I'm participating in the AARP Cheyenne Spelling Bee today, Saturday, and need to recover Sunday....
So Monday, posts resumes.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
2012 a boom year for emergency food and water suppliers - Sydney Australia
From Virtual Strategy Magazine: <a href="http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/08/06/2012-boom-year-emergency-food-and-water-suppliers-sydney-australia#McoXicW02eGjJ7LI.99">2012 a boom year for emergency food and water suppliers - Sydney Australia</a>
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Hotel Xixim, Yucatan, Mexico, Announces Rates for Yoga and Wellness Group Retreats
From Virtual Strategy Magazine: <a href="http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/08/07/hotel-xixim-yucatan-mexico-announces-rates-yoga-and-wellness-group-retreats#cr27GDrjQmMKkTAC.99">Hotel Xixim, Yucatan, Mexico, Announces Rates for Yoga and Wellness Group Retreats</a>
Celebrating the 2012-2013 Mayan Calendar New Era, Hotel Xixim is offering special “New Era” yoga and wellness retreat group rates in Mexico, including free massage in their new Wellness Center. Located in the Celestun Biosphere Reserve of the Yucatan Peninsula, an inspirational natural seaside setting, the hotel has created new group rates and packages making a Mexico yoga or wellness group retreat surprisingly affordable.
Hotel Xixim offers incentives to provide for group leader, presenter, or instructor accommodations, meals, and transfers. Depending on the size and interests of the group, local boat excursions are available at a group discount to observe the northern hemisphere’s largest pink flamingo population. Complimentary activities include a welcome group juice therapy drink, a group beach bonfire night, one free 30-minute back massage or reflexology treatment, bicycles and kayaks. Guests can also stroll several interpretive nature trails within the nature reserve, observing birds, mammals, and native flora.
Hotel Xixim was designed to accommodate groups of various sizes up to 64 guests on a double occupancy basis. More guests can be lodged on a triple basis. A group is considered 10 guests or 5 rooms. Discounts increase depending on the size of the group. The 32 bungalows, the Wellness Center, and all other Mayan style structures are nestled in tropical coastal vegetation reached by meandering paths, creating privacy for hosting several smaller groups at the same time. The 24 spacious junior suite Mayan bungalows offer two queen beds and the 8 master suite Mayan bungalows provide King beds and a separate sitting area. All have private outdoor showers. Complimentary coffee or tea plus fresh homemade bread is delivered to each bungalow in the morning.
The new Wellness Center includes a yoga or group pavilion with vaulted, thatched roof, 43 feet in diameter with sea views, wooden floor, screens, ceiling fans, props, and electrical connections for music or videos. The pavilion is suitable for up to 30 yoga, Tai Chi, or active dance practitioners. Workshop capacity in this pavilion can accommodate up to 80 people. Additional group facilities for 16-20 are available as well as a second yoga practice area for groups of 25-30. Outdoor sunrise and sunset-facing terraces offer sea views for meditation or yoga practice. All meeting space is complimentary.
Additional facilities in the Wellness Center include a SPA with private massage bungalows, traditional fitness gym, circular pool, round Jacuzzi, oval poolside beds, juice therapy bungalow, and snack bar with vegetarian options. The main restaurant offers international, Mayan-Mexican fusion and vegetarian dishes. Various dining venues are available, both inside with sea views, and outside on sea view terraces.
For “Mayan Calendar New Era” retreat group rates included in a customized group quote, group organizers, yoga instructors, and presenters can contact the hotel at groups(at)hotelxixim(dot)com.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebmexicoyogawellness/mexicogroupretreat/prweb9758920.htm
Read more at http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/08/07/hotel-xixim-yucatan-mexico-announces-rates-yoga-and-wellness-group-retreats#cr27GDrjQmMKkTAC.99
Celebrating the 2012-2013 Mayan Calendar New Era, Hotel Xixim is offering special “New Era” yoga and wellness retreat group rates in Mexico, including free massage in their new Wellness Center. Located in the Celestun Biosphere Reserve of the Yucatan Peninsula, an inspirational natural seaside setting, the hotel has created new group rates and packages making a Mexico yoga or wellness group retreat surprisingly affordable.
Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico (PRWEB) August 07, 2012
Located on the white sand beaches of Celestun, about one hour west of
the city of Merida, Yucatan, Hotel Xixim (which means “sea shell” in
Mayan) offers new affordable Mexico group rates and amenities designed
especially for yoga and wellness group retreats or teacher training. (http://www.hotelxixim.com).
The hotel provides group transfers to and from Merida’s international
airport. Nonstop flights arrive daily to Merida from Houston and Miami
with connections from most U.S. and Canadian cities. Connecting flights
are also available via Mexico City.Hotel Xixim offers incentives to provide for group leader, presenter, or instructor accommodations, meals, and transfers. Depending on the size and interests of the group, local boat excursions are available at a group discount to observe the northern hemisphere’s largest pink flamingo population. Complimentary activities include a welcome group juice therapy drink, a group beach bonfire night, one free 30-minute back massage or reflexology treatment, bicycles and kayaks. Guests can also stroll several interpretive nature trails within the nature reserve, observing birds, mammals, and native flora.
Hotel Xixim was designed to accommodate groups of various sizes up to 64 guests on a double occupancy basis. More guests can be lodged on a triple basis. A group is considered 10 guests or 5 rooms. Discounts increase depending on the size of the group. The 32 bungalows, the Wellness Center, and all other Mayan style structures are nestled in tropical coastal vegetation reached by meandering paths, creating privacy for hosting several smaller groups at the same time. The 24 spacious junior suite Mayan bungalows offer two queen beds and the 8 master suite Mayan bungalows provide King beds and a separate sitting area. All have private outdoor showers. Complimentary coffee or tea plus fresh homemade bread is delivered to each bungalow in the morning.
The new Wellness Center includes a yoga or group pavilion with vaulted, thatched roof, 43 feet in diameter with sea views, wooden floor, screens, ceiling fans, props, and electrical connections for music or videos. The pavilion is suitable for up to 30 yoga, Tai Chi, or active dance practitioners. Workshop capacity in this pavilion can accommodate up to 80 people. Additional group facilities for 16-20 are available as well as a second yoga practice area for groups of 25-30. Outdoor sunrise and sunset-facing terraces offer sea views for meditation or yoga practice. All meeting space is complimentary.
Additional facilities in the Wellness Center include a SPA with private massage bungalows, traditional fitness gym, circular pool, round Jacuzzi, oval poolside beds, juice therapy bungalow, and snack bar with vegetarian options. The main restaurant offers international, Mayan-Mexican fusion and vegetarian dishes. Various dining venues are available, both inside with sea views, and outside on sea view terraces.
For “Mayan Calendar New Era” retreat group rates included in a customized group quote, group organizers, yoga instructors, and presenters can contact the hotel at groups(at)hotelxixim(dot)com.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebmexicoyogawellness/mexicogroupretreat/prweb9758920.htm
Read more at http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/08/07/hotel-xixim-yucatan-mexico-announces-rates-yoga-and-wellness-group-retreats#cr27GDrjQmMKkTAC.99
Friday, August 3, 2012
End of capitalism': Bolivia to expel Coca-Cola in wake of 2012 Mayan 'apocalypse'
Bolivia has a right to do what they want in their own country. I just hope we no longer send them foreign aid, since they don't like capitalism.
If we send it to them, and they accept it...they'll be hypocrites. So I'm sure they won't...
From RT: End of capitalism': Bolivia to expel Coca-Cola in wake of 2012 Mayan 'apocalypse'
n a symbolic rejection of US capitalism, Bolivia announced it will expel the Coca-Cola Company from the country at the end of the Mayan calendar. This will mark the end of capitalism and usher in a new era of equality, the Bolivian govt says.
“December 21 of 2012 will be the end of egoism and division. December 21 should be the end of Coca-Cola,” Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca decreed, with bombast worthy of a viral marketing campaign.
