Clients can embark on a Burro Safari at eco-tourism park Rancho Carisuva
Writer Steve MacNaull goes donkey hiking at eco-tourism park Rancho Carisuva to show Travel Courier readers that there's more to do in Cabo San Lucas than sitting on your ‘ass’
For one delusional moment, I thought I was in control. After all, the donkey I’ve been put in charge of – the adorable Quinto – is on a leash and he’s meant to follow me on this Burro Safari. But, no, Quinto and his buddies are smart, stubborn and independent-minded donkeys who will do what they want, when they want, how they want.
Therefore, they will hike with us, like dogs on a leash, for some of the time. But, when they want to, they’ll surge ahead and we have to drop the leash to avoid being dragged through the desert.
The donkeys will return when they want and we can lead them again, sometimes obediently and peacefully, sometimes while roughhousing with each other and sometimes while braying as a sign of protest or excitement – we’re never sure which.
My wife, Kerry, and I have joined this Burro Safari at eco-tourism park Rancho Carisuva just outside of Cabo San Lucas, at the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. Led by guide Romaine Cerf, I’m paired with Quinto, my wife has Eeyore (yes, the fictional donkey from the Winnie-the-Pooh books and cartoons) and British couple Mark and Dawn are leading burros named after Spanish kings – Carlos and Filipe, respectively.
Of course, there are the requisite jokes of asses hiking with asses and anyone who does anything stupid is labelled a jackass.
Kerry and I have vacationed in Cabo many times and done all the expected tourist activities from lounging at luxury all-inclusive resorts and tacos and margaritas on the beach to boat cruises past the famous Land’s End Arch and ATVing through the desert.
But, when we heard of hiking with donkeys it became our new bucket list obsession. In all, over an hour and a half, we probably only hiked three kilometres with the burros (the Spanish name for donkeys). But, what a spectacular and surreal three kilometres it was.
Starting from Rancho Carisuva’s donkey sanctuary, we trekked through the desert, admiring towering cardon cacti and date palm trees. We then emerged on Migreno Beach to stroll the sand while the surf crashed and humpback whales breached in the Pacific. Up a rocky slope we come to a clifftop overlooking the ocean and the long stretch of beach – the perfect, sunwashed photo stop for some tourist-donkey shots.
All the way, guide Romain peppers us with donkey, history and geography talk. For instance, the Baja Peninsula was formed when it split from the mainland 100 million years ago during the Cretacous period.
The resulting geography is a dramatic trifecta of arid mountains leading to cactus-studded desert to palm-treed beaches on the Pacific to the west and the Sea of Cortez to the east.
Donkeys of the Equus Africanus (African wild donkey) species came to Mexico in the 1600s with Spanish conquerors and helped develop the country as the ultimate beast of burden.
Donkeys have big ears to help keep them cool in the heat and they eat less and can carry more than horses, proportionately based on their size. They are intelligent, curious, resilient, friendly, hard-working and loyal.
Despite all this, donkeys tend to get a bad rap because they’re more stubborn and not as regal as horses. And, as people didn’t need donkeys anymore when they bought farm machinery and cars, they simply set them free.
Mexico’s feral donkey population peaked in the early-1990s at about 1.5 million, but today they are endangered and number only 300,000.
That’s led to donkey conservation efforts, including the 16 burros at Rancho Carisuva.
Every Burro Safari contributes to conservation awareness and funding.
Rancho Carisuva has also partnered with Baja Brewing, which features an illustration of a donkey on all its labels with the incentivisation of a bottle of beer at the end of a stick instead of the traditional carrot on a stick.
As such, Burro Safari participants can slug back a Baja beer at the end of the tour or, if they book a sunset safari, the beer is offered on the beach as the sun melts into the Pacific.
Baja Brewing’s real-life ambassador, Lolo, lived at Rancho Carisuva, and the donkeys’ diet has included spent grains leftover from the brewing process.
Rancho Carisuva also has horseback riding, ATVing and a seasonal baby turtle release program.
The Burro Safari is US$70, about $98 Canadian. Book at: https://carisuva.com/.
