Rancho La Bellota – Our Story
In the winter of 2005, my husband Raul and I became the owners of Rancho La Bellota (la-bay-o-ta), a 2,800 acre horse/guest ranch located just 40 miles south of the Tecate, Ca. Border in Baja California, Mexico.
Prior to buying our ranch, we were working at another ranch for 10 years, in partnership with my husband’s uncle, Uncle Kiki, until his untimely death in the winter of 2002. After that, life at the ranch was not the same and we began to contemplate the possibility, a dream really, of owning our own ranch someday. We knew we wanted to continue the ranch life style that literally changed the course of our lives for the better.
After three years of searching, we heard about an abandoned cattle ranch for sale, and went to take a look. The land had plenty of water, fire wood, quiet canyons, beautiful oak groves, and was nestled within a secluded valley which was perfect for what we wanted to do. Raul and I were aware of the great financial risk involved because we didn’t have money for such a purchase. After many long discussions, well into the late hours of the night, we decided to follow our dreams. We sold just about everything we had to put together a down payment for the land.
We knew in our hearts we couldn’t ignore what brought such happiness into our lives. The lessons we learned about life, people, and ourselves were no match to any school of learning in the world.
The people we met over the years, the friendships we developed, the outdoors and horses were what we enjoyed most. They fed our souls and we both knew we wanted to continue this way of life for as long as we possibly could.
Some people are skeptical when it comes to these matters but I believe we are here on this earth for a significant purpose. Life has a peculiar way of leading us towards that purpose but often we aren´t listening, and we chose an alternate route. It may take years for someone to discover their purpose while others discover it early in life, and some, never do.
When I first laid eyes on La Bellota in November of 2005, I knew instantly, it was the right place for us. Was it luck this property appeared at just the right time? Was it luck the property owner handed us the deed to the land before we gave him a down payment? Could it be for some reason, the universe gave us a push in the right direction?
In December of 2005, we made the deal. By January of 2006, we were camping in freezing weather inside a makeshift canvas tent Raul built. I was cooking meals over and open fire and even though our fingers and toes were numb most of the time, we loved it!