Yucatan Living

Yucatan News: Street Vendors & Illegal Pets

Feeling a Little Damp?

Hurricane season is far from over, so it is a fairly safe bet to guess that at least afternoon rains will be with the entire Yucatan Peninsula for the remainder of September. This is especially true as one tropical weather event after the next seems to be rolling over us. Please remain prepared for any degree of weather, and watch the weather sources online for continuous updates. The National Hurricane Center at NOAA is an excellent resource. If you have a favorite online weather service, please leave us a note and its web address in the comment section below.

Hepatitis A on the Rise

There have been 958 cases of Hepatitis A reported so far in 2014 in Yucatan. This is 100 more cases than for the same period last year. Most of the cases have been reported in outlying municipalities that do not have chlorinated water, suffer with poor drainage during heavy rains, and have poor hygiene in food preparation, especially in the preparation of food cooked and sold by street vendors. Vaccinations in these 27 municipalities are currently underway. To protect yourself and your family, keep your kitchen clean and take extra care to purchase, store, and cook food properly. This is one time of the year when drinking bottled water is probably a good idea, as is hand-washing. Hepatitis A is preventable, so please take extra measures to keep yourself and your family safe.

65 Masters and Doctoral Students Head Abroad

The Government of the State of Yucatan, along with the National Council of Science and Technology, has presented scholarships to 65 masters and doctoral students so they can continue their studies in Europe, Asia, the United States, and other parts of the world. The number of students who are academically prepared to take on this challenge is steadily increasing: 31 in 2012, 49 in 2013, and now 65 in 2014. We are also pleased to report that 42% of these students are women. These bright young people are Yucatan’s face to the world. They are forming the professional relationships that will network Yucatan and other nations together far into the future. Congratulations to each and every one of them and bon voyage!

Profepa Confiscates Illegal Pets

This past week, in Motul, Profepa confiscated a crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) and five turtles: two Trachemys callirostris, two Rhinoclemmys areolata, and a Kinosternon integrum. The people had been keeping them as pets, but now face a fine that could go as high as 50,000 times the daily minimum wage. This comes on the heels of an iguana and eight tree frogs discovered in an airport in Nuevo Leon. Their origin was right here in Merida. The protection of animals, especially endangered animals, in Mexico is a serious issue and Profepa has little to zero sympathy when it comes to confiscation and the assessment of penalties.

Chichen Itza Most Visited Archaeological Site in Mexico

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) tracks visitors to the archaeological sites in Mexico and reports that Chichen Itza (with 18.9% of all archaeological visitors) has pulled ahead of Teotihuacan, in the State of Mexico, which only registered 18.2%. It became obvious that Chichen Itza would win the tourism race in June, when it had registered 132,333 visitors and Teotihuacan had only recorded 128,979. So far this year, over eight million people have visited Mexico’s archaeological zones and more than five million have visited Mexico’s museums. Tourism, both domestic and foreign is on the rise and Mexico has got the destinations, both new and ancient. And Yucatan has the most popular site of all!

Street Vendors Given Chance for Permanent Locations

There is a new program in place in five city councils across Mexico with the goal of giving street vendors the opportunity to find permanent locations through unsecured loans. This is a pilot program that is beginning in Merida (Yucatan), Morelia (Michoacan), Santana (Tlaxcala), Queretaro (Queretaro) and in D.F. The goal, in Merida, is to have no street vendors in Merida at all. This will improve the tax base and give the vendors a sense of belonging in the business community in their state. The project is slated to begin before the end of this month and, if it works, we will soon see the results. To be honest, we are not sure how we feel about this... street vendors have always seemed to us to be a part of life in Mexico. However, as visitors to this beautiful country, we can only watch as time and progress continue to make changes.

Red Tide Affecting Pulpo (Octopus) Catch

The fishermen of San Felipe are reporting a below normal catch of pulpo because of, they believe, a red tide that can also be seen in Rio Lagartos. They say it seems to be coming from the direction of El Cuyo. Since a red tide depletes the oxygen in the water and causes marine animals to head for deeper water to survive, the octopus population is apparently moving on. Since the sea cucumber can’t move the way other species can, they simply die in a serious incident of red tide. The loss of income from the sea cucumbers, as well as lower catches of other species of fish, would spell economic disaster for many fishermen whose families depend on their income. This is a situation that everyone will continue to monitor.

Breeding Tilapia May Come to Ejido Paraiso Soon

Nine kilometers from Progreso, on the road to Merida, there is a little village called Chespirto, which is located on Ejido Paraiso, which is still in the Municipality of Progreso. Only 450 people live there, and the village is only 25 years old. It recently began getting services, such as electricity and other public services, and a school. Now, people from the Port of Progreso are beginning to move there because it is such a nice place to live. Unfortunately, there are several times a year when the unemployment rate soars. To combat unemployment, families are raising pigs and poultry, as well as vegetables in backyard gardens. But that isn’t enough. Full time employment is their goal and they see aquaculture, in the form of breeding tilapia, as a means of resolving their dilemma. Tilapia breeding has been successful in other parts of the state and there has been a successful pilot research program ongoing in Tizimin since 2008. There is every reason to believe that tilapia breeding will be successful in Chespirto. This will be the last thing needed to ensure that Paraiso really is Paradise.

Coppel Coming to Oxkutzcab

Oxkutzcab is the Citrus Capital of Yucatan and the location of the annual Orange Festival. As the city grew, Mi Bodega Aurrera (part of the Walmart chain) was the first big chain store to come to town. Next came Soriana Express and now Coppel. The human resources people are already in town and are already hiring employees. Because Oxkutzcab is the center of a growing agricultural and commercial economy, it was not lost on Coppel that thousands of people from the city and region shop in Oxkutzcab every day. This is also an area with a significant number of returning migrants who are looking for the kind of merchandise Coppel offers. It looks as if Oxkutzcab is poised to take yet another well deserved leap forward.

Avocados: $100 pesos per 20 Kilogram Box

There is, evidently, a bumper crop of avocados in Yucatan at the present time and prices have hit rock bottom, at least for a few days or weeks. For those of our readers who do not live in Yucatan, $100 pesos per 20 kilogram box works out to $5 pesos per kilogram, and that converts to $0.38 USD per 2.2 pounds, which is $0.17 USD per pound. Currently, in the United States, the average retail price of avocados is a little more than $1.22 USD per pound. With the kind of prices we’re seeing in Oxkutzcab, we can envision hoards of avocado lovers heading for airports and planes for Yucatan. Of course, these low prices won’t last forever, but they certainly nice while we have them.