Yucatan Living

Yucatan News: Jaguars and Macaws

20 October 2014 News 4

Xcaret Park in Guinness World Record for Macaws Released

Twenty five years ago, scarlet macaws had been hunted nearly to extinction when Xcaret was able to rescue enough birds to have six eggs hatch in one year. That was in 1994. By 2012, the annual hatching of scarlet macaws at Xcaret had reached 132. The goal now is to have 500 of these extraordinarily beautiful birds hatch in one year. In the meantime, the number of macaws at Xcaret has made it possible for between 20 and 30 birds to be released into the wild in Chiapas in two separate operations this month. Hopefully, this will spell the beginning of a new era that will repopulate the Mexican and Latin American forests with their most colorful resident.

Red Bull Cliff Diving Event in Valladolid

The 2014 Red Bull Cliff Diving competition made a stop in Valladolid, Yucatan again this year. Divers from around the world competed, diving 27 meters into the Ik Kil cenote in Valladolid. The night before, more than fifty journalists and media representatives from around the world enjoyed dinner and local entertainment at the Casa de Los Venados, hosted by John and Dorianne Venator. The event in Yucatan was the culmination of the 2014 season, which included dives in places as diverse as Ireland, Norway and Cuba. The winner in the men's competition was Gary Hunt and Rachelle Simpson won for the women. The event has been gaining in both contestants and notoriety. Now in its sixth year, the event featured five judges, one of whom was famous Olympic athlete Greg Louganis. Go to the website for lots of videos and photos and more information about this exciting event.

Weather Forecast: Rain and More Rain

As Yucatan continues to get its daily dose of tropical rain, temperatures hover in the mid-80s during the day and fall to the lower 70s at night. There are a few areas where rain water is overwhelming the drainage system and streets flood, but nothing major and no actual property damage or injuries to people have been reported. As we wait for our cycle of tropical rains to end, please keep the people of Bermuda and the upper Atlantic coast of North America in mind as they work through the effects of Hurricane Gonzalo.

Chac Blesses the Opening of the III International Festival of Mayan Culture

Mexico is well aware that the strength of its culture lies in its diversity and, especially in recent years, the entire country has devoted itself to developing each of its indigenous and foreign cultural groups. The Mayan culture crosses state and national boundaries, and has entered a new era of growth and prosperity. This has not been lost on the tourism community. As an increasingly complex world fails to meet the needs of its population, indigenous cultures, such as the Maya, are bringing their cultures forward with renewed vigor and the world is flocking to see Mayan architectural sites, as well as to study Mayan poetry and traditional medicine. Special guests at the 2014 FICMaya Festival are Campeche and Guatemala, both with significant Mayan populations and Mayan archaeological sites.

Alejandro Pinzon Update

Yucatan's only musician with a Master's degree in orchestra conducting and a candidate for a PhD in orchestra conducting, Alejandro Pinzon has spread his wings and is taking on new projects. He has recently gone to work for Mooka Entertainment, a Pittsburgh-based company that promotes and provides authentic Brazilian artistic, cultural and academic experiences. In the meantime, he has also gone to work for a large tango club, which satisfies his admitted seven year addiction to tango. With an additional addiction to photography, he and a writer friend are getting ready to launch a project called "Artists of Pittsburgh." With only minutes remaining to be filled in every 24 hour day, Alejandro is also beginning his second season as the Assistant Conductor to the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra and, last week, he was interviewed over Skype for a radio show that is aired in 50 countries. He was chosen for the 30 minute interview by Price Rubin Management (classical music managers) to talk about some of the issues of the conducting world and classical music in general. Alejandro says that he has a lot more projects that he wants to do, but we are wondering where he is going to find the time? He is cool and calm, one of the nicest young men anyone would ever want to meet, and juggles more in one day than most of us do in a month. Keep those updates coming, Alejandro. We can't wait to hear more!

Day of the Dead Activities Begin

With less than two weeks to go until the Day of the Dead, the cleaning of streets and cemeteries has already begun. This is one time of the year when no one complains or mumbles that the city should provide this level of maintenance. Instead, everyone takes on responsibility for maintaining the graves of their own family members. The municipalities do stand in the gap with assistance on the projects that individuals cannot do, such as road maintenance, large tree trimming and removal projects, and the actual building of vaults but, on the whole, what you see in the cemeteries in Yucatan on the Day of the Dead is the evidence of loving family members for those who have gone before them.

Deadbeat Dads Go to Jail in Yucatan

This past week, nine men were arrested for not paying court-ordered child support in Yucatan. This is a topic that seldom comes up for expatriates, as most are older and have no small children at home or in Yucatan. However, a word to the wise is in order here. In many cases, mediation helps to resolve nonsupport issues before they become serious. However, Yucatan can, and will, jail any man, expatriates included, for not paying child support. Plus, it is a foolish man who thinks that running to their home country will help them escape child support. Not so. Yucatan will follow and arrest them with the blessing of their own home governments. Children belong to the world and nowhere are they more valued than in Yucatan.

New Push to Educate About Jaguars

There are only about 4,000 jaguars left in the Americas and almost half of them live on the Yucatan Peninsula, with most of those living in Tizimin, Yucatan, at Área de Conservación El Zapotal. As of now, only the Mazatlan Aquarium and Merida’s Centennial Park Zoo have programs to educate the public about the value of jaguar conservation. Beginning now, Animaya, the Centennial Zoo, and Pronature Yucatan are redoubling their efforts to bring a special program to school children throughout the state. Their partnership also includes specialists at UNAM and the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas. This comes on the heels of the discovery, through the use of hidden cameras on the Zapotal preserve, that there are no less than 1,800 big cats of four different species either living in Tizimin or passing through on their way to other parts of the peninsula. These big cats include jaguars, puma, jaguarondi, ocelot, and margay, plus four other smaller species of wild cats. For now, we are just happy to know that Yucatan’s big cat population is thriving, even if it is nocturnal and as far from the city as these big cats can get.

Community Development: How To Leap Forward

Yucatan has a total of 106 municipalities (counties). It also has a Ministry of Social Development. Over the past few weeks, the Community Councils of 13 districts (33 groups in all), met to determine what the people need to, quite literally, leap over any social issues that have been holding them back, especially when those social issues are related to poverty. This brings the total number of community councils working together to 260 in 69 different municipalities. The first issue on their agenda was the lack of state offices in outlying municipalities. Not a problem. There are state offices in Valladolid, Yaxcaba, Tekax and Motul. It is a simple matter to move additional state services to those offices. "Find a need and fix it" was the phrase of the day and we can look for great things to come from the interior of the state in the very near future.

Yucatan and Breast Cancer

It was announced this week that Yucatan has one of the lowest rates of breast cancer, and one of the lowest rates of death from breast cancer of all the states in Mexico. In Yucatan, 30 to 38 cases of breast cancer per 100,000 women is far less than the 119 cases per 100,000 in neighboring Campeche. Plus, the 7.2% mortality rate gives women the good news that, even if they do develop breast cancer in Yucatan, they have a 92.8% chance of survival. Of course, this good news is fueled by a significant degree of public health education and awareness in Yucatan, and a determination to improve the health of everyone who lives here.

Time for a Flu Shot

When we hear that the government health agency has made 140,000 doses of flu vaccine available to the poor in Yucatan, we know it is time for all of us to stop by our doctor’s office and get our flu shots. Weather predictions say that there will be more nortes this winter (55) than ever before, and that means wild swings in temperature almost every week. Eat well. Sleep well. Get plenty of exercise, wash your hands throughout the day – and don’t forget your flu shot.