Costa Maya Newsletter
> Archived
Newsletters > December 2005
Newsletters:
of primary interest to property owners on the Costa Maya, - Rio Indio
- Placer - Uvero - Punta Herrera - Xcalak and other points along the
coast
-
December 16, 2005 - Contents
* New title for the newsletter
* Sea-beans or Drift Seeds and other items that drift on the beach
* Changes to the way airline passengers are searched
* X-ray of luggage when entering Mexico
* Coral Reef Set Back 100 Years by Wilma
* Swim with dolphins now open at Uvero Beach Club
* Costa Maya Ecological land Zoning Program
* Time to pay property taxes
* New DA in Mahahual
* Recycling update
Hi Neighbors,
With the weather so warm and the absence of large shopping centers
vying for your dollar, sometimes it is hard to remember that Christmas
is just around the corner other than we are getting really busy! I'm
still looking for something to double as a Christmas tree and thinking
a palm will suffice nicely. Being from Seattle, Washington where fresh
cut trees were plentiful, I have difficulty making the leap to an artificial
tree. For your information, you can purchase live trees in Chetumal
but they aren't as lush and fresh as I am used to -- still I may end
up purchasing one if the palm tree looks too pathetic! I want to thank
all of you for your friendship and goodwill throughout the year. Kim
and I and the staff at Mayan Beach Garden want to wish you the happiest
of holidays and a prosperous New Year and hope to meet each and every
one of you if you get the opportunity to make it up to this part of
the beach.
NEW TITLE FOR THE NEWSLETTER
Commencing with 2006, the newsletter will be re-named to Costa Maya
Neighbor's Newsletter. If you have a better suggestion, please let
me know -- change is EASY!
SEA-BEANS OR DRIFT SEEDS AND OTHER ITEMS THAT DRIFT ON THE BEACH
Last week we had 11 "beaners" visit us from various parts
of the United States. Their primary interest was in tropical drift
seeds or sea beans that are carried with all the garbage from various
parts of the world. These people are serious beachcombers. Included
in their group was a Florida Everglades biologist, a world-wide specialist
in currents and a biologist specializing in turtles and other life
living in the reef. They brought new meaning to the garbage that washes
up on the beach, but I learned a lot about our beaches as well. They
found many rare and valuable seeds along the beaches here as well
as some other interesting items. Many of you have commented on the
amount of trash and grass that wash up on the shores here. The beaners
call this the "wrack" and they say the Costa Maya has some
of the best wrack they have ever seen. Florida has very little so
beachcombing is not any near as much fun. You can find out more about
sea-beans at http://www.seabean.com/.
Earlier in October, Ted Trauernicht's son left a bag of sea-beans
at our front desk (Ted owns property her on the Costa Maya). I gave
the bag of beans to the group who were absolutely delighted because
there were some wonderful specimens of Sea Hearts (Entrada gigas)
and some hamburger beans.
Collectively the group found 150 cigarette lighters, half with fluid
still in them. These can be very dangerous as they attract fish, birds
and dogs who bite down on them. One of the members of the group found
two World War II vials two or three km. north of Rio Indio that contain
either medicine or poison. I should have taken a picture to show you
but they look like very tiny brown medicine bottles completely sealed
- no lid. Curtis Ebbesmeyer who specializes in drift currents says
that these are potentially extremely dangerous and should be reported
and sent to him immediately. On a lighter note, Curtis is also studying
pigs that drift on shore. Recently there have been an incredible number
of plastic piggy banks that have found their way to shore. Curtis
thinks that there may be something going on related to the pigs. If
you find plastic pigs of any size laying on the beach, please either
send them to Curtis or drop them off here at Mayan Beach Garden so
that we can take a picture and send it to him. His studies of ocean
currents have brought the attention of Smithsonian Magazine, National
Geographic, people magazine and other periodicals. He says one pound
of plastic turns into 100,000 small pieces of plastic if left in the
ocean. While oil spills get more attention as an environmental threat,
he says plastic is a far more serious danger to the ocean's health.
Oil is harmful but eventually biodegrades, while plastic remains forever.
Half of beach debris worldwide is plastic, it doesn't biodegrade,
it just gets broken into smaller pieces resembling zooplankton. The
plastic is eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by fish. After
a recent research, he says the mass of plastic has increased to 10
pounds of plastic to one pound of zooplankton. "The ocean uses
what she can get. She grinds it up and feeds it to her critters,"
Ebbesmeyer says. "Picking up one thing off the beach makes a
big difference
People think it disappears, but in the ocean,
it goes someplace else." His website http://www.beachcombers.org/
CHANGES TO THE WAY AIRLINE PASSENGERS ARE SEARCHED
Effective December 22,The Transportation Security Administration
announced changes to the way airline passengers are searched, including
more random searches. Also, it updates the list of prohibited items
aboard planes, allowing more sharp objects.
Passengers will continue to walk through a metal detector and have
their carry-on and checked baggage screened. However, these measures
may now include a brief additional search of their person or their
property. Examples of this additional screening include: explosive
screening of shoes, hand-wanding of passengers, enhanced pat down
searches and inspections of carry-on bags. These searches will be
generated at random and will take only about a minute to complete.
They will allow Transportation Security Officers to better screen
passengers for explosives and other threats to the aviation system.
Beginning December 22, scissors with a cutting edge of four inches
or less and tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches and pliers smaller
than seven inches will be permitted on board. Scissors longer than
four inches and tools such as crowbars, drills, hammers, and saws
will continue to be prohibited from carry-on bags. Lighters will continue
to be banned from the cabin of aircraft and in checked baggage.