The coming ‘end’ of the Mayan lunar calendar on December 21 of this year has sparked widespread doomsaying of an impending apocalypse. But Choquehuanca argued differently, claiming it will be the end of days for capitalism, not the planet.
“The planets will align for the first time in 26,000 years and this is the end of capitalism and the beginning of communitarianism,” said Choquehuanca as quoted by Venezuelan newspaper El Periodiquito.
The minister encouraged the people of Bolivia to drink Mocochinche, a peach-flavored soft drink, as an alternative to Coca-Cola. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez followed suit, encouraging his country to ditch the American beverage for fruit juice produced in Venezuela.
Following this failure, the monolithic multinational released a documentary titled ‘Why McDonald’s failed in Bolivia.’ Referencing surveys, sociologists, nutritionists and historians, the company came to the conclusion it was not their food that was the issue, but a culturally driven boycott.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has a reputation for controversial policies similar to the Coca-Cola ban. Morales pledged last month to legalize the consumption of coca leaves, one of the main ingredients of cocaine.
“Neither the US nor capitalist countries have a good reason to maintain the ban on coca leaf consumption,” said Morales.
The coca leaf was declared an illegal narcotic by the UN in 1961, along with cocaine, opium and morphine. The consumption of coca leaves is a centuries-old tradition in Bolivia, strongly rooted in the beliefs of various indigenous groups.
If we send it to them, and they accept it...they'll be hypocrites. So I'm sure they won't...
From RT: End of capitalism': Bolivia to expel Coca-Cola in wake of 2012 Mayan 'apocalypse'
n a symbolic rejection of US capitalism, Bolivia announced it will expel the Coca-Cola Company from the country at the end of the Mayan calendar. This will mark the end of capitalism and usher in a new era of equality, the Bolivian govt says.
“December 21 of 2012 will be the end of egoism and division. December 21 should be the end of Coca-Cola,” Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca decreed, with bombast worthy of a viral marketing campaign.
The coming ‘end’ of the Mayan lunar calendar on December 21 of this year has sparked widespread doomsaying of an impending apocalypse. But Choquehuanca argued differently, claiming it will be the end of days for capitalism, not the planet.
“The planets will align for the first time in 26,000 years and this is the end of capitalism and the beginning of communitarianism,” said Choquehuanca as quoted by Venezuelan newspaper El Periodiquito.
The minister encouraged the people of Bolivia to drink Mocochinche, a peach-flavored soft drink, as an alternative to Coca-Cola. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez followed suit, encouraging his country to ditch the American beverage for fruit juice produced in Venezuela.
McFailure
Last year, Bolivia became the second Latin American country not to have a single McDonald’s. The fast food giant finally gave up on Bolivia after being unable to turn a profit in the country for over a decade.Following this failure, the monolithic multinational released a documentary titled ‘Why McDonald’s failed in Bolivia.’ Referencing surveys, sociologists, nutritionists and historians, the company came to the conclusion it was not their food that was the issue, but a culturally driven boycott.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has a reputation for controversial policies similar to the Coca-Cola ban. Morales pledged last month to legalize the consumption of coca leaves, one of the main ingredients of cocaine.
“Neither the US nor capitalist countries have a good reason to maintain the ban on coca leaf consumption,” said Morales.
The coca leaf was declared an illegal narcotic by the UN in 1961, along with cocaine, opium and morphine. The consumption of coca leaves is a centuries-old tradition in Bolivia, strongly rooted in the beliefs of various indigenous groups.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Tomb of Mayan prince discovered in jungle ruins
From FoxNews: Tomb of Mayan prince discovered in jungle ruins
Excavators have uncovered what they believe to be the
1,300-year-old remains of a Mayan prince entombed within a royal complex
of the ancient city of Uxul, located in Mexico near the Guatemalan
border.
The fossilized man, who researchers estimate was between 20 and 25 when he died, was found lying on his back, with his arms folded inside a tomb 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) below the floor in a building within the city's royal complex.
