Team Vivo's Zipline Adventure in Puerto Escondido

Team Vivo's Zipline Adventure in Puerto Escondido

Posted by Chuck Ashton on Fri, Sep 13, 2013 @ 06:17 PM

  

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By Clint Demers

We just had our annual Vivo team meetings here in Puerto Escondido at the end of August. For one of our team sessions we decided on a trip up to the zip lines. Since none of us had been there yet, even those of us that have lived here for years, it was a chance for us all to have a new adventure together.

Being that it is the rainy season, we had to do the trip early, so as not to get caught in the daily afternoon rains that fall in the mountains. We departed at 7:30 and after a 90 minute drive from Puerto Escondido, up through the beautiful mountain countryside, we found ourselves in coffee country. Some of the best coffee in Mexico is grown here on these steep mountain sides, and some of the most pleasant people as well.

Approximately 15 minutes off the highway down a dirt road we came to the town of La Chao. No cell phone signal, and no internet. It was awesome, nothing to distract us from having a great experience. We parked the vehicles grabbed ourselves some water and hooked up with the zip line tour guides to begin the 30 minute hike along the river up to the first line. What was waiting for us there was certainly a pleasant surprise. A 30 meter high waterfall, complete with a sandy beach, and large rocks to dive from. The water was crystal clear and very refreshing. Since we were such a large group, we had to split in half. So half of us hung out and relaxed at the waterfall while the others began the 35 minute descent, zipping through the tree tops over some of the most incredible scenery you may ever see. There are a total of six lines ranging from 490 meters long and 80 meters high to 425 meters long and 130 meters high. Seeing the looks of amazement and listening to the hoots, hollers, and giggles of the first team overhead zipping down the mountain just added to the great experience we knew we were about to have.

It seemed like no time at all before our guides returned. They had taken the first group down, had a drink of water and jogged back up, to then take us down. They caught their breath while we got our harnesses and helmets on, gave us the list of tips, and then we were off. That first time your feet leave the platform is quite the high, and then it almost becomes surreal, as you float over small coffee fields, rivers, mountain pasture land with grazing livestock, and jungle like forests. We reached the last line just as the clouds had started to roll in, and made it down to the little restaurant where the other half of our group was having a few beverages, and waiting to have lunch with us. We finished lunch just as the sky opened up, and the tin roof of the restaurant began to chatter away, but it was nothing compared to the buzz of excited conversation that filled the room.

All in all it was an incredible day, the scenery was beautiful, the guides were great, and it was an amazing experience. I would do it again and again!

Tags: Vivo Resorts, Mexico vacation, Puerto Escondido, zipline, adventure

hurricane ingrid

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Manuel

Ingrid, Manuel to Cause Life-Threatening Floods in Mexico By Brian K. Sullivan & Edward Welsch - Sep 14, 2013 11:47 AM PT

Ingrid, Manuel to Cause Life-Threatening Floods in Mexico

By Brian K. Sullivan & Edward Welsch - Sep 14, 2013 11:47 AM PT

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Tropical storms Ingrid and Manuel will cause heavy rains and life-threatening floods in eastern and southern Mexico. Ingrid may become a hurricane later today.

“This will remain a significant hazard over the next couple of days,” the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said in a statement. “The moist flow resulting from the combination of Manuel and tropical storm Ingrid in the bay of Campeche will produce torrential rains and life-threatening flooding over eastern Mexico.”

The Mexican government issued a hurricane watch for Ingrid’s path on the Gulf coast and the U.S. hurricane center said it is expected to become a hurricane later today before approaching the coast on Sept. 16.

Tropical Storm Manuel gained strength today in the Pacific. The storm is creating “torrential rains” with as much as 15 inches (38 centimeters) expected over the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, the hurricane center said in its latest advisory. Ingrid may produce as much as 15 inches of rain over eastern Mexico, with isolated areas in the mountains receiving as much as 25 inches, the center said.

Ingrid, the ninth tropical storm of the Atlantic season that runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, is currently drifting west across the Bay of Campeche where Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state-owned oil company known as Pemex, has its two largest oil fields. They produce about 1.25 million barrels a day.

Pemex suspended air and sea operations at its rigs in the bay, according to a company statement. The oil port of Dos Bocas closed on Sept. 12 because of adverse weather conditions, while the Cayo Arcas port, which processes about 68 percent of Mexico’s crude exports, re-opened today, the country’s Merchant Marine said in its daily weather bulletin.

Storm Positions

Ingrid was 145 miles (233 kilometers) northeast of Veracruz and moving north at 8 mph as of 10 a.m. Mexico City time today, according to the center in Miami. Storm tracking aircraft found Ingrid growing stronger, with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour, up from 65 mph a few hours earlier. The storm will begin drifting northward today and pick up speed moving toward the northwest tomorrow, the center said.

