April 2016

The Eye Beach, Village + Urban Living in Oaxaca April, 2016 Issue 57 FREE

“There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.�

Dejan Stojanovic

Chiles&Chocolate Cooking Classes Huatulco, Oaxaca

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“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?" That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.” ― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

I

was born on an island in the middle of a great raging river that once upon a time flowed majestically out to the Atlantic Ocean. The island was so large that it was easy to forget it was bordered by water. We didn’t spend Sundays sitting on its banks having picnics and swimming or depend on it for food. We crossed over the river on large concrete bridges, safely ensconced in our cars, barely acknowledging the dark murky waters below.

Until the 1980s, it was common practice to clear the island’s sewers by pumping untreated sewage into the river. When the first European settlers explored this river they found it inhabitated by people who recognized the source of life the river offered. By the time I was born this reverence had been lost.

Last November, Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, once again began dumping untreated sewage into the St Lawrence river. The city said the dump was necessary while work was carried out to replace aging parts of the waste treatment system. Signs advising against touching the water were posted on the banks of the river directly opposite Montreal’s main port area.

When you think of Huatulco, chances are you marvel about the beaches and ocean life. However, one of the most luxurious things for me is the intricate arteries of rivers that flow down the Sierra Madre and make their way to the Pacific Ocean. I still live by a river and there are no words to express how I felt called home to this timeless marvel that existed before any of us and hopefully will outlast our presence.

In the evening I like to go down to the river and lie down on a large stone that is a short walk from the shore, it is the perfect size for two people to lie back and watch the sky. The stone is an island a million times smaller than the one I was born on, but I can extend my arm and let my fingers drag through the cool water.

Unlike the river of my childhood, the river of my adult life is bursting forth with life, nurturing its shorelines with lush vegetation and constantly reminding me of its majesty.

See you next month,

Jane

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The Eye is a monthly all-English magazine that is distributed throughout the state of Oaxaca. It can be found for FREE at hotels, restaurants and community hot spots.

Should you wish to receive copies, advertise or submit some writing or photography please send us an email.

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Editor: Jane Bauer Copy Editor: Deborah Van Hoewyk Web Goddess: Erin Vig Writers: Geri Anderson, Cindy Belyk, Renee Biernacki, Jan Chaiken, Marcia Chaiken, Julie Etra, Brooke Gazer, Carole Reedy, Alvin Starkman, Deborah Van Hoewyk, Kary Vannice Cover Photo: Julie Netley Photography/Art: Various Distribution: Renee Biernacki Advertising Assistant: Casilda Mendoza Lopez Layout: Jane Bauer Opinions and words are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Eye. We welcome submissions and input.

To get involved send us an email.

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In This Issue LA BIBLIOTECA DEL MAR A Library and Community Center by the Sea

By Geri Anderson Page 6 Hello Westjet!

By Cindy Belyk Page 7 Mexico City's Best Kept Secret: The “Other” Diego Rivera Murals

By Carole Reedy Page 8 Recap of The Blues

By Brooke Gazer Page 9 A Primer on Pulque: Harvesting Aguamiel

By Alvin Starkman Page 10 Mayan Mysteries and the Usumacinta River

By Deborah Van Hoewyk Page 12 Bottoms Up in Marina Chahué

By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken Page 14 Rattle Snakes and Scorpions

By Kary Vannice Page 15 Play Ball: Sporting Insights

By Carole Reedy Page 16 The Schizophrenic River

By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken Page 18 Riding the Copalita River

By Renee Biernacki Page 19 Rio Copalita and River Restoration in Mexico

By Julie Etra Page 20 Top-Down, Bottom-Up, Sideways: How Best to Conserve Mexico's Rivers

By Deborah Van Hoewyk Page 21 EDITORIAL PAGE 3 EVENTS CALENDAR PAGE 22 In Oaxaca City, The Eye is now available at Amate Books.

www.TheEyeHuatulco.com The Eye 4

LA BIBLIOTECA DEL MAR A Library and Community Center by the Sea

By Geri Anderson

B

umping along the narrow country road twelve kilometers from the all-inclusive beach resorts of Bahias de Hualtuco, you wouldn't expect to end up in one of the most idyllic places in the state of Oaxaca. A few cows graze in roadside pastures, and you'll pass a banana plantation and acres of tended trees in a reforestation project. A grove of palms will be harvested for palapas and another patch of palms, heavy with coconuts, provide coco milk and sweet coco meat. Here and there splashes of graffiti brighten rocky cliffs.

