You can cross on foot or pay a couple of bucks to be taken across in a row boat. (Sergio Chapa/Borderzine.com)

Big Bend: A park, a ghost town and crying rocks

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After a hearty breakfast, Lupita and I set out for Big Bend National Park and the Boquillas border crossing. It was a two-hour drive with no cell phone service to the town of Study Butte where we made a pit stop. We were puzzled to watch a woman mumbling to herself and waging an unceasing war with a flyswatter to kill flies on a bench outside the store. For every fly that she killed, five more seemed to take its place. It was a 100 degrees and seemed too hot to expend that much energy on anything.

Amistad Dam also serves as an international border crossing. (Sergio Chapa/Borderzine.com)

Del Río, Ciudad Acuña, la Presa Amistad y el Cañón Seminole

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Más sobre energía, creencias, redes sociales, y paisajes en la frontera
Los temas que quiero abordar hoy, y en los que me baso para relatar esta parte del viaje, son muy variados y no están necesariamente muy vinculados entre sí. Esta parte del trayecto en particular, nos permitió ver muchos contrastes que me hicieron reflexionar en distintas direcciones. Hoy quiero hablar un poco más sobre el sector de los energéticos en la frontera y el futuro de la industria de los hidrocarburos en México. Además, hablaré sobre las dimensiones culturales de los movimientos sociales—incluyendo las creencias religiosas y las redes sociales. Finalmente, mencionaré nuestro paso por (e impresiones de) dos sitios muy interesantes cuya visita disfrutamos muchísimo: La Presa Amistad y el sitio histórico y parque estatal del Cañón Seminole.

The beautiful Rio Grande River at the foot of Amistad Dam. (Sergio Chapa/Borderzine.com)

In the Del Rio area a clean Rio Grande River alternated in color from emerald green to sapphire blue

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It was hard for Lupita and I to leave Eagle Pass. We had only spent one night there and there was so much more to see. But our trip along the border needed to continue. We took U.S. Highway 277 North, a Hill Country Highway that hugs the Rio Grande River. It’s only a one-hour trip but we drove through the towns of Elm Creek and Quemado as well as pecan farms and ranches.