The slow motion of the storm may allow it to strengthen because it is over warm water, from which tropical systems can draw power, said Dan Kottlowski, a meteorologist withAccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania.

“This thing could ramp up to a very strong tropical storm and it may become a Category 1 hurricane,” Kottlowski said.

Pacific Season

Manuel became the 13th storm of the Pacific season, which begins on May 15. It was about 125 miles south of Lazaro Cardenas with top winds of 50 mph and is expected to gain strength through the weekend. The storm was stationary and is expected to turn northwestward today and approach the coast of southwestern Mexico by early tomorrow. Manuel is expected to make landfall tomorrow, the center said.

On the Atlantic coast, a hurricane watch is in effect from La Pesca to north of Cabo Rojo and a tropical storm warning is in place farther south to Coatzacoalcos, according to the center. A tropical storm warning remained in effect as Manuel approached the Pacific coast, from Punta San Telmo to Acapulco.

On its current track, Ingrid won’t be a threat to U.S. production areas in the Gulf of Mexico, saidMatt Rogers, president of Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland.

The Gulf is home to about 5.6 percent of U.S. gas output, 23 percent of crude production and more than 45 percent of petroleum refining capacity, Energy Department data show.

Rogers said clouds and rain from Ingrid may cross into Texas next week, bringing cooler temperatures that will dull electricity demand across the state.

‘Mammoth Rainfall’

The main impact of the two storms will be “mammoth rainfall amounts” across southern Mexico, said Michael Schlacter, founder of Weather 2000 Inc. in New York.

“The worst thing for heavy rain are hills, mountains and mud,” Schlacter said by telephone. “The consequences for humanitarian purposes are just that more horrific.”

Schlacter said it’s possible heavy rain will fall across southern Mexico for the next five days.

The hurricane center was also tracking Humberto, now a post-tropical cyclone, which was about 980 miles northwest of the Cape Verde Islands with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was heading west-northwest at 13 mph and isn’t a threat to land.

Tropical Depression Gabrielle was absorbed by a cold front today. Its remnants were bringing heavy rain to Canada’s Atlantic coast.

To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston atbsullivan10@bloomberg.net; Edward Welsch in Calgary at ewelsch1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Reierson atareierson1@bloomberg.net; Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

Hurricane Ingrid and tropical storm Manuel target Mexico Hurricane Ingrid is gathering strength and is expected to reach Mexico Monday. Mexican officials are preparing for hurricane Ingrid on one coast, and tropical storm Manuel on the other coast. By Rodrigo Soberanes Santin, Associated Press / September 14, 2013

Hurricane Ingrid and tropical storm Manuel target Mexico

Hurricane Ingrid is gathering strength and is expected to reach Mexico Monday. Mexican officials are preparing for hurricane Ingrid on one coast, and tropical storm Manuel on the other coast.

By Rodrigo Soberanes Santin, Associated Press / September 14, 2013

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The forecast track of Hurricane Ingrid, produced by the US National Hurricane Center at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013.

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XALAPA, MEXICO

Hurricane Ingrid became the second hurricane of the Atlantic storm season off Mexico on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of several thousand people while Tropical Storm Manuelthreatened to cause flash floods and mudslides on the opposite side of the country.

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On Saturday evening, Hurricane Ingrid was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph). The storm was centered about 195 miles (315 km) east of Tuxpan, Mexico and moving north at 7 mph (11 km).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that if Ingrid stays on the forecast track, it's likely to reach the coast of Mexico on Monday.

In Tamaulipas state to the north, where the Hurricane Center says Ingrid will probably make landfall, the government said in a statement that Independence Day festivities were cancelled in the cities of Tampico, Madero and Altamira. The Sept. 15 and 16 celebrations commemorate Mexico's battle of independence from Spain.

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Officials in the Gulf state of Veracruz began evacuating coastal residents Friday night, and local civil protection authorities said that more than 5,300 people had been moved to safer ground. Of those, about 3,500 people were being housed in official shelters with the rest staying with family and friends. There were no immediate reports of injuries blamed on the storm.

More than 1,000 homes in Veracruz state have been affected by the storm to varying degrees, and 20 highways and 12 bridges have suffered damages, according to the state's civil protection authority.

A bridge collapsed near the northern Veracruz city of Misantla Friday, cutting off the area from the state capital. Thirteen people died when a landslide buried their homes in heavy rains spawned by Tropical Depression Fernand on Monday.

State officials imposed an orange alert, the highest possible, in parts of southern Veracruz.

Off Mexico's Pacific coast, Tropical Storm Manuel was moving with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). It was 75 miles (120 kilometers) off the city of Lazaro Cardenas and 185 miles (300 kilometers) southeast of Manzanillo. A tropical storm warning was in effect from Acapulco to Manzanillo.