As you get closer to Bahia de San Agustin Huatulco you'll see women sitting under trees selling just picked-fruit and fresh juices. Salty sea and earthy smells mix with tortillas cooking on comales (clay platters) over open fires.

A hand painted arrow at a fork in the road points to Chalo's Restaurant where you'll find Chalo, patriach of the third family to settle in this remote bay, population 450. Except for a threeyear stint in Chicago, he's spent his thirty-two years here, fishing, guiding would-be-fisherman and serving catch-of-the day to tourists.

The beach is pretty much deserted except once or twice a day when party boats pull in and several dozen vacationers, clamoring for cold drinks, fresh fish and spicy Mexican specialties, flock to the fifty or so palapa restaurants along the white, sandy beach.

Sitting at a shaded table in his restaurant, Chalo, father of two children ages eight and twelve, talks about life in their village, which is isolated without telephone, Internet, films or books.

“There isn't much for the children to do,” he says. “At least nothing cultural.”

To provide more stimulation for children in San Agustin, Chalo started an environmental club for the youth of the area. “It was sort of a summer camp,” he explains. A few kids from neighboring small villages scattered among the coves and inlets joined in, but he admits there's no sense of community along these beaches, just patches of neighborhoods here and there. However, that is about to change, Chalo hopes.

The idea of a library/community center took root four years ago during chats with his friend, Jesús González Gutiérrez. While vacationing on Oaxaca's Pacific coast, Jesús met Chalo, and they have remained friends for fifteen years. One evening after a game of backyard football, they decided to build a center where the idle children of San Agustin could enjoy and participate in cultural activities. The deal was closed with a handshake, and Jesús returned to his home in Oaxaca City.

Chalo began discussing the plan with authorities in Huatulco.

He received permission and a piece of scrubby land on which to build La Biblioteca Del Mar (Library of the Sea).

In Oaxaca City Jesús teaches workshops and conducts classes in sustainable building design. Although he's not an architect, he has studied architecture and is especially skilled in working with materials available locally, such as plastic bottles, tin cans, and almost any material that would otherwise end up in landfills. Internationally known for his fresco restoration projects, Jesús travels throughout the world teaching the art of fresco painting.

The Eye 6

For paint at La Biblioteca del Mar, Jesús used the fresco technique, mixing ingredients, such as limestone, clean riverbed sand, and even cactus juice. “Fresco painting should last forever,” he says. “Well, at least two or three hundred years.”

In keeping with his penchant for sustainable construction, Jesús used local materials, such as stone and bricks (made by a brick maker from a bank of nearby clay). He designed a dry toilet. Solar panels were installed for lighting.

“The challenge in San Agustin,” Jesús explains, “was to build a secure building that can withstand heavy rain storms and even the occasional hurricane.” So taking a cue from the Aztecs and Mayans, he installed a foundation of stone. The stairs leading from the sandy street up the hillside to the library are also of stone–reminiscent of steps of ancient pyramids.

The expansive beach of San Agustin edges the 29,000 acre Santa Maria Huatulco National Park, where more than 200 species of fauna, 700 different birds, at least 9,000 varieties of plants and all kinds of reptiles have been identified and are protected by law. Dolphins and whales play off shore. Turtles and fish abound. Within the national park are coral reefs and areas of mangroves.

Is it any wonder, given this idyllic setting, that Jesús was able to recruit crews of foreign volunteers to help build the two-story library/community center? They came from twenty countries and worked alongside local townsfolk, such as masons, construction workers and landscapers. The volunteers worked from 6:30 a.m. until about 11:30 then stopped to rest, swim eat, read, or paint until the cooler hours of 4:30 to 7:30. Local families hosted the volunteer workers, giving them lodging and meals.

“At first local residents, not accustomed to foreigners living here, were shy,” Chalo recalls. “But they soon got used to them and they all worked together.”

During construction of La Biblioteca del Mar, Chalo and Jesús conducted workshops in art, music, dance and environment sciences, usurping a table or two in the bayside palapas. Also, more than a hundred artists from around the world have stopped by to share their skills and talents.

