Back in September the AP Environmental Science class took a trip to Bamberger Ranch out in Hill Country, Texas. The ranch is famous for being a conservation effort: in his 50s, David Bamberger (the founder of Church’s Chicken) decided that he wanted to buy the most barren and destitute piece of land in Texas in order to work to restore it. So, he was led to his now ranch, Bamberger Ranch, also known as Selah, which means ‘a pause’ in Hebrew. Many people were doubtful, but Bamberger was dedicated to his hopes of conservation: after an effort spanning decades involving chopping invasive trees to promote biodiversity, restoring aquifers, and building the world’s first chiroptorium (an artificial bat cave), Bamberger Ranch is now a beautiful 5,000-acre ranch, which continues to preserve local ecology and provide educational opportunities for schools.
The AP Environmental Science class, though we were very excited about the trip, were also a little skeptical at first, for various reasons. We’d miss several days of important classes, have to cook for ourselves, and most dauntingly, live in the middle of nowhere with no cell phone service. We’d always heard about the pastoral trope in literature, though, of the corrupt city and the healing countryside. In ninth grade we read Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” and last year we heard more about the peaceful properties of nature in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” We studied and analyzed and discussed these experiences, but we never truly experienced it with all of our classmates. So was it really going to be healing all of us? Would it be as hakuna-matata as anticipated? Would it be worth the bug bites and missed Calc BC lessons? Would we receive our optimal protein intake? Would that even matter?
We headed down to Bamberger Ranch on a Saturday morning, split between a suburban and a van. The drive down took us through rural Texas, where we spotted many farm animals, to which we would yell out “horse!”, “cows!”, and one time “llama!” We stopped for lunch at Storms Drive-In. While the food wasn’t our favorite, it was a fun introduction to small-town Texas. We continued the drive down, and as we neared the ranch, sent out our last messages to our families. In the afternoon and into the night, we settled in and enjoyed the nature. We took a scenic walk, learned the ins and outs of ultimate frisbee, and had our first dinner. (The deer also got their first dinner: we fed them our scraps after every meal!) We could already feel our minds, bodies, and souls healing as we snuggled into our sleeping bags to go to bed.
On the second day of the trip, we started bright and early. For breakfast one of the groups made pancakes and tacos, and we ate outside, taking in the crisp Hill Country air and the beautiful scenery. One of my favorite things from the trip was the accessibility to the outdoors. We were still reeling from having what seemed like a million stars in the sky the night before. (It was the coolest thing. There were parts of the sky with so many stars that the darkness was instead a lighter shade of gray. Several of us stood outside just admiring the stars for a good part of the night). So being able to be outside in nature was so refreshing, especially in comparison to the quickness with which we typically eat breakfast indoors when rushing to school in the morning. It was really a time to reflect.
Our healing continued later in the morning as we took a hike listening for bird calls, and after some fun games of BS and Uno over lunch, we hopped onto the ranch’s trailer to go around and do a tour of the whole place. The weather was perfect, so being on the trailer and chatting and laughing with friends with classical acoustic music in the background made for the best experience. On the tour we got to fish and collect small creek insects, and most importantly, we got to meet Mr. Bamberger himself. He doesn’t meet with school visitors often, so the fact that he invited us to his home to see a project he had been working on was such a unique and amazing experience. Also, meeting him after touring his ranch and seeing all the amazing things he helped to save made us appreciate all that he had to say so much more. Later that night was an even cooler experience: after dinner, we walked a rather treacherous 20 minutes uphill to the ranch’s batcave. It was well worth it, though; the experience we had was actually one-of-a-kind. 500,000 bats live in the ranch’s cave, and over the span of about 10 minutes, we saw them all emerge in a giant mob, the experience of which really connected us all to the majesticness of nature.
At this point in the trip, we were all so bonded from the combination of different card games, hikes, lake adventures, and semi-awkward bathroom conversations while being unplugged from technology and the internet that no matter how tired we were at the end of the day, it was all worth it on the ranch. We went to sleep with even more excitement for the next day.
The next morning was another early one. We enjoyed some cinnamon rolls and more breakfast tacos. Then, it was back on the trailer, and we could hardly keep our excitement under control. The trailer is decidedly the best way to travel; there’s nothing quite like having the wind blow through your hair as you enjoy a beautiful day. We had many stops to make in the trailer, each of them equally exciting as the next. We started off by visiting dinosaur tracks that were uncovered when rain washed away the dirt on top of them. The dinosaur made huge imprints in the ground that were as well-preserved as any. Of course there was nothing to do but roleplay as the dinosaur, attempting to make the strides of the dinosaur as well as the noises. I’m not sure I’ll ever forget US Assistant Head Paula Weatherholt trying to reach towards each footprint, arms scrunched up in classic T-Rex form, and roaring as a dinosaur. The next stop was a Native American artifact site, where we were tasked to find pieces of flint and arrowheads. It turns out that some are naturally inclined to be able to find these things, and others, like me, will dig endlessly and never find anything. Nevertheless, it was fun trying, and I (Maya) learned that I was relatively handy with a rake. We then visited and learned about the herd of scimitar-horned oryx that live on the ranch; they are an endangered species in Africa, and the ranch is working to preserve their population. After a quick lunch, we headed to an area that would allow us to reflect on our time at the ranch. We sat on rocks in the wooded Texas forest where we read a short story and rehashed much of what we had learned. There was a certain moment when we were looking around ourselves and realized how important the efforts of the ranch were. Not only had they brought life back to the ranch – water, wildlife, and so many plants – but they were actively working to teach people how to care for the environment around them. We felt inspired.
As we headed back to our cabin, we realized how much being around nature had healed me. We were feeling happier and more energetic than we had ever been. We carried this feeling with ourselves as we prepared to make our very controversial, low-protein dinner. That night, love was our protein. We poured as much of it into our cream tomato sauce pasta, garlic bread, and Caesar salad: the group loved it. Having not been able to take advantage of the lake when making dinner, a group of us went down to the lake to test the waters. We took the canoe out and rowed around the lake a couple of times. Although it took awhile to get the steering correct, being out on the water was one of the best times at the ranch. We pulled the boat to the dock in the middle of the lake, and a couple of us brave souls decided to risk brain-eating amoebas to take a dip in the water. The water was perfect, everything from the temperature to the scenery; the only complaint I (Maya) had was the slimy algae tickling my toes. We spent the rest of the night on the cabin’s patio with everybody enjoying each other’s company and the outside air. There couldn’t have been a better conclusion to the trip.
For our final morning we woke up at 6:30 to pick everything up and leave the house better than we found it. After practicing the intricacies of mopping, sweeping, and snack-packing, we said goodbye to Bamberger and loaded up in the vans.
Going back on our phones with unlimited service as we got closer to society was strange. There were several days of Instagram posts and Snapchat streaks to keep up with, and it was honestly overwhelming. We were going back to the corruptness of the city. We stopped by San Marcos, Texas to tour a marsh and take a clear-bottomed boat tour in the spring. Also on our way back, we enjoyed and reviewed chicken sandwiches, rice-krispies treats, and burritos. We all chatted on the ride back. We came back to Country Day and said goodbye to our healing pastoral adventure, but the APES class remains bonded.
Overall, Bamberger was the best time. Our grade never did Vicksburg or Big Bend, so this was really an experience we hadn’t had since visiting Sky Ranch or Camp Thurman when we were younger. It was a great experience to get to know and do all sorts of fun things with classmates that we don’t always get to spend time with, so it was the quintessential “everyone-comes-together” senior year experience. If you’re an underclassman, we cannot recommend taking APES enough.
