Humberto Garcia takes an early morning dip this May in the Gulf of California.
The following interview took place on May 25, 2022.
Communique Editor: When did you and Humberto Garcia make your trip this year to Baja Sur, Mexico.
Gene: The dates we went are May 10-16, 2022.
Communique Editor: And when did you begin speaking with Humberto about residing on the property?
Gene: Well, we’ve been talking about that for many years really. But a few things got in the way. First of all, Covid set us back. Then we were waiting for Humberto to retire from his teaching position. And so it’s become possible now.
Communique Editor: When he came to visit for a month, that was part of the initial plan, to have him go down there with you and check the place out, and make arrangements with him. What things happened down there to help him get settled?
Gene: Well, remember that he went down with me when I first went down on my first trip. That was in 2015. So he joined me there at that time. But we didn’t have the property at that time. We were just checking the place out. So this has been quite a process actually.
Communique Editor: After those seven years had passed, we’ve owned the property now for –
Gene: – Five years.
Communique Editor: During this trip, did you introduce him to anyone in particular that would help him?
Andrew Tuck speaks with Humberto Garcia at the Earthblocks manufacturing site.
Gene: He met with everybody we work with down there. He met Andrew Tuck, who of course is our main person there; and he’s the earth block manufacturer. He’s also the designer and the engineer, and he has a vision for what we want to do. Andrew also has the connections with the Legacy group. That is important, because that is the environmental group that wants to do something very unique on that side of the Baja Peninsula.
Communique Editor: We have an article on what they are doing in the Communique already, which we will link to: 2019 Baja California Sur Impact Expedition.
Gene: And you might link to their website also (http://legacyworksgroup.com/) because they have a good writeup on what they are doing in Baja on their web site. And while we were there in Mexico, I found out that Humberto’s first degree was in environmental science.
Communique Editor: He has a PhD in environmental science as well.
Gene: I didn’t know this until we were there. And Andrew started talking with Humberto about the Legacy Group. So Andrew and Humberto were able to talk very technically about the science of it all. We are in a very unique position because we are, basically, at the center of the zone that they are trying to create as this environmentally protected area. So the place that we chose in El Cardonal is actually turning out to be something we didn’t even realize when we bought the place. It’s a pretty perfect location.
Humberto on the property in front of the Cardon.
Communique Editor: And the idea is for Humberto to move down there as soon as possible, possibly by the end of the year, I understand.
Gene: That would be great.
Communique Editor: And while he’s down there, … Let me put it this way, I guess the plan now for the property has been modified. It’s going to take certain stages.
Gene: Right. We are going to start with the first stage, which is building a residence for Humberto, which will also have a guest room and an office so that he can do the Cosolargy and the Jamilian University work. He’s going to be the perfect person to be there, not only because it’s his country but because of his background with environmental science. He’s going to be a perfect representative for us with the Legacy people and all of the scientists that are there, the environmentalists.
Communique Editor: And while he’s there on the property, I understand that he is going to be doing some developing of the property. I understand there is also talk of a garden and fruit trees and things like that.
Gene: Right.
Communique Editor: I understand that the initial plan for development includes the house for Humberto, but also the infrastructure for something more. Is that right?
Gene: Yes. We don’t really know exactly what that is at this point, but we are going to be putting in … Remember, we already have water and electricity to the property. So that’s already there. The first step is to put in the septic system, which we want to make sure can accommodate up to four structures. What those will be at this point in time we don’t know.
Communique Editor: And all of that probably will create an environment that we will then build within. And so the placement of all of these things will be –
Gene: We’ll know more next month when Andrew comes up with a new plan. And he needs about a month to do that. The other interesting thing is that when Humberto met with Andrew, I introduced him to Kevin O’Leary, who was our real estate person. He’s very well connected down there because he lives there. So that was a good connection for him to make. We are in the process of getting the beach concession.
Communique Editor: What is that?
Gene: In Mexico you cannot own the beach, but you can limit who can do things on the beach in front of your property with a beach concession. You have to own it, which means you get a license from the federal government so that other people can’t do certain things in front of your property. Kevin has been very adamant that we need to get that, and so it seems like a good time. Right now Humberto also met with our accountant, and he met Cal and Janice Abel, who sold us the property and who have offered to pay for the septic infrastructure.
Cal Abel points out the location of the first building development on the property.
Communique Editor: Wow! So we are getting help.
Gene: Yeah. We are getting help from the people who sold us the property. And they live in Cardonal.
Communique Editor: Oh?
Gene: So they are right there.
Communique Editor: We are going to be working with the property as a Center for Cosolargy in Latin America. Could it also work as a local center in relation to some aspect of the Legacy program?
Gene: Well, I think so. Again, I haven’t met with them. There is supposed to be a big conference in December in Los Barriles that we’re invited to attend. So we’ll be going to that. We’ll know more in December.
Communique Editor: Okay. I’ll look forward to hearing about that.
Gene: But I think they are looking for a place to put a learning center, which we might offer.
Communique Editor: Well, that sounds great.