Manuel was expected to produce 10 to 15 inches of rain over parts of the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, and life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were considered likely.

Elsewhere, the remnants of Tropical Storm Humberto were swirling in the Atlantic, far from land. It was expected to regenerate in a couple of days, according to the Hurricane Center.

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hurricane Ingrid Forms off Mexico XALAPA, Mexico September 14, 2013 (AP)

Hurricane Ingrid Forms off Mexico

XALAPA, Mexico September 14, 2013 (AP)

By RODRIGO SOBERANES SANTIN Associated Press

Ingrid became the second hurricane of the Atlantic storm season off Mexico on Saturday, prompting the evacuation of several thousand people while Tropical Storm Manuel threatened to cause flash floods and mudslides on the opposite side of the country.

On Saturday evening, Hurricane Ingrid was packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph). The storm was centered about 195 miles (315 km) east of Tuxpan, Mexico and moving north at 7 mph (11 km).

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that if Ingrid stays on the forecast track, it's likely to reach the coast of Mexico on Monday.

In Tamaulipas state to the north, where the Hurricane Center says Ingrid will probably make landfall, the government said in a statement that Independence Day festivities were cancelled in the cities of Tampico, Madero and Altamira. The Sept. 15 and 16 celebrations commemorate Mexico's battle of independence from Spain.

Officials in the Gulf state of Veracruz began evacuating coastal residents Friday night, and local civil protection authorities said that more than 5,300 people had been moved to safer ground. Of those, about 3,500 people were being housed in official shelters with the rest staying with family and friends. There were no immediate reports of injuries blamed on the storm.

More than 1,000 homes in Veracruz state have been affected by the storm to varying degrees, and 20 highways and 12 bridges have suffered damages, according to the state's civil protection authority.

A bridge collapsed near the northern Veracruz city of Misantla Friday, cutting off the area from the state capital. Thirteen people died when a landslide buried their homes in heavy rains spawned by Tropical Depression Fernand on Monday.

State officials imposed an orange alert, the highest possible, in parts of southern Veracruz.

Off Mexico's Pacific coast, Tropical Storm Manuel was moving with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). It was 75 miles (120 kilometers) off the city of Lazaro Cardenas and 185 miles (300 kilometers) southeast of Manzanillo. A tropical storm warning was in effect from Acapulco to Manzanillo.

Manuel was expected to produce 10 to 15 inches of rain over parts of the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Guerrero, and life-threatening flash floods and mudslides were considered likely.

Elsewhere, the remnants of Tropical Storm Humberto were swirling in the Atlantic, far from land. It was expected to regenerate in a couple of days, according to the Hurricane Center.

Hurricane Ingrid to Hit Mexican Gulf Coast Hurricane Ingrid to Hit Mexican Gulf Coast Eastern Mexico will see a hurricane landfall Monday.

http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral

Hurricane Ingrid to Hit Mexican Gulf Coast

Eastern Mexico will see a hurricane landfall Monday.

Hurricane Ingrid Forms in the Gulf We are watching Tropical Storm Ingrid in the Gulf of Mexico which is expected to

Hurricane Ingrid Forms in the Gulf

We are watching Tropical Storm Ingrid in the Gulf of Mexico which is expected to become a hurricane soon. It will bring heavy rain to Mexico. South Texas is also expected to see some rain from the system.

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PARA BAILAR BAJO LA LLUVIA TO DANCE IN THE RAIN (Translated by Bing)

Jose Torrentera shared a link via Dante Von Brucke.

10 hours ago

PARA BAILAR BAJO LA LLUVIA

TO DANCE IN THE RAIN (Translated by Bing)

MEZCAL Party Zipolite

Rip cur­rents have got­ten a lot of press lately. Every sum­mer local and national news sta­tions invari­ably run a short piece on the dan­gers of rip cur­rents. This is great, as pub­lic aware­ness is the first step to decreas­ing drown­ing acci­dents. Unfor­tu­nately, most media pieces on rip cur­rents don’t tell the whole story. Here are five things you might not know about rip cur­rents that could save your life.

5 Things You Might Not Know About Rip Currents

They don’t pull you under­wa­ter.
There is no such thing as an under­tow. Noth­ing is going to pull you under­wa­ter (except a mael­strom or very large surf). Rip cur­rents occur when water from incom­ing swell energy returns to the ocean. As such, rip cur­rents do not pull under, but rather flow out­ward like a river.

They don’t always go straight out to sea.
Now we know that rip cur­rents go out, not under, but it is impor­tant to under­stand that they do not always go straight out.  Water fol­lows the path of least resis­tance. A rip cur­rent may flow straight out, it may curve, it may zig-zag, it may flow at an angle, or it may flow par­al­lel to shore and then curve sharply out­ward. Because rip cur­rents don’t always flow away from shore, many vic­tims do not real­ize they are in a rip until it is too late.