Today, there is a permanent building for such activities.

Shelves on the first floor are already stocked with 3,000 donated books in 12 different languages, and La Biblioteca del Mar has been accepted into the web of libraries in Mexico City and Oaxaca. The open-air second floor provides additional space for cultural gatherings, back-dropped by panoramic views of the ocean and countryside. There's ample space for lectures, films and story telling.

Women in the village have been trained in day-to-day operations of the library and center. “It's their building,” notes Jesús. “They feel a sense of proprietorship and responsibility.

It's about community building.” He appreciates all the donations of building materials, books and art supplies. Of course more are welcome.

Chalo and Jesús know there will be challenges in putting this concept of community into action. However, it has started and is no longer just a dream.

Geri Anderson has published a memoir, “OH OAXACA, Living, Laughing, Learning in Mexico.” She can be reached by email: geriande@yahoo.com.

Tel: 958 581 0025 www.ecoyspa.com

Hello Westjet!

By Cindy Belyk

O

n December 12, 2015, Westjet introduced direct service from Calgary, Alberta (YYC) to Huatulco, Mexico (HUX). This announcement was thrilling for a lot of us Western Canadians. Finally an easy connection from small towns in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan to Westjet’s hub in Calgary. From Calgary, a six hour flight on a non-charter airline.

As part of their regular service, Westjet also offers no charge on humanitarian packages ~ up to 50 lbs. per passenger; packed separately from your personal belongings.

(You must contact the call centre to indicate you have a humanitarian package so it can be noted on your reservation).

Helping local Huatulco charities: Before you fly from Canada to Huatulco, consult your favourite charity to see what is needed in the community.

Bacaanda Foundation / El Sueño Zapoteco: Supporting rural schools in and around the Huatulco area. Check Facebook for an updated “school supply wish list”.

Palmas Unidas Bahias de Huatulco: Dog rescue; Spay and neuter clinics. Check Facebook for a detailed “wish list” (some examples: old towels, leashes, collars, dog sweaters, etc).

Club Rotario Huatulco: Consult Facebook for the library wishlist. Can currently use good-condition books in English for all ages.

Huatulco Food Bank: In need of closed-toe shoes to fit children aged 5~12; gently used backpacks, early reading books in Spanish.

Traveling with animals: Westjet only accepts small animals for travel in the cabin. Fees range from $50 ~ $59 (plus taxes). For further information please refer to Westjet’s “General entrance requirements for guests travelling with pets”.

Discover Peace and Traquility

Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca TM/MR While in the state capital, learn about this century's most coveted spirit by spending a day with recognized authority Alvin Starkman. Visit rural artisanal distilleries (palenques) using both ancestral clay pot

Allergies: According to a Westjet agent, the policy on pets in the cabin and people with allergies to animals is that anyone with any allergies should always notify the airline. In the case of animal allergies, seat changes would be made.

Booking flights from Mexico to Canada?

Westjet would like to remind you if you are a Canadian traveling from Mexico to Canada, a simple call to their agents rather than booking online, will result in your fare being charged in Canadian dollars rather than US Dollars.

Westjet’s toll free number from Mexico is 001-800-514-7288 Westjet flights are scheduled to depart Canada for the 2016/17 season starting Saturday, October 22, 2016 (depart from Toronto) Monday, October 24, 2016 (depart from Calgary)

and traditional copper stills. For novices and aficionados alike. Sample throughout your excursion with no obligation to buy.

www.mezcaleducationaltours.com mezcaleducationaltours@hotmail.com

For complete details regarding Westjet policies please refer to www.westjet.com

The Eye 7

Mexico City's Best Kept Secret: The “Other” Diego Rivera Murals

By Carole Reedy

T

hey really aren't a secret, per se, as they appear in just about any guide book's top-ten list. But even though they're located in mero Centro Histórico in the building of the Secretaría de Educatión (República de Argentina 28) just a block from the Templo Mayor, this series of Rivera murals is often missed by visitors and native citizens alike. Even by foreigners who have lived in the megalopolis more than 40 years!

