When you think of birds, dragonflies and butterflies, you are likely to think of spring. Indeed, the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is a metaphor for just that. It looks about to burst and flower at any moment. Rare bird species are spotted seemingly by the hour, new art centers, habitats for people as well as animals, develop over night. The Valley is in bloom. Over 500 hundred species of birds have been identified and still counting.

The Lower Rio Grand Valley is comprised of four counties-with McAllen, Texas as its premier venue. However, many expand it as reaching from the beaches of San Padre Island to the bustle of Brownsville. The area attracts veteran birders to the several World Birding Centers that dot the area, as well as shoppers looking for the best in South Western and Mexican design.

Road Trip to the Valley

If you go, don't expect to be idle. The Valley could have developed as a languid border area, conducive to drinking margaritas in the long, hot part of the day. Alternatively, it could have become a tropical hideaway for a handful of naturalists keeping the beauty and diversity to themselves. Instead, it opted to create festivals all types of festivals--- to make the region one big party place that celebrates food, culture, art and most of all birds and butterflies. Where else could a region support a dragonfly festival, as well as an art incubator where budding artists can develop their talent into a business?

When you first head for the Valley, you may want to start in McAllen, a city on the go. The near by Mexican town of Progreso is so typico that shopping for cheap silver and souvenirs is a deja vue of anywhere in Mexico you might already have visited. However, it is no match for the fine design and art that you find on the American side.
Just across the border, on the US side, are emporiums that handle Mexican crafts of higher quality than you will find in Progreso, but lower prices than in the Valley boutiques.

But, to send you to the Valley to shop is like sending you to New York to bird watch. You can, but there are better things to do. South Texas is an eco tropic with great surprises. One such surprise is the salt flats of Sal Del Rey, the salt of the king.

Nature at it's Best

Driving alongside the mangroves and bald cypress, you begin to smell the salt air. If you do not, consider taking a wilderness course during which you will learn anew how to see, smell, hear and taste out in the wild. Christina R. Montoya, Refuge Operations Specialist with the National Wild Life Refuge will teach you animal tracking, living off the land, navigation through orienteering, and fire building. Overnight camping is optional, but available. The price is $75 for the overnight and $55 for the day. Christina can also incorporate wilderness training during a two hour walking experience for your group, if you call ahead. The special environment in which this all takes place supports the salt marsh where wild pigs, walking on ballerina feet, and rabbits and deer roam. There is also coyote, land snails, land turtles and Niel Gai, striated antelope brought in from Africa and proliferating as the climate is as friendly as the Savanna for such animals.

Another surprise is the climate. of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Warm air from the Gulf, dry air from the Chihuahua desert, makes a tropical setting. This in turn attracts the birds, insects butterflies and flowers that are the centerpiece of the many naturalist festivals. Most prominent is the place of children at these events. Often as many as two thousand are bused in to enjoy, learn and rejoice. The ultimate hope is that the experience will inspire a generation of adults who care about the land, and are ready to sacrifice the latest strip mall to preserve it.

For tourists, it is a place like no other, which is good news and bad news. To stop a trampling hoard from destroying this delicate environment, you will find that groups are small and staggered. The trips are inexpensive and government subsidized. The company of leading entomologist Robert Pyle, author of Audubon's Butterfly Field Guide, enhanced my canoe trip along the Rio Grande. Dr. Pyle was traveling with his delightful biologist wife for the annual butterfly festival, at which he is tantamount to a rock star.

Although hundreds participate in the festivals, events are planned with environment in mind; birders can see truly rare species, as experts guides understand the human decorum necessary to coax these birds out of the wild.. I have not experienced such a number and variety of birds anywhere outside the rain forests of Panama.

After a thoughtful day of communing with nature, have a Margarita, apple or otherwise, at the many genuinely good restaurants in Mc Allen..

IF YOU GO:
*Call* Nancy Millar of the McAllen Convention and Visitor's Bureau to discover the rich birding venues and World Birding Center locations, shopping, restaurants, jaunt s into Mexico and a new birding adventure in Costa Rica and McAllen.
956-682-2871, www.mcallencvb.com

Visit the MCA2 CREATIVE INCUBATOR WHERE LOCAL ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS DISPLAY THEIR CREATIONS-1001S.16T STREET MCALLEN, TEXAS

IMAS-INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE, 1900 NOLANA AVENUE, MCALLEN, TEXAS

NUEVA SANTANDER GALLERY-717 NORTH MAIN STREET-ANTIQUES AND THE GENERAOR OF THE ART WALKS IN MCALLEN

SAL DEL REY, WILDLIFE REFUGE,CHRISTINA MONTOYA 956-784-7540

BERG'S ESSENTIAL RATING SYSTEM-ON A SCALE OF 1-5

COST $$
FIND YOUR MUSE-5
MEET PEOPLE-4
SAFETY-4
LIFELONG LEARNING5
SOFT ADVENTURE-5
HARD ADVENTURE-3
NEW OPPORTUNITES-5
GOOD PLACE TO LIVE 5
BRAGGING RIGHTS-3
LUXUY AND PAMPERING-2

Adriane Berg is an attorney Counsel to the New York and Morristown, New Jersey Law fiorm of Riker Danzig, specializing in elder law and longevity. Her latest book is, "How Not To Go Broke at 102:Achieiving Everlasting Wealth," Wiley 2005. In her parallel life, Adriane is a travel journalist specializing in soft adventure and luxury travel.