You shouldn’t always swim par­al­lel to shore.
Con­ven­tional wis­dom dic­tates that you should swim par­al­lel to shore when you are in a rip. That’s great if the rip is mov­ing straight out to sea, but if the rip is diag­o­nal, long­shore, or zig-zagging you will  tire your­self out by swim­ming par­al­lel to shore. As a rule, you should always swim per­pen­dic­u­lar to the flow of the rip, towards shore, with the wind.

You shouldn’t always wait for the rip to end.
Some peo­ple sug­gest wait­ing for the rip to stop flow­ing before fig­ur­ing out how to reach the shore. That’s fine if you are in a small rip, but some rips flow 300 yards out to sea. The best way to escape a rip is by act­ing quickly and ratio­nally. Once you feel the pull, fig­ure out which direc­tion you are going and then fol­low the guide­lines in step three. Wait­ing until the rip ends may leave you very far from shore.

You don’t have to be an expert swim­mer to save a life.
You just need to be smart and informed. If you notice some­one in a rip, first sig­nal for help. Life­guards and surfers will be able to respond effec­tively. If you are on land, call 9–11. If you have avail­able flota­tion (rafts, body boards, surf­boards) approach the vic­tim and lend the flota­tion. If you do not have flota­tion, but have avail­able assis­tance, a human chain can help pull vic­tims to the safety of the sand­bar. Just remem­ber, never panic and never ever approach a vic­tim with­out flota­tion. A poten­tial res­cuer should never become a victim.

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How To Say “Fat” in Spanish

This time Andy only made 2 mistakes instead of the usual 5. Again, I made a note of his mistakes with my smart phone in order to share them with you.

Patrick Jackson

How to say fat in Spanish is what you will learn from this blog post. And I will talk about a Spanish word that can be both used as an insult or a term of affection. I will also teach you how to say fat as in body fat, animal fat and “fat” as in being over-weight.

How To Say Fat in Spanish

In a previous blog post, I told you about how I went “al cine” (to the movies) with some Colombian friends and they had a friend named Andy who joined us.

Andy is from the U.K, and he is sort of a “mochilero” (backpacker) who has traveled throughout Latin America. “Mochilero” comes from the word “mochila” which means “backpack.”

In that email, I told you about 5 mistakes that I heard Andy make when speaking Spanish.

Well, Andy is still here visiting Medellin, Colombia. And last night Andy, the same group of friends, and I went out to get something to eat.

1. At the “restaurante,” when the “mesero” (waiter) took Andy’s order, he asked for “costillas de cerdo” (pork ribs) and “papas a la francesa” (french fries). (In Colombia, french fries are called “papas a la francesa” but in most parts of Latin America they are called “papas fritas” — literally, fried potatoes).

After telling the “mesero” (waiter) that he wanted “costillas” (ribs) — but at the same time wanting to eat somewhat healthy — Andy then told the “mesero,” “sin mucha grasa.”

In Latin America, that’s not the correct way to say “without a lot of fat.” Well, “grasa” does mean fat. But in Latin America, when referring to the fat that is on meat, the word that you should use is “gordo.” So Andy should have said “sin mucho gordo” (without a lot of fat).

“Gordo/a” also means fat as in overweight:

• Mi jefe estaba gordo. My boss used to be overweight.

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Calling somone “gordo” (fatso) or “gorda” (fatso) is also a way to insult someone.

But in many parts of Latin America and also in Spain, “gordo/gordito” and “gorda/gordita” can be used as names of affection. For example, “dame un beso, gorda” (give me a kiss, sweetheart.)

Speaking personally, my “novia” (girlfriend) could probably score more points with me by calling me “flaquito” (the diminutive word for skinny) instead of calling me “gordo.”

After Andy placed his order, I then placed my order and requested:

- Pechuga a la parrilla – grilled chick breast – Ensalada – salad – Un vaso de agua de la llave – glass of tap water.

And yes, you can drink the “agua de la llave” (tap water) in Medellin. It actually tastes pretty good. But not as good as the tap water from “Nueva York” (New York) — which, in my opinion, tastes better than any bottled water. (But I would not recommend drinking “agua de la llave” in any Colombian city other than Medellin.)

Andy noticing that I had ordered a healthy “plato” (dish), he then asked me in Spanish:

2. “Patrick, ¿quieres perder gordo?

I responded, “Sí, quiero perder GRASA y ganar músculo.” (emphasis added). (Yes, I want to lose fat and gain muscle.)

As I mentioned earlier, “gordo” does refer to fat. But when you are talking about body fat (or blubber) the word to use is “grasa.”

So Andy should have asked me, “Patrick, ¿quieres perder grasa?” “Patrick do you want to lose fat?”

The Spanish word “grasa” also means grease. And the Spanish word for lard is “manteca.”

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