It's quite a mystery, and one for which I don't have a sensible answer. Upon seeing the murals for the first time, “why have I never seen these before?” is a common response. Just a few blocks away sits the National Palace housing Rivera's famous sweeping mural (1929-1935), which hugs the grand staircase on the first and second floors. This mural was painted just one year after Rivera painted the ones in the Education Building (192338), a former convent dating from 1648.

Because the Secretaría de Educación is a functioning government building, its hours are 9 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday. Unlike other tourist destinations, it's not open on weekends. Entrance is free. Both the National Palace and the Secretaría de Educación present some visiting challenges. The National Palace closes when business is being conducted by dignitaries. And rumor has it that at the drop of a hat, demonstrations staged by the teachers union can cause chaos at the Education Building. Neither reason should stop you from trying to view the unforgettable works of Diego Rivera.

At the Secretaría de Educación building, dozens of Diego Rivera murals flow up three floors, enough to put visitors in a tizzy. Take your time to view them all. The ground floor is dedicated to the traditions of the people of Mexico, including religious and political festivals. The second level's works represent the intellect, science, and arts in Mexico. On the third level, my favorite, you'll find the heroes of the labor and revolutionary struggles.

A red ribbon floats above the murals where the sentiments of three corridos are written: The Ballad of Zapata, Agrarian Revolution of 1910, and Thus Will Be the Proletarian Revolution.

The allegorical murals are a scathing criticism of the rich, opponents of the Revolution and of Diego Rivera. Favorites include Arsenal, depicting Frida Kahlo distributing arms to the revolutionaries, and another of a fancy dinner party where gold lumps are served to wealthy diners.

When you visit the murals in the Secretaría de Educación, I highly recommend you start or complete your visit at El Mayor terrace restaurant just a half block away (at the corner of Donceles and República de Argentina). This seems to be another spot undiscovered by both tourists and residents of Mexico.

The terrace itself is located on the second floor of the building (there's a large Porrua bookstore on the first floor). Find the elevator that will take you directly to the restaurant. Here you can sip a glass of wine or cappuccino while enjoying a relaxing breakfast or lunch (the restaurant closes at 6 pm but is open from 9 am) and contemplating the Templo Mayor Aztec ruins below and the Zocalo just behind it.

The Eye 8

Recap of The Blues

By Brooke Gazer

T

his year's “Blues on the Beach” concerts set new attendance records with 610 attendees in January and 630 the following month. In January, the energy level set by Enrico Crivellaro and Brian Templeton was a hard act to follow. However, with Jack DeKeyzer, Cheryl Lescom, Jerome Godboo and Chuckee Zehr all sharing the same stage, the bar was raised yet another notch. I can't wait until 2017 to see how they plan to top this.

Looking right, the view is dominated by the huge cathedral the Spanish built over the Aztec ruins, an architectural travesty repeated throughout Mexico. (On one of your visits to this most diverse of countries, be sure to head toward Cholula, Puebla, where you can visit the cathedral above ground and the Indian temple below it.)

The tentative dates set for next year's beach parties are January 9 and February, 12 so start planning your 2017 winter season in Huatulco early. For photos, a sample of this year's music, and updates on next year's concerts, you can follow Blues on the Beach on Facebook: www.facebook.com/huatulcobluesonthebeach/

Diego Rivera is one of the most well known and renowned muralists of the 20th century. His works are recognized as masterpieces that depict the lives of Mexican people. While studying in Europe, he was influenced by cubism as well as by the murals of Italy. The Mexican and Russian Revolutions were passions of Rivera and his famous wife Frida Kahlo. Thus, Rivera's murals grew out of these emotions and the couple's involvement in Communism.

The “Blues on the Beach” concerts support Un Nuevo Amanecer (UNA, A New Dawn), a Huatulco nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children with a wide spectrum of disabilities. These children come from 23 small communities around Huatulco and last year 106 children benefited from UNA services; 88% were under 10 years of age.

For more information about UNA, go to: www.freewebs.com/nuevo_amanecer/index.htm

A visit to the National Palace, located on the Zocalo, never disappoints. Here the painted history of Mexico and the struggles of the Mexican people line the stairway to the second floor, where the murals continue to amaze. The blend of colors, both bright and muted, the details of the faces, and the rolling landscapes transport you to each time period in the turbulent history of the country.