When the researchers first slipped a camera into the tomb to peek at what was inside they saw ceramics at the feet of the skeleton, said Kai Delvendahl, field director for the project with the University of Bonn.
They found a total of nine pieces of ceramics, including a plate painted in the distinctively black-lined Mayan Codex-Style covering the man's skull. At Mayan sites, it is not uncommon to find plates placed over the skulls of the deceased, Delvendahl, said. [See Photos of Mayan Prince's Tomb]
The other ceramics offered additional clues. One bore hieroglyphics reading: "[This is] the drinking vessel of the young man/prince." A second vessel also bore a mention of a young man or prince.
However, if this young man had been a prince, he did not appear to be in line for the throne, the researchers believe, since certain status markers, such as jade jewelry, were not found.
One of the ceramic vessels bears a scene, which includes a date that corresponds to the year A.D. 711.
"Maybe the drinking cup was dedicated at that time, and if we assume the cup belonged to a person who died at age 20 to 25, we can more or less restrict the death," Delvendahl told LiveScience, meaning that the date on the cup gives archaeologists an idea of when the man died.
This is not the first tomb archaeologists have discovered in Uxul, as other, simpler tombs have also been uncovered, Delvendahl said.
The Mayan city of Uxul is located deep in the jungle, and accessible to archaeologists only for two to three months a year during the dry season. The researchers have found evidence that Uxul was ruled by the dynasty of Calakmul, a regional center 21 miles (34 kilometers) to the northeast.
The date on the vessel indicates the man was buried during a 90-year period after the Calakmul rulers had lost power in Uxul, and before Uxul was abandoned, Delvendahl said.
"We feel that the person that was buried there is a son of a local ruler, someone who was not in direct line to the throne, but we feel this ruler still had certain connections to the Calakmul dynasty," a connection supported by the style of the ceramics, he said.
Uxul has been the site of looting in the past, but the researchers found only one looter's trench into the building that contained the tomb, so they are hopeful they will find more tombs inside it.
Nikolai Grube, also of the University of Bonn, is project director for the research at Uxul, which is funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG). This latest discovery has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
The fossilized man, who researchers estimate was between 20 and 25 when he died, was found lying on his back, with his arms folded inside a tomb 4.9 feet (1.5 meters) below the floor in a building within the city's royal complex.
When the researchers first slipped a camera into the tomb to peek at what was inside they saw ceramics at the feet of the skeleton, said Kai Delvendahl, field director for the project with the University of Bonn.
They found a total of nine pieces of ceramics, including a plate painted in the distinctively black-lined Mayan Codex-Style covering the man's skull. At Mayan sites, it is not uncommon to find plates placed over the skulls of the deceased, Delvendahl, said. [See Photos of Mayan Prince's Tomb]
The other ceramics offered additional clues. One bore hieroglyphics reading: "[This is] the drinking vessel of the young man/prince." A second vessel also bore a mention of a young man or prince.
However, if this young man had been a prince, he did not appear to be in line for the throne, the researchers believe, since certain status markers, such as jade jewelry, were not found.
One of the ceramic vessels bears a scene, which includes a date that corresponds to the year A.D. 711.
"Maybe the drinking cup was dedicated at that time, and if we assume the cup belonged to a person who died at age 20 to 25, we can more or less restrict the death," Delvendahl told LiveScience, meaning that the date on the cup gives archaeologists an idea of when the man died.
This is not the first tomb archaeologists have discovered in Uxul, as other, simpler tombs have also been uncovered, Delvendahl said.
The Mayan city of Uxul is located deep in the jungle, and accessible to archaeologists only for two to three months a year during the dry season. The researchers have found evidence that Uxul was ruled by the dynasty of Calakmul, a regional center 21 miles (34 kilometers) to the northeast.
The date on the vessel indicates the man was buried during a 90-year period after the Calakmul rulers had lost power in Uxul, and before Uxul was abandoned, Delvendahl said.
"We feel that the person that was buried there is a son of a local ruler, someone who was not in direct line to the throne, but we feel this ruler still had certain connections to the Calakmul dynasty," a connection supported by the style of the ceramics, he said.
