The Oasis

            Oases have always amazed me. The idea that in the midst of a completely dry climate and desert environment that there is one place of wetness almost seems fictitious. Getting to see one in person was just as astounding. Driving down the roads of Bahía, we were surrounded by towering sand mountains higher than I had ever before.  Straining my neck just to see the tops of the peaks, I could feel my anticipation rising. 

            Once we got into the dune buggies that were planning on driving us around the dunes to go sand boarding, everyone’s excitement had peaked. And as we rode through the dunes, with the same adrenaline rush that one gets from a roller coaster, it was breathtaking to just look outside the window and gaze at the rolling dunes. 

            As we drove across the barren desert, it was hard to imagine that just across one of these dunes there was a place where water and life is able to grow. The way that the space around the oasis covered and protected it made me wonder how a group of people was able to happen upon such a place. Covered by sand dunes on all sides, it truly is a miracle to think that someone just happened to find this place.  In addition to the way that the oasis is set up, it is also amazing to see how a group of people has lived and thrived since its discovery. Bahía was a reminder of how a group of people is able to utilize the nature and space around them in order to flourish and the grow as a civilization.