border crossings are even more remote, they considered themselves lucky to be here. 

Finally, the Brits make it through.  We hit the road and spot javelinas and deer in the headlights. I look up and see the Milky Way stretching across the night sky. It’s lonesome and beautiful and the landscape seems endless.  We finally arrive in Las Cruces at 1am.

Part 1: Arrival in Chihuahua | Part 2: Goals and Ghouls | Part 3: Thirsty Rivers | Part 4: Hermelinda's Story | Part 5: Señor Vallina's Vision | Part 6: Bighorn Sightings | Part 7: Starry Night | Part 8: Coffee and Congress | Part 9: Re-thinking Water | Part 10: Conserving Together