Uxul has been the site of looting in the past, but the researchers found only one looter's trench into the building that contained the tomb, so they are hopeful they will find more tombs inside it.
Nikolai Grube, also of the University of Bonn, is project director for the research at Uxul, which is funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG). This latest discovery has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Maya End of Times (of Sorts) is Back for 2012
From Neatorama: Maya End of Times (of Sorts) is Back for 2012
Did we tell you not to panic because archaeologists have discovered evidence that the Maya Apocalypse has been delayed some 7,000 years in the future? Well, scratch that.
A newly discovered Maya text reveals that 2012 is indeed an "end date" of sorts: the end of political stability, instead of an outright apocalypse:
Did we tell you not to panic because archaeologists have discovered evidence that the Maya Apocalypse has been delayed some 7,000 years in the future? Well, scratch that.
A newly discovered Maya text reveals that 2012 is indeed an "end date" of sorts: the end of political stability, instead of an outright apocalypse:
Now, researchers exploring the Maya ruins of La Corona in Guatemala have unearthed another reference. On a stairway block carved with hieroglyphs, archaeologists found a commemoration of a visit by Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' of Calakmul, the most powerful Mayan ruler in his day. The king, also known as Jaguar Paw, suffered a terrible defeat in battle by the Kingdom of Tikal in 695. [...]Are they talking about the US presidential election? Can't be a coicidence now, can it?
In an effort to tie himself and his reign to the future, the king linked his reign with another 13th cycle — the 13th bak'tun ending on Dec. 21, 2012.
David Stuart, a professor of art history at the University of Texas at Austin, recognized the reference to the date among 56 glyphs that were carved on the stone block. "It was a time of great political turmoil in the Maya region, and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that happens to end in 2012," Stuart said in a statement released by UT.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Doomsday pyramid to bring positive thinking in Mexico’s Maya Riviera
From FoxNews: Doomsday pyramid to bring positive thinking in Mexico’s Maya Riviera
The Maya Riviera, the northwestern part of the Yucatan Peninsula,
alongside the turquoise Caribbean Sea is home to some of the
most-visited Maya cities, Tulum, Coba and Chichen Itza.
So it's no wonder that this area is turning into one of the main destinations to celebrate "the end of the world." The ancient Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012, the Winter Solstice. It’s not the end of the world, really --as a some like to predict. Archeologists now believe it is simply the end of one calendar cycle and the start of a new one. Maya apocalypse or not, the debate and the headlines are good for tourism. And I could see that first hand during recent trip.
One of the special attractions set up to celebrate the ending of the Maya calendar is a new pyramid that's being constructed for doomsday, and beyond.
Mexican artist Xavier de Maria y Campos hopes the new b’aktunoob, or Maya calendar cycle, ushers in a new era of positive thinking and appreciation of nature and the environment, two things the Maya believed in. That’s why he is building a giant pyramid out of 700,000 recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water and soda bottles in Aldea Zama, between the ancient and modern cities of Tulum.
This Pyramid of Positive Thinking is to be completed on December 21, 2012, covered in jungle foliage and topped with a giant mirror that will reflect the sun's rays during the day and create an artificial light beam at night.
Visitors are invited to stuff a bottle with a little paper prayer or wish. Mine was that we use fewer plastic bottles. Visitors also can insert a wish contributed virtually via the pyramid’s website, a popular activity for school groups.
As the pile of bottles rises, the structure is planted with greenery. A gardener handed me a cutting, which I pushed into the webbing holding the pile of plastic in place. Eventually, this pyramid will look like just another hill covered with jungle growth, like the hundreds that dot the Yucatan, hiding Maya ruins which have not yet been excavated.
Tulum currently does not have a recycling program. Campos hopes for good cosmic karma from the positive thoughts inside the bottles, the act of getting so much plastic out of garbage dumps, and the eco-awareness his project is building. It couldn’t hurt.
Maya calendar aside, the Maya Riviera, the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, is also a destination for animal adventures.
Mid-May to mid-September is whaleshark season, when the huge animals feed where the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico meet, off Cancun and Isla Mujeres. Snorkeling with the sharks is big business, and you can sign up for a boat tour at the ferry ports at either end, or through your hotel concierge.
They are called whale sharks because they are sharks the size of whales, feeding close enough to the surface that you might actually land on one when you jump off the boat to swim with them. But that doesn’t happen, since tour boat captains and swim guides are experts at getting close, but not that close.
They also could be called polka-dot sharks, because their huge blue-grey bodies are decorated with grey-white polka-dots everywhere, except on their dorsal fins and tails. Whatever you call them, it’s like snorkeling with a submarine.
On my first two jumps, I focused on getting pictures and video with my underwater camera, which was dumb. It’s tough to see their widescreen glory when you are watching through a postage stamp viewfinder. So, on the rest of my jumps, I left the camera behind on the boat.
Each jump, my guide, Juan Carlos Coba, held my hand tightly and helped me power-swim after “our” shark. Be sure to ask how many people will be on your boat. Juan Carlos takes no more than eight people, so each of us had more jumps and more time in the water each jump than the other, larger boats with as many as 20 tourists aboard taking turns. Click for more at CruiseDivers.
The whale sharks were just one of my animal excursions.
On Isla Mujeres, I visited the Tortugranja, a government-supported breeding farm for endangered sea turtles. In the last decade, this small facility has released 1,000 Hawksbill and rare white turtles into the wild. Carefully, I held a week-old baby about the size of a large coin, before returning it to one of the attendants.
In Akumel, between Cancun and Tulum, I swam with adult turtles which hang out in the sea grass just offshore. My guide, Virginia Romano Franklin, grew up here and has been swimming with turtles since childhood. She found a pair feeding blissfully, a few hundred yards from a group of tourists acting like unruly paparazzi, closing in on a solo turtle who must have been terrified. Click for more at Riviera Adventours.
Romano Franklin also is caring for a baby spider monkey at her family restaurant, Oscar & Lalo, in Tulum. Lalito was found abandoned on the family ranch nearby, and wears an infant diaper – she cuts a hole in it for his tail – when he plays tag with guests. Just like a human toddler, Lalito is in constant motion, except when he stops briefly for a cuddle.
On other days, I swam with trained dolphins at Xcaret and at Xel-Ha, the two family-oriented, tourist-oriented nature parks in the Riviera Maya. At Xcaret, dolphins do their famous “foot push”, which is pushing a human visitor across the Olympic size enclosure.
I was instructed to float face down, my legs locked straight, hip width apart. An instant after the trainer blew his whistle, the noses of two dolphins were pushing the soles of my feet and I was flying across the pool with my arms outstretched, like Kate Winslet on the bow of the Titanic. At Xel-Ha, one of their tricks is to swim upright, so I could hold their flippers briefly and “dance” with them.
Yes, there is controversy about such captivity and training. The hope is that anybody experiencing these intelligent and beautiful creatures so closely will be moved to support protecting them in the wild.
Perhaps somebody has placed exactly that wish inside one of the bottles at the Pyramid of Positive Thinking.
So it's no wonder that this area is turning into one of the main destinations to celebrate "the end of the world." The ancient Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012, the Winter Solstice. It’s not the end of the world, really --as a some like to predict. Archeologists now believe it is simply the end of one calendar cycle and the start of a new one. Maya apocalypse or not, the debate and the headlines are good for tourism. And I could see that first hand during recent trip.
One of the special attractions set up to celebrate the ending of the Maya calendar is a new pyramid that's being constructed for doomsday, and beyond.
Mexican artist Xavier de Maria y Campos hopes the new b’aktunoob, or Maya calendar cycle, ushers in a new era of positive thinking and appreciation of nature and the environment, two things the Maya believed in. That’s why he is building a giant pyramid out of 700,000 recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water and soda bottles in Aldea Zama, between the ancient and modern cities of Tulum.
This Pyramid of Positive Thinking is to be completed on December 21, 2012, covered in jungle foliage and topped with a giant mirror that will reflect the sun's rays during the day and create an artificial light beam at night.
Visitors are invited to stuff a bottle with a little paper prayer or wish. Mine was that we use fewer plastic bottles. Visitors also can insert a wish contributed virtually via the pyramid’s website, a popular activity for school groups.
As the pile of bottles rises, the structure is planted with greenery. A gardener handed me a cutting, which I pushed into the webbing holding the pile of plastic in place. Eventually, this pyramid will look like just another hill covered with jungle growth, like the hundreds that dot the Yucatan, hiding Maya ruins which have not yet been excavated.
Tulum currently does not have a recycling program. Campos hopes for good cosmic karma from the positive thoughts inside the bottles, the act of getting so much plastic out of garbage dumps, and the eco-awareness his project is building. It couldn’t hurt.
Maya calendar aside, the Maya Riviera, the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, is also a destination for animal adventures.
Mid-May to mid-September is whaleshark season, when the huge animals feed where the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico meet, off Cancun and Isla Mujeres. Snorkeling with the sharks is big business, and you can sign up for a boat tour at the ferry ports at either end, or through your hotel concierge.
They are called whale sharks because they are sharks the size of whales, feeding close enough to the surface that you might actually land on one when you jump off the boat to swim with them. But that doesn’t happen, since tour boat captains and swim guides are experts at getting close, but not that close.
They also could be called polka-dot sharks, because their huge blue-grey bodies are decorated with grey-white polka-dots everywhere, except on their dorsal fins and tails. Whatever you call them, it’s like snorkeling with a submarine.
On my first two jumps, I focused on getting pictures and video with my underwater camera, which was dumb. It’s tough to see their widescreen glory when you are watching through a postage stamp viewfinder. So, on the rest of my jumps, I left the camera behind on the boat.
Each jump, my guide, Juan Carlos Coba, held my hand tightly and helped me power-swim after “our” shark. Be sure to ask how many people will be on your boat. Juan Carlos takes no more than eight people, so each of us had more jumps and more time in the water each jump than the other, larger boats with as many as 20 tourists aboard taking turns. Click for more at CruiseDivers.
The whale sharks were just one of my animal excursions.
On Isla Mujeres, I visited the Tortugranja, a government-supported breeding farm for endangered sea turtles. In the last decade, this small facility has released 1,000 Hawksbill and rare white turtles into the wild. Carefully, I held a week-old baby about the size of a large coin, before returning it to one of the attendants.
In Akumel, between Cancun and Tulum, I swam with adult turtles which hang out in the sea grass just offshore. My guide, Virginia Romano Franklin, grew up here and has been swimming with turtles since childhood. She found a pair feeding blissfully, a few hundred yards from a group of tourists acting like unruly paparazzi, closing in on a solo turtle who must have been terrified. Click for more at Riviera Adventours.
Romano Franklin also is caring for a baby spider monkey at her family restaurant, Oscar & Lalo, in Tulum. Lalito was found abandoned on the family ranch nearby, and wears an infant diaper – she cuts a hole in it for his tail – when he plays tag with guests. Just like a human toddler, Lalito is in constant motion, except when he stops briefly for a cuddle.
On other days, I swam with trained dolphins at Xcaret and at Xel-Ha, the two family-oriented, tourist-oriented nature parks in the Riviera Maya. At Xcaret, dolphins do their famous “foot push”, which is pushing a human visitor across the Olympic size enclosure.
I was instructed to float face down, my legs locked straight, hip width apart. An instant after the trainer blew his whistle, the noses of two dolphins were pushing the soles of my feet and I was flying across the pool with my arms outstretched, like Kate Winslet on the bow of the Titanic. At Xel-Ha, one of their tricks is to swim upright, so I could hold their flippers briefly and “dance” with them.
Yes, there is controversy about such captivity and training. The hope is that anybody experiencing these intelligent and beautiful creatures so closely will be moved to support protecting them in the wild.
Perhaps somebody has placed exactly that wish inside one of the bottles at the Pyramid of Positive Thinking.
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