What to do in LAKE CASA BLANCA??? | Laredo Texas Things to Do

Hey there everyone! My name is Eduardo Arroyo, but you can call me Ed. And today we're here exploring Lake Casablanca International State Park here in Laredo, Texas. Yes you guys, you heard that right. Today we're here visiting one of the most beautiful locations in Laredo, Texas. At least in my humble opinion. For those of you who are not from Laredo, this is also one of the most popular destinations to visit here in the city. And I think you can easily see why. There's just so much to do here guys. This place is mostly used for recreational purposes. So you'll see families having picnics, you'll see people fishing, you'll see people walking and hiking. There's also people who bring their RVs and boats to go into the lake. There's also people who kayak here and that also swim. But do remember that you're doing that at your own risk because there are no lifeguards available. Lastly, there's also a lot of events that use this place as a venue. So when I say that there's a lot of things to do, there are a lot of things that happen here. If you guys are from Laredo or just interested in learning more about this city, I do have four videos that I made about this place. So if you guys are interested, I'll leave it in the description down below for you guys to check out. I also have other videos where I go to different places and share with you guys cool information about those locations. So if you guys are interested in that, definitely subscribe to my channel. The goal for this video is very simple. To hike around the lake as we learn and share different interesting facts about the past and present of the park. So if you guys are interested, come with me. Hey there everyone, we just made it here to Lake Casablanca International State Park. If you were to check a map, we are located in Central Laredo. And if you were to go a little bit further out, we are located in South Texas which is famous for having very arid and desertic terrain. If it is so desertic and hot, why is there a lake right here you might ask? Well, truth of the matter is that this lake is human made. That is right you guys, this is a reservoir that was created or formed in 1951 to provide recreational opportunities to the residents of Webb County of which Laredo is part of. Besides the Rio Grande, this is actually the second largest body of water here in Laredo, Texas. And because of that reason, there's a lot of plants and animals that call this place their home and add to the biodiversity of this park. Like I mentioned in the intro, I want to go around the lake. We're not going to go all the way because I know there's still like some lake over there. But we want to go this way so that we can get all over to that side and explore what we can see over there. Here is the map of Lake Casablanca. You have some information about what type of facilities are available here in English and Spanish of course. We are very close to Mexico. We are currently over here. This over here, this is the entrance, this is where we were just a few minutes ago. The majority of people that come and visit the lake stay around this area closest to the entrance. This is because here you'll find a lot of parking spots and places for the kids to hang out as well as a lot of benches for families to come and do their cookouts or picnics or whatever it might be. The goal for today, like I said, is to go all the way around. We're going to take this trail right here. I think it's called Roadrunner Trail. We're going to go all the way alongside of it, all the way to the other side that we were looking across and explore this side over here. Let's get closer to the lake once again you guys. Let's take it in, take a deep breath, enjoy this clean air, this beautiful weather and this amazing view. Check that out. I think it's time, it's time for us to hike to the other side of the lake. Again, that's the goal for today. For that we have to go to the start of Roadrunner Trail if I'm not mistaken. So I'll catch you guys when I'm there. Hey there you guys, I'm back here close to the entrance. I don't know if you can tell but it's right over there. This is where the beginning of Roadrunner Trail is located. As you can see, this sign indicates the start of the trail. In here it tells you the reason why this place is called Roadrunner Trail. That is because you can actually see them running around as you're walking by. As we make our way through the trail all the way to the other side of the lake, I want to talk to you guys about the geology and nature of this place. As I was saying earlier, this place is very arid and it has a lot of desertic plants and animals. These organisms are fit to survive very hot and dry climates such as the one we have here in Laredo and in South Texas in general. But in order to know the full story of this place, we have to go back. Way back to a time where this place was so different than what it is today. And when I say back, I mean 2.6 million years ago back. Did you guys know that around that time, this place, this area in general, used to be a coastal swamp? Could you imagine the difference in organisms that inhabited this place long, long ago? So, so different than what you find here today. In fact, according to a study conducted by Lamar University, which it involved the digging up of some fossils, researchers discovered the remains of 29 extinct mammal species. One of the mammal remains that they found was the one of the Epihippus gracilis. I don't know if I'm saying that correctly, but it was basically a four-toed horse. They also found the remains of Tarsiers, which is a tiny relative to humans and apes that can only be found in Asia today. Other fossilized remains