Canadian World Traveller Spring 2023 Issue

10
Saguaros, Sunshine and Sumptuous Gastronomy
Smitten with Tucson, Arizona
Article and photography by Jennifer Merrick
Though prickly and somewhat intimidating,
I fell in love at first sight.
Driving to Tucson, the saguaro cacti
stood proud in the desert with their arms
stretched out high. The landscape was so
alien from the pines and mixed hardwoods
of home that I felt I had jumped through the
TV of my childhood and landed in an
episode of The Road Runner Show.
With an average height of 40 feet, the
saguaro image is a symbol of the American
West. In fact, it only grows in the Sonoran
Desert and can be found almost exclusively
in southern Arizona and western Sonora,
Mexico.
But in this limited area they were plentiful.
And wherever we went, this King of Cactus
greeted us.
At the Desert Museum, my appreciation
deepened when I learned the life span of
the slow-growing plant was between 150 –
200 years, and that it took 50 to 75 years
for their arms to appear. The 98-acre property
was more a combination of botanical
garden and wildlife preserve than a ‘museum’.
Not only did we find out more about
my newly beloved saguaros, but we also
viewed indigenous wildlife (including
Mexican gray wolves, mule deer and the
pig-like javelinas), marvelled at the colours
and varieties at the interpretive cacti gardens,
oohed and aahed at the gemstones
displayed in an underground cave and
hiked the Desert Loop Trail.
Surrounded by my latest infatuation, I was
reluctant to leave. But I needn’t have worried.
We drove away on the scenic Gate’s
Highway, where hundreds of giant spiny
arms saluted as we wound our way through
the Tucson Mountains.
Once in the city, a rival Tucsonan suitor vied
for my affection –gastronomy.
“Tucson punches way above its weight when
it comes to food,” said Chef Mat Cable, coowner
of Zio Pepe, an Italian eatery. He
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