X-RAY OF LUGGAGE WHEN ENTERING MEXICO
Some time during the fall, luggage entering Mexico began to be x-rayed
at customs. I experienced this in Merida and other people have reported
that this is now the case in Cancun. I am not clear yet as to the
complete list of items they are x-raying for, but Mike Woodburn, one
of your neighbors, brought down two frozen steaks which were quickly
confiscated based on the scan, so clearly red meat is not something
you can bring into the country. If you know more about restricted
items, please email me and I will report it in this newsletter.
CORAL REEF SET BACK 100 YEARS BY WILMA
Mexico's National Protected Natural Areas Commission, known as reported
on Nov. 7th that the reef off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula
could take more than a century to recover from a thrashing by Hurricane
Wilma. The hurricane damaged a 25-mile stretch of delicate reefs off
the island of Cozumel. "The area was hit hard by the storm and
it could take at least 100 years for the reef to recover," Conanp
regional director Alfredo Arellano said. "Whole colonies of coral
were torn from their original site and tossed into the abyss,"
he said. Arellano said a team of 10 divers and conservationists had
begun rebuilding sections of the damaged reef, using pneumatic drills
to bore holes in sea-bed rocks to reattach loose coral fragments with
epoxy cement.
The reef along the Costa Maya was damaged as well, but not nearly
as severely since the force of the waves here was not as bad. Still
there are big chucks of coral upside down.
SWIM WITH DOLPHINS NOW OPEN AT UVERO
Uvero has now opened their beach club to those outside of the cruise
ship. You may use the facilities for the day the same way the cruise
ship passengers use it. NOTE: you cannot just walk up and expect to
pay to use the facilities. You will need a pass. We sell passes here
at Mayan Beach Garden that provide use of the club, open bar, use
of paddle boats, showers and other amenities.
You can also swim with the dolphins there. The Dolphin swim opened
in early November, ahead of schedule. The rate is currently $115 per
person for 30 minutes of dolphin swim. This is run by the same folks
that run Xcaret and Xelha and you can book a dolphin tour even when
the cruise ships are not there. They do accept credit cards. You do
not have to be a guest of Uvero to swim with the Dolphins, although
they may tell you that when you arrive-- not everyone who works there
knows yet. Tell them you own property here and want to swim with the
dolphins or that you are a guest of Mayan Beach Garden (we are the
closest hotel to them). You can check out the dolphin swim at: http://www.mayanbeachgarden.com/activies_dolphins.html
COSTA MAYA ECOLOGICAL LAND ZONING PROGRAM
Curious as to how your property is zoned, what you can do with it
and how big of a house you can build? The information has been available
in Spanish, but is now been translated into English by Orlando Iglesias
and Carlos Lopez, local biologists who also do the environmental impact
studies you need done when you are ready to build. You can purchase
the 53 page document and associated maps on CD for $82.50 (includes
IVA) -- shipping is extra. We can also email it to you in 4 separate
emails (PDF document plus 3 maps) if you want to save the shipping
charge or receive it sooner. Contact me if you are interested and
we will help you facilitate the purchase via charge card or check.
One caveat, if you are close to one of the zoning boundaries, you
will need to have someone who can take GPS coordinates tell you which
zone you are in as the maps do not have lot numbers or mile markers
on them -- all of the points and lagoons are well labeled.
TIME TO PAY PROPERTY TAXES
Just a reminder that December - February is the time to pay property
taxes. You will be getting a discount on your taxes if you pay in
December. After February there are late fees. You can pay in Chetumal
or Mahahual. Normally your accountant takes care of this for you,
but not all accountants are equal. You may want to let him/her know
you want it taken care of. Most charge a minimal fee to take care
of this for you. If you are visiting the area and have a past tax
receipt, you can pay for it yourself. If the name on the tax receipt
is not your own name, they may have difficulty receiving it in Mahahual
as they don't seem to have the means to do anything out of the ordinary.
If so, you should be able to pay in Chetumal (this was the case for
us last year).
NEW DA IN MAHAHUAL
A new Attorney of State/District Attorney (agente del Ministerio
Publico) has been assigned to the Mahahual area by the Governor. The
position varies from that in the US or elsewhere in the world in that
this position takes legal complaints and then based on his judgment,
orders police investigations. The name of the new Attorney is Lic.
Juan Antonio Alcocer Basto. His cell phone is 983-1101-1067 and he
is located in the casitas just a block E. of Barudi's store, or the
first street on the right as you enter into the houses by the pier.
Oh, he speaks some English, although you will need to speak slowly
to him so he can understand you.
RECYCLING UPDATE
As frustrating as it can be sometimes, the recycling effort will
not die thanks to the efforts of Carlos Lopez from "Amigo de
Sian Ka'an" and Orlando Iglesias from the University of Quintana
Roo. They are currently hosting the recycling drop-off center at the
University's extension center 2 km south of Mahahaul. They are also
working to get something more permanent. This is very difficult, bordering
on the impossible sometimes. The currently project is to legally reorganize
under the Mayor and try and get a trash compactor. If they can come
up with 10 tons of plastic a week they can get one donated from Playa
del Carmen. That is a lot of plastic, far more than Mahahaul can come
up with without the efforts of Uvero Beach Club and the Pier. It will
be interesting to see what happens in the next month or so.
Total donations to date: $2332.27
Donations turned over to the city: $834.55
Balance $1,49.72
Recent donation: Larry Sweet who owns property about 10 km south of
Mahahaul: $1000 pesos
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITY
The chamber of Commerce has been very busy, but I don't have any
official information at this time. Rather than delay the newsletter,
I will send out a separate email if the news turns out to be really
interesting (as it usually is).
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Marcia
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