Based on UNA's operating expenses from last year, the income from this year's two shows will allow them to run the institute for at least seven months in 2016. They receive very little government assistance, relying primarily on these kind of events and private donations, so this goes a long way to keeping their doors open. Thank you, Huatulco!!

The Bellas Artes building owns one of the most famous of Rivera's murals: the one that he painted when he was commissioned by the Palacio de Bellas Artes to decorate one of its walls in 1934. This work contains many of the elements of the painting commissioned by the Rockefeller family, destroyed in New York when it was discovered Rivera had painted communist leader Vladimir Lenin in the foreground.

Frida's Blue House in the neighborhood of Coyoacan is a tourist's delight, filled with her and Diego's paintings, personal rooms, and her studio. She and Diego lived here for many years, as did Trotsky for a short period before moving to another home just a few blocks away. Be sure to visit Trotsky's home too, the place where he was assassinated.

In the neighboring colonia of San Angel, near the San Angel Inn, Rivera's art studio and the adjoining houses of Frida and Diego are open to visitors. You may recall that at one point in the topsy-turvy relationship of the pair they lived in separate houses connected by a bridge.

Regardless how often you visit Cuidad de Mexico, something new awaits, very often just right around the corner.

Brooke Gazer operates a B&B in Huatulco www.bbaguaazul.com

Posada Chahue Vegetarian Specialties *Homemade Tofu Our famous freshly baked sweet bread Open 7 am to 10 pm We accept credit cards No reservations required

The Eye 9

A Primer on Pulque: Harvesting Aguamiel

By Alvin Starkman, M.A., J.D.

W

e arrive in the fields about 5:30 pm, near the foothills of the Sierra Madre del Sur, trying to catch the final glimmer of light before dusk sets in. I've invited a group of Oaxacan friends to accompany me and my native Zapoteco amigos Juana, Andrés and two of their children, into the countryside to witness the harvesting of aguamiel from the majestic Agave americana. The plant is commonly known as pulquero, because it's the main species used to make pulque in Santiago Matatlán. And that's the motive for the trek; even Oaxacans rarely if ever have had an opportunity to learn about pulque production first hand, out amongst the towering rows of maguey (agave).

The group consists of a chef and cooking school instructor, a mezcal distiller and a couple of his friends, two of my closest confidants who have been in the tourism business for over three decades, and two academics and their spouses arriving with pen, notebook and video camera in hand to document it all.

Many confuse artisanal mezcal with pulque. The former is a distillate, produced by taking agave hearts or piñas, baking them over firewood and rocks to release their sugars, then crushing them, followed by fermenting using only environmental yeasts and added water, and finally distilling, most often employing either a copper pot still, or the more rudimentary clay ollas de barro.

Pulque, on the other hand, is produced by simply harvesting the sweet liquid known as aguamiel (honey water) from the center of the agave, and allowing it to ferment once it begins to interact with environmental bacteria. Some insert a small tree branch known as timbre into the vat of aguamiel in order to speed up fermentation, especially during cold weather months.

Pulque has been consumed by indigenous groups for at least 2,000 years, likely much longer. At one point after the arrival of the Spanish, the Crown outlawed the production and consumption of pulque, based upon suspect medical reports asserting that it was harmful to the health, inhibited the natives from doing their work, and was thus the scourge of society. But it was actually pressure brought to bear by Spanish sherry importers and rum producers, who were upset that the indigenous people were not buying what they had to sell. This led to outlawing pulque, a way to get people to buy these other alcoholic drinks.

We now know that imbibed in moderation, pulque is actually good for one's health. Locals state that it is best consumed in the morning before breakfast in order to receive its fullest benefit, including aiding in the production of white blood cells and reducing the adverse impact of diabetes.

The Eye 10

We meet at my Matatlán friends' home and hop into the back of their vintage gas-guzzling long-box pick-up, and into a group member's late model SUV. The old truck has no difficulty traversing the narrow dirt roads, and then pathways, until it's too difficult to make our way by motor. We walk down to the bottom of a steep valley, and then up to the top of the other side, whereupon we immediately come upon several striking rows of blue-green agave (reminiscent of Dorothy and friends emerging from the forest and being captivated by the brilliance of the colorful fields), while we wait for Juana and Andrés to begin their work.

