Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Mission, TX

If you enjoy birding, hiking or viewing all kinds of plants and wildlife, this is the park for you. The meandoring Rio Grande River provides the only boundary between two friendly nations that depend on each other and have cooperated to build the Falcan Dam. Between the dam and Gulf of Mexico exists a diverse land that separates two hemispheres. It's beauty and rich forms of animal and plant life must be preserved. Only a total of 10,000 acres are left from the original Rio Grande Valley ecosystem.

Our tram guides pointed out many points of interest. Among them was an old cemetary left as the only remembrance of the Viejo family, who once owned the 2200 acres which make up the refuge. Just like at the state park we had visited, the birds are unique and beautiful. Adjacent to the park is a farm where thousands of heads of cabbage were being harvested by migrant workers.

On our last visit to the Refuge, we took a three-hour canoe trip down the Rio Grande River. Our guides were most helpful as they pointed out many different kinds of birds that inhabit the area.

The large dark birds are chachalacas.

Following that trip and a picnic lunch near the bird feeders, we rode our bikes for a seven mile trip around and through the refuge. By the time we arrived back at our trailer, we knew we were no longer young.