| Rancho El Aribabi is half an hour East of Imuris and stretches (the long dimension - 10,000 acres total area) from the Rio Cocospera up into the Sierra Azul. The owner is attempting to diversify from destructive cattle ranching by using the ranch for research, hunting, birdwatching, camping, retreats and the like. He has taken cows off much of the ranch, which is recovering nicely. The Rio Cocospera flows strongly through the ranch and has a huge cottonwood gallery with very impressive individual trees harboring quite a collection of bird life. The mountainous upper ranch is encinal (oak forest) and oak savannah. The grasslands between trees is gorgeous and has recovered amazingly well from cattle. In the 45 minute drive to our mammal tracking site we saw nearly 20 deer and as soon as we stepped out of the truck mountain lion tracks greeted us. Carlos owns the ranch and is interested in having more people come out. He has a basic website at www.elaribabi.org with a contact email. |