These plants have already been tapped for their aguamiel. When a plant is first ready, at about 15 – 20 years of growth, the harvester, or tlachiquero, cuts away or ties back several of the agave's exterior leaves, so as not to hurt himself by being pricked by their needle sharp ends, and to provide access to the center of the plant. He then cuts a deep round cylindrical hole in the middle. Finally he covers this “well” with a flat river rock, a piece of agave leaf, an old shirt, or whatever else is available, to inhibit insects, possums and other creatures from getting at the sweet liquid which then seeps into the cavern.

Tlachiqueros generally depart their homes well before dawn so as to enable them to harvest aguamiel before the sun begins to beat down, and again just before dusk. At peak production a plant may yield 3 - 4 liters of aguamiel twice daily. Tapping continues anywhere from 2 - 4 months depending on the species of agave, the growing region, soil composition and other factors. After each tapping, the tlachiquero scrapes a layer out of the well before covering it, to induce more “bleeding.” He then moves on to the next plant.

Andrés gingerly climbs onto a couple of sturdy leaves and then reaches for the covering atop the well. As he removes it, a score of tiny flying insects emerge.

Some remain floating on top while nourishing themselves with the aguamiel filling the well. The cover is not impregnable. Using a large half gourd or jícara, Andrés scoops out the liquid, passing it to Juana who pours it over a fine metal strainer and into a plastic container. She then transfers it into another jícara and passes it around. Each of us tastes the aguamiel. Some state it's like coconut milk, while others fashion it to another sweet liquid or juice. But to a number we are impressed by how a plant alone, with nothing added or done to it other than tapping, can yield such a heavenly drink.

While Andrés finishes extracting the liquid near the end of the process by extending a plastic hose into the bottom and sucking, and then scraping the walls and bottom of the well before covering it, Juana has something else in store for us.

She has brought along some pulque which has been fermenting at home for a few days. We taste it alone, then as a 50/50 mixture of pulque and aguamiel. Each sampling provides a very different experience, since the level or fermentation is different; honey-sweet aguamiel with nothing added, the home pulque rather pungent, and the mixture the most agreeable to many in the group.

The aguamiel from the next plant, perhaps 20 meters away from the first and closer to the gully, tastes different. Perhaps because the plant appears a darker tone of green and may be a distinct sub-species, or the point in time in its cycle the liquid is being extracted, or the particular micro-climate wherein it is closer to the creek and more shaded by trees and bushes. Or all; who knows?

After tapping a few plants, darkness is upon us. We return to Juana and Andrés' home. We sit down at a long kitchen table, to hot chocolate Juana quickly whips up, together with sweet rolls, and of course mezcal. Although this was an aguamiel/pulque experience, no event, in at least this part of Oaxaca, is complete without Mexico's iconic spirit.

Alvin Starkman M.A., J.D. operates Mezcal Educational Excursions of Oaxaca (www.mezcaleducationaltours.com). He is often able to include the aguamiel/pulque experience with Juana and Andrés in an excursion.

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Mayan Mysteries and the Usumacinta River

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

O

h, those mysterious Maya! Google “mystery” and Maya” and in less than half a second, you get more than 12 million hits. There are lots of little mysteries, being solved every day by archaeologists and anthropologists working in the Mayan ruins spread across what is now Chiapas, the Yucatán, Belize, Guatemala, and the western borders of Honduras and El Salvador. To the Maya, we owe the wonders of Chichén Itzá (Yucatán), Palenque (Chiapas), Tikal (Guatemala), Caracol (Belize), Copán (Honduras), and hundreds more places where ancient stones rise out of hillocks in the tropical jungle.

So What Don't We Know?

The first BIG mystery: Why did the Maya become a major PreHispanic civilization? The Maya and their precursor peoples were present in Mesoamerica from some 2500 years before Christ (the Pre-classic Period, 1800 BC – 250 CE). Most descriptions portray these people as isolated in their rather simple life; there is little evidence for alliances with other Mayan groups, or contact beyond the region.

But then there was a Mayan “Renaissance” starting around 250 CE. Little villages turned into urban centers, some of those turned into city-states. The Maya separated themselves into social classes led by a ruling elite, and greatly developed their arts, sciences, and a coherent hieroglyphic script. While the Dark Ages settled over Europe, and the great central Mexican city of Teotihuacán already lay in ruins, the Mayan civilization produced huge pyramids to anchor their cities.

