Zihuatanejo Sunrise

Since I've apparently been rousing too much rabble lately, I thought you might like to hear about a typical morning in our life here. Morning begins with the whistling of the street sweeper at about 5:30 in the morning as he makes his rounds. Now this guy doesn't simply whistle some rambling ditty tune in his head. Oh no, this guy gives a full concerto of some classic and timeless Mexican music. He'd easily win any talent contest or variety show competition. This guy is quite the warbler, and he's probably waiting for some talent show scout to discover him. However, the magic lasts only until he rolls away his plastic trashbin, which is a bit on the loud side, and sort of sounds like a train coming down the street at that hour of the morning. But then quiet returns for a few moments before roosters can be heard in the distance over the hissing and crashing of waves on the beach in front of our house (I almost can't sleep without that beautiful sound of the surf). And as the first light turns the sky bluish gray, the smell of fresh roasted coffee from the shop below my window spurs me into action for the first chore of the day: making the coffee, of course. While the coffee is making I usually do some exercises on the roof and enjoy the fresh clean scent of the ocean air off the bay, and I watch as the fishmongers pass by from the beachfront market on their way to other markets where they will sell their purchases, and housewives and restaurant people pass by also carrying fresh fish, some of the women still carry the fish balanced in a large bin on top of their heads. This is also when the sportfishing boats are making their way out of the bay into the open ocean, and wizened fishermen in canoes paddle around the bay looking for baitfish and throwing their nets upon large frothing schools them, supplying many of the sportfishing boats with live bait for their day's adventure on the watery blue horizon. And slowly but surely in the growing daylight people start making their way to the beach for their morning exercise routines, including my wife who likes to swim a few laps at Madera Beach in the mornings. Sometimes I accompany her or meet her there. Daylight comes fast at these little latitudes, and the morning light show is no less spectacular than the sunsets as the evening moisture makes its way down out of the mountains, sometimes providing great orange and white towers of clouds that head out to sea, lit by the sun as it creeps over the horizon and casting their colorful glow on the bay and surrounding hillsides. About that time the sailors can be heard chanting as they make their daily exercise run down the beach. Then come the vendors: the ice truck supplying the beachfront restaurants, the water truck bringing garafones to homes and businesses, the propane gas truck who honks and cries out "gaaaas", the voceadores who drive the streets with large speakers atop their cars crying out the daily news: "¡léelo en su periódico!" And before you know it, as Cat Stevens says, "morning has broken", and the day is underway. Living downtown can have its disadvantages regarding noise and congestion, but it is also the center of life for our community, and in the cool tranquility of the mornings it is always fascinating and invigorating to watch our community come to life much as it always has for the past few decades. It is certainly my favorite time of day and my favorite place to be. No doubt about it! =)

Beach Report (Pollution followup)

RAW SEWAGE ENTERING BAY FROM SEMI-HIDDEN DRAIN NEXT TO CANAL "LA BOQUITA"

Just as I predicted, the latest report of the water quality at our local beaches was just released for the month of July, now that summer vacation season is over and most all the tourists have already left. For some reason the report for June simply wasn't published (that bad, eh?). And many other areas appear simply not to have had water samples taken.

Calidad Bacteriológica del Agua de Mar

And as I have been saying for over the past month, the water quality at the Playa Municipal is unsafe for swimmers. But hey! They've already been exposed to the health hazard for the past month because of the alleged collusion and intentional coverup among the "responsible authorities".

Now that the July report shows health risks at both the Playa Municipal as well as at Playa Quieta (in front of the Club Med), it will be interesting to see if the "red banners" and signs warning of the health risk are ever placed on these beaches. There is currently no such banner or announcement on the Playa Municipal, and today, just like every other day during this summer vacation period, tourists and their children will flock to this beach and play in the water. Unfortunately, they may be taking more home with them than a suntan, and although they have a right to know, the "responsible authorities" do not appear to be willing to tell them.

Crime and Pollution

Sadly locals have watched as during the past couple of months a number of notorious crimes have taken place giving rise to a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty among the local residents. There was the assassination of a man at an auto repair service on the highway in Ixtapa, the discovery of grenades in a planter on a downtown street, the discovery of a cache of weapons and ammunition less than a block from the police station as well as near a school and public sports center, the detention of 16 men (though only 13 were handed over to federal authorities with no mention of the fate of the remaining 3) along with the confiscation of four and a half metric tons of cocaine 140 km off our coast, the attack on the Ixtapa police module on the coastal highway Carretera Nacional 200 in broad daylight with a grenade and automatic weapons, several kidnappings including one where a ransom was paid but the victim was murdered anyway, the brutal and senseless murder of a young woman 8 months pregnant by a thief who first made the woman tie up her husband, and an attempted kidnapping in broad daylight and right in front of the municipal police by Policía Ministeriales del Estado and one of their "madrinas" (all 3 were inebriated and had no valid excuse for "detaining" the lady they allegedly tried to kidnap and they were all let free). Local residents no longer feel confident to walk the streets at night and by 10 o'clock Zihuatanejo is now quieter than it's been for years. Municipal authorities have not addressed the problems but instead have only contributed to them by allowing family friends and members to blatantly thumb their noses at police when caught violating our laws, even attacking and threatening police only to get off scott free or paying an absurdly low fine.

Additionally, concealing the pollution problems with Zihuatanejo's bay has also led to a worsening of the problem. City authorities maintain there is no problem and the federal agency entrusted with monitoring and reporting on bacteriological water quality of our beaches, SEMARNAT, simply does not test where raw sewage enters the bay next to the canal "La Boquita" by the museum on the Playa Principal, the town's main beach where many vacationing families frequently swim and play in the water. They apparently have made a deal with politicians to overlook this very real danger to the health of our visitors and instead, like most all of the local lodging establishments and promotors of local tourism, simply maintain that there is no problem or risk to bathers.

How can Zihuatanejo continue inviting vacationers to enjoy its beaches while hiding from them the fact that their health may be at risk, especially at the Playa Principal? How can we claim that Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa are safe and tranquil vacation destinations while violent crimes are on the rise and criminals continue enjoying impunity?

Lodging owners MUST get involved and insist on concrete action from our local, state and federal authorities. The clamor from the general populace has only caused at least one political candidate to run on an "anti-crime" promise, but no action at all has been detected by residents other than the increased military presence protecting the local naval base. Since lodging operators enjoy the greatest benefits of our tourism industry, they should be the first to insist that responsible authorities do their part to provide a safe and healthy environment for tourists to visit.

No May Flowers

The burnings of plots of land for the summer crops of corn is an annual occurrence in Mexico, and the Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa region of the State of Guerrero is no exception. Although such burnings are supposed to be illegal, apparently no "responsible authorities" enforce this law (as so many others laws go equally unenforced). El Cerro Viejo (the big hill behind Zihuatanejo seen in many picture post card photos) was partially burned yesterday afternoon and evening, and this morning the residents and visitors of Zihuatanejo awoke to a dense layer of smoke. In Ixtapa fires have been seen burning for days in Barrio Viejo (San José de Ixtapa) and the lands all the way up the sierra. Billowing clouds of smoke spread out across the hills and valleys and off into the ocean. While they do provide for colorful sunsets, they are also responsible not only for the air pollution but later the erosion that comes with the rains, removing what is left of any topsoil and making the land barren and arid. Mexico is actively promoting the desertification of our country by permitting these burnings to continue. Often the burnings aren't simply for agricultural purposes but also have a darker side, if that is possible. Each year tens of thousands of hectares of our forests are lost. Fires allow access to areas not only for loggers but also for squatters who steal our lands, and each year following local fires squatters occupy more lands cleared by those fires. Again, although squatting is illegal, no one enforces the law unless they see a political or economic benefit, such as running off other squatters in order to allow a new group of squatters who enjoy protection from certain powerful and influential politicians and caciques. Although our current mayor promised no more illegal invasions of lands would be tolerated, under his 3-year term we have seen more illegal invasions than in the ten previous years, many thanks to his campaign declaration that since he didn't put them there (though his and other political parties did) that he would not remove them. We have also seen other designated ecological zones have their land designations changed under this city administration, that was supposed to be ecologically friendly, in order to allow developers to cut roads and clear woodlands on what's left of our bayside hills for the building of new "megaprojects" for tourism and affluent "wannabe" residents, even though that was supposed to be the purpose for the existence of Ixtapa, leaving Zihuatanejo to its own natural growth. Zoning laws were quickly and quietly changed behind closed doors to accommodate developers. And thus the future of Zihuatanejo was sold out by the "government of change", the "government of the poor", the government that was supposed to replace the bad old corrupt politicians from the party that had governed Guerrero since the Revolución! No May flowers in Zihuatanejo this year, only smoke and fire and the continued rape of what should be paradise.

Slow Season in Zihuatanejo

Playa La Ropa (click to enlarge photo) The slow season in Zihuatanejo is my favorite time of year, especially during the rainy season when tourists are scarce, the beaches are empty, the water is clear (except right after a big rain), the restaurants aren't crowded, the bars close earlier (meaning fewer drunks in boombox cars on the streets at night), and those of us who live and work here get to see each other and socialize after busting our humps during the high season. The slow summer season with its life-giving rains turns Zihuatanejo into a jungled paradise with blooming trees and shrubs covering verdant hillsides. Rivers and streams renew their flow and the afternoon rains keep everything fresh, cool and clean. For those who plan on being in Zihuatanejo during the summer rainy season be sure to check out the Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Weather page. There ain't no summertime blues in Zihuatanejo except blue water and blue sky!