that they found that I thought were very interesting were the remains of Hippopotamus. Imagine just seeing a Hippopotamus today right here in the lake. Wouldn't that be crazy? But I think what's even crazier is that they found the remains of a giant sea snake that could possibly have been 20 feet long. Oh, imagine that! You're just chilling with your family or riding your watercraft and you see a water snake that long. That'd be insane, nesty up in here. Anyways, you guys, after millions of years and changes to this environment, both natural and human-made and evolution, of course, this place has become what it is today. We just got here to another map. As you can see, we are here and we have officially completed Roadrunner Trail which started right over here. The next trail we're going to go into is the Mesquita Bend Trail, which goes all around here and takes us to the center of this area. After we're done with the trail, we're going to go ahead and explore this area closer to the water, which includes the fishing pier. And as we go through the second trail now, I think it's a good idea to talk about the organisms that live here today. This place is home to many, many bird species. Too many to count, actually. The bird species that you'll be able to spot here depend greatly on multiple factors, including the season of the year and the migratory patterns of the birds. As far as mammals that make this place their home, I was looking at a list and it is a very long list. This includes black-tailed rabbits, skunks, opossums, otherwise known here in Laredo as Anyways, the list also includes squirrels and different kinds of bats. Other organisms that call this place their home include lizards, rattlesnakes, and some water snakes, believe it or not. I really hope that those are not 20 feet though. Bro. I don't know if you can tell, like I'm a little scared, but I actually saw a huge deer just walk through this like grass. And dude, I thought it was a freaking lion, I'm not going to lie. Woo! It just keeps you on your toes. Oh my god! It's there! Can you see it? I was not lying, guys. Hopefully, you guys caught a glimpse of that. Oh my goodness, I got so scared. That just made my day, you guys. That is the experience that I came here for. Experiencing nature here in Laredo, that was so unexpected, but definitely something that I'm not going to forget. And as I'm coming back from that little scare, that little close encounter, I want to tell you guys one last fact. That is that in Lake Casablanca International State Park, you can also find two endangered species. That is the Texas tortoise and the Texas horned lizard, which is actually the official reptile of Texas. Just going to stop for a few minutes, guys. Check it out. I want to show you how this place looks. If you guys couldn't hear the cars, you would think that you guys are in the middle of the desert or something. Check out this beautiful landscape. Alright you guys, let's keep moving. Let's keep exploring this trail to see what else we might find. And hopefully we can get to the coastline very soon so that we can explore that as well. Let's go, guys. Hey there you guys, I'm back. And I'm about to finish this trail. I believe. And I want to show you something that I found right here. A building of some sorts. I don't know what it is. I don't think I've seen it. It looks like one of those old missions that you can find here in Texas and all over the US for that matter. Like the ones that the Spanish built here. I think we can get a peek of what's inside. Oh my gosh. I'm not going to get any closer. I'm afraid something's going to just pop out. So I checked on Google and it says that it's the Casablanca, the original Texas White House. I don't know what that means. I've been trying to look for information on Google and nothing comes out. If any of you know what it is, please leave it in the comments down below. I really don't know what this is. Over here is Camping Truck Nation. Check it out, you guys. All the camping trucks are on this side. I'm guessing this is the end, you guys. Check it out. This is the end of this path. This is the end of the trail. We did it, you guys. We're going to go check out the shore, the area closest to the water to see what we can find over there. So let's go. I don't know if you can see, but the fishing pier is right there. I'm going to do an off-roader and ditch the path. Come on, you guys. Check it out, you guys. We made it to the fishing pier. It's right here, right behind this sign, right over there. We're walking right on top of the fishing pier. We're going to spend some time with these fishermen and see if they catch anything. Before we get to the end, check out this view, guys. Isn't this just amazing? The day is so clear. The sky is so blue. Everything looks pitched perfect. Have you caught anything today? I don't know if you can tell, but right over there, that's where we were just at the beginning. We walked all alongside that path. This is the, what was it, the Rote Reiner Trail, I think. And all the way over to that hill right over there. I think I'm going to move out, you guys, and let these people fish in peace. Let's go. All right, you guys. I'm going to go ahead and call it a day. We covered all the things that I wanted to show you in this video. It was really great to bring you guys along with me, definitely make it more interesting and more fun for me. And if you guys think the same, make sure you click the like button and subscribe to my channel if you want to see more videos like this one. That really helps a lot, you guys. I can't tell you enough. All right, you guys. Peace out. But first, I want to remind you guys to always be kind, have an open mind. I'll see you next time.