They systematized their hieroglyphics into a written language, and kept records on bark paper. They had the concept of zero down, created a multi-cycle calendar system, and developed a cosmology that governed architecture and agriculture. On the downside, the larger cities became rivals and frequently went to war against one another, with more and more savage practices as time went on.

This Classic Period lasted until about 900 CE, and then—the second BIG mystery. What happened to the Maya? Why did they disappear from their wonderful cities?

The Maya certainly did not die out—there are about 7 million of them still living where they have always lived.

A broad range of theories has been proposed. Did the Classic Mayan penchant for warfare, which eventually included sacrificing all members of defeated ruling families, lead to total governmental breakdown? Did some cities use warfare to eliminate their rivals, and continue as strong and successful population centers—research indicates that Uxmal and or Chichén Itzá may have done so, surviving nicely until the Spanish conquest. Perhaps non-Mayan groups took over some sites—there's some evidence of this at sites along the Usumacinta River.

Maybe internal social upheaval—although there's not much to support that hypothesis.

External forces such as epidemics, natural disasters, and ecological failure have all been considered as well, with some evidence for the ecological idea—signs of long droughts, over-cultivation, and deforestation.

The Eye 12

The Trade Hypothesis Lately, however, researchers have begun to consider trade as a factor in the mysteries of both the rise and the collapse of Classic Maya civilization. Contacts with other cultures would explain the “renaissance”—as cultures observe each other, it's pretty much a given that both will change. And changes in or loss of trade routes would undermine cities already struggling with other problems; evidence does indicate an overall shift from Highland to Lowland trading centers.

The specialized resources available to the Maya gave them a “comparative advantage” in trade—from the Highlands came minerals—obsidian, jade, cinnabar—used for weapons, tools, jewelry, and art objects. Unique items like quetzal feathers from the Highlands and carved shells from both the Pacific and Yucatán Lowlands. Precious salt came from desalinization platforms or boilers all along the Pacific and Atlantic shorelines, as well as a black brine dome in the Highlands of Guatemala. The Maya exported cotton, furs and leather, honey and cacao, and more. And the specialized crafts that produced finished goods for export did a lot to help create a well-off middle for the class system that developed as Mayan culture flourished.

Trade traveled by sea along the coastlines; on the Atlantic, seagoing Mayan canoes traveled as far as present-day Veracruz before the traders turned inland and went by land to Mexico City. On the Pacific coast, trade reached from Honduras to present-day Huatulco. Overland trade was carried by porters or pack animals (the wheel appears only on Mayan toys) on sacbeob (singular sacbe), or raised roads paved in white stucco; most of the sacbeob were intended to connect temples and other key structures within individual cities, but there are indications of a few long-distance roads between cities.

Rivers Made the Richest Trade Routes But the trade that carried precious cargo from the Highlands to the Lowlands went mostly by river, carried by large canoes.

And the greatest of these trade routes was the Usumacinta River, which forms part of the border between Mexico and Guatemala and is named (in Mayan) after the howler monkeys that fill the jungles around the remote ruins of Yaxchilán (Chiapas) and Piedras Negras (Petén region of Guatemala).

The Usumacinta starts in the Highlands in Guatemala, and flows northward down to the Lowlands, joins the Grijalva in Tres Bravos, Tabasco, forming a delta and the wetlands of Centla on the Gulf of Mexico. (The Grijalva flows to the west of the Usumacinta, from the Highlands of Chiapas down through Chiapa de Corzo and north of Tuxtla Gutiérrez through the Sumidero Canyon, towards the Gulf.

Yaxchilán (bottom star on the map) is situated on an “oxbow” in the Usumacinta; most visitors reach it by traveling to Frontera Corozal in Chiapas, and taking a 45-minute boat ride down the river, serenaded by those howler monkeys. (See The Eye, MayJune 2013, “Lakes and Rivers of Mexico: Magical Moments,” for an impression of the experience.) Piedras Negras (middle star on the map) is located 25 miles or so past Yaxchilán, in Guatemala's Sierra del Lacandón National Park; and is reached