Page 38 - Winter Breeze 2
P. 38
foam around the cacti’s arms to
protect it while in transit. The next
issue was the extraction. Cactus
normally do not have a deep root
system, but as it turned out the
roots of this giant were spread out
a lot more than * other Saguaros,
so a huge hole was dug to extract
the roots of measuring more than
15 meters, which would then be
placed in a huge box conditioned
with special material that would
keep the roots moist for the long
journey was built around the root.
This massive feat of engineering and botany started to run into problems, locating a crane
that could lift the giant out of the sand and into a 30 foot trailer, one was found but kept
getting stuck in the sand. Then there was a
boycott by local and international environ-
mentalist, as the world press descended
on San Felipe to cover this monuments en-
deavor, causing the world to have an inter-
est in this story and offered their opinion.
36