10 results
1- 4friends
2- 2reviews
- 4friends
3- 4friends
4- 2reviews
- 4friends
5- 1review
- 5friends
6- 2reviews
7
8
9- 1review
- 1friend
10
Monday, July 23, 2012
Mazunte, Mexico
Help Rebuild Post-Hurricane Puerto Escondido with Int’l Surf Community 07/20/2012
On June 15, Hurricane Carlotta slammed into Puerto Escondido on the Pacific coast of Mexico, located directly south of Oaxaca. “Puerto” is regarded as Mexico’s primary surf destination with 12-foot waves in summer and an annual influx of surfers from all over the Americas. In a combined effort to rebuild the town’s damaged infrastructure, a group of locals, frequent visitors and various surf groups are raising funds through online crowdsourcing and surf competitions.
Michelle Rozzen is a photographer, surf massage therapist and frequent visitor to Puerto based in Agoura Hills, California. She is also the Coordinator for the Salvemos Puerto Campaign run by the International Bodyboarding Association (IBA), which hosts an annual surf competition in Puerto Escondido. Rozzen reached out to me and asked if I could spread the word about the various initiatives in development to help bring the “Mexican Pipeline” back to life.
I surfed these shores about 25 years ago during a pilgrimage in a VW van from Vancouver to Belize. After traveling those 3,000+ miles of Mexican shoreline, that week in Puerto was by far the most memorable. The funky surf vibe and colonial streets, at the time anyway, stood in stark contrast to the more well known and developed tourist hotel zones from Cabo to Cancun.
Here’s a video detailing the damage from Carlotta last month:
I asked Rozzen a few questions about the storm, her participation in the rebuilding effort, and how people can assist.
Greg Oates: What is your past relationship with Puerto?
Michelle Rozzen: I have been going to Puerto the past three years. The first year I went with a couple professional bodyboarders and went down as a photographer. The past two years I went down as a Massage Therapist to work for the International Bodyboarding Association (IBA) World Tour event. I now have friends there and love it like my second home.
What is the overall extent of damage and fatalities caused by Carlotta?
Puerto Escondido in general is damaged pretty bad, but not like the mountain areas. The mountains I hear are much worse. The wind speed was around 150-180 km/h…. One 56 year-old woman passed away when the wind hit her car, and two children died when their house was taken by a mudslide. So sad! The mountains where they grow crops were destroyed, and the farmers lost most of their crops including corn, beans, bananas and peanuts. Many houses are without roof tops, roads are destroyed and there is no food or water.
This beautiful beachside town is impaired and definitely in need of urgent assistance. The community will be needing to reconstruct itself and needs the help of increased tourism.
Michelle Rozzen
Are there any major relief organizations presently involved?
The Red Cross is helping, as well as the Oaxaca Government. I am also working closely with the International Bodyboarding Association, and we have recently launched a global campaign to “Salvemos Puerto” (Save Puerto). We are looking to raise US$100,000 for the base funding to stage the IBA Zicatela Pro bodyboard competition at Puerto Escondido this fall.
This event will be used as a platform to achieve the primary objectives of:
- Driving tourism to the town of Puerto Escondido to promote the area as a safe tourist destination and drive the local economy.
- Raise funds and mobilize resources to rebuild the eight lifeguard towers at Playa Zicatela.
How can people donate to the cause?
The IBA global fundraiser campaign can be found at:
ibaworldtour.com/SalvemosPuerto/index.html
ibaworldtour.com/SalvemosPuerto/index.html
In addition we are raising funds through Invested.In:
invested.in/P2614/salvemos-puerto-save-puerto
invested.in/P2614/salvemos-puerto-save-puerto
And over the next few weeks we will be launching eBay auctions all over the world. We just launched the Salvemos Puerto Photo & Art Auction, including exclusive one-of-a-kind and signed canvas prints from some of the top photographers in the surfing industry. Photographers featured include: Sacha Specker, Edwin Morales, Ray Collins, Mickey Smith, Todd Glaser, Matt Catalano, Scotty Carter and Mickey Edwards. For samples, visit here and here.
There’s also artwork from talented surf artist Erik Abel, a metal sculpture of an empty wave by designer Sean Tuttle, and surfboards with painted artwork by pro surfers. To view a complete list of auction items, please visit: ebay.com/sch/cah20girl.
Can you tell us more about the proposed surf event?
The proposed event is the Zicatela Pro (GSS) September 27-October 6, 2012 and we will be running a bodyboarding world tour contest (IBA), along with an expression session with top professional surfers in attendance. The amazing venue has high expectations after last years action at the event! In 2011 there was a significant boost to the town and this year Puerto Escondido needs our help even more due to the hurricane.
The sponsors are effectively Turbo Surf, Reeflex, Freedom Fins and Inverted.
To see the devastation Carlotta left, please watch one of the campaign promo videos:
And here’s a video from last year’s Zicatela Pro contest:
Top photo: flickr.com/photos/brb_photography
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Mexico
 | ||
Mexico
We didn't bike in Mexico on this trip. We left our folding bikes in a storeroom
in Cancun and headed by bus to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, and
then on to the coast of Oaxaca. We spent the month of March in San Agustinillo,
Oaxaca.
These places -- San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, and San Agustinillo,
Oaxaca, appear elsewhere in wallyandbarbara.com. Here, we will only add
one new photo from San Cristobal, and a few photos around San Agustinillo,
including a cabana where we stayed this year for the first time. It was fantastic!
We saw the girl below in San Cristobal de las Casas. She was tiny, and she was
walking up and down the street, with her baby brother on her back, selling little clay
animals.
 In San Agustinillo, we rented a little cabana above the beach, to the east of the village.
In the photo below, the arrow shows where the cabana is located. It was quite a hike
from the village, which is out of the photo to the left, and the beach, more than
it looks in the picture.
The cabana was very inexpensive, less than $700 for the entire month, and
it was quite basic inside. There was a nearly-bare living space and a
separate kitchen area, below, plus a tiny but well-ventilated bedroom, and a
bathroom.
The virtue of renting this cabana was the veranda, below. And the virtue of the
veranda was its incredible views, shown in photos that follow. Barbara said
several times that our veranda, from 5:30 p.m. to nightfall, was the best place
in the world.
 Morning tea on the veranda.  Mid-day view  The evening view that Barbara saw most often  Moonset seen from the veranda before dawn  Sunset -- a popular time for walking on the beaches  Night falls  and moon and stars come out  A sunset at Punta Cometa
|
Grow Your Own Organic Food
This is an introduction to growing your own organic food. Naturally in such a short space it is impossible to share all the necessary information, but hopefully this will inspire people to begin the journey to becoming an organic gardener. Remember organic gardening is hard work and it requires patience and perseverance, like most of the great things in life.
The first thing you will need in your garden, or lot, is fertile soil. Alejandro and Francisco, at Temazcalli, ‘Spacio Meditativo’ (corner of Calle Temazcalli and Avenida Infraganti), have developed a superb system for making rich soil. You will need this to give new plants a chance to survive, without using common, harmful, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Avoiding the use of these products is an integral part of organic horticulture.
Begin by getting five sacks of nutrient rich soil from the banks of the Colotepec river. Spread it out evenly over two or three square meters of soil in your garden. Then spread a layer of cow or horse manure. New manure is more acidic and may overheat the soil mixture. One-week-old manure is more suitable. You can get this at a ranch with a pick-up. Next mix three kilos of molasses in ten liters of water and pour it over the mix. Add three big shovels of corn flour. Then get two sacks of ashes from your local tortillerias and spread it on top. To complete the mix add three bags of carbon. You can cover the mound with palm fronds to protect it from the sun.
It is very important to move the mound with a shovel twice a day. If you don’t it will overheat, become too acidic and consequently useless. It will be ready for use after two weeks. Prepare your garden by loosening a depth of thirty centimeters of soil, then dig furrows at a depth of twenty centimeters leaving the dug soil beside the furrows. Fill the furrows with the new soil and mix both soils by raking it vigorously. Then flatten the soil evenly, but don’t compact it.
Some good plants to start your garden are basil, lettuce, tomato, cauliflower, eggplant, peppers and chilies. Chilies are an important insect plague repellent. So are Neem trees, which don’t need much water and grow quickly. An excellent natural insect plague repellent is a 50/50 mix of horse manure and water, which has been allowed to ferment for three weeks. Spray on the plants every two weeks if necessary. You will need a mosquito net fence around your garden to keep hungry iguanas out. When it’s not raining, water the plants every three days in the evening, until the soil is wet. Good luck!
Alejandro is available for advice at Temazcalli – 954 5443086,oshocalli@yahoo.com.mx (speaks English)
Important links – http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Rainwater-Collection-System, http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Your-Own-Food, http://www.motherearthnews.com/
Patrick Sheehy
La Loma Linda, Zipolite, Oax. | Facebook La Loma Linda, Zipolite, Oax. 13 likes · 1 talking about this. www.facebook.com/LaLomaLindaZipolite
La Loma Linda, Zipolite, Oax. | Facebook
La Loma Linda, Zipolite, Oax. 13 likes · 1 talking about this.
www.facebook.com/
La Loma Linda, Zipolite, Oax. the road still was where it is now, but more narrow and just earth with potholes, pic is from 86, not 88. amazing how close places are now to the water
La Loma Linda, Zipolite, Oax. 13 likes · 1 talking about this.
www.facebook.com/
La Loma Linda, Zipolite, Oax. the road still was where it is now, but more narrow and just earth with potholes, pic is from 86, not 88. amazing how close places are now to the water
Mexican archaeologists unearth ancient 1,100-year-old burial chamber
Mexican archaeologists unearth ancient 1,100-year-old burial chamber
Jul 19, 2012 – 6:02 PM ET
REUTERS/INAH/Handout
A view of a burial chamber at the archeological site of Atzompa.
Archaeologists have discovered an ancient 1,100-year-old burial chamber at the archeological site of Atzompa, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
The funerary complex, consisting of three burial chambers, is different from the previously discovered finds in the region.
It was located inside a building designed exclusively to house a series of tombs placed vertically, one above another, and unlike the ones found so far, they are not underground, according to the National Institute of Anthropology and History.
REUTERS/INAH/Handout
A view of the building (top) where archeologists found a burial chamber at the archeological site of Atzompa.
REUTERS/INAH/Handout
An archeologist brushes off dust at a burial chamber at the archeological site of Atzompa.
REUTERS/INAH/Handout
Archeologists work at the entrance of a burial chamber at the archeological site of Atzompa.
REUTERS/INAH/Handout
Glasses, a metate (mealing stone) and a sea shell fragment are seen at a burial chamber at the archeological site of Atzompa.
REUTERS/INAH/Handout
A view of the vertical burial chambers at the archeological site of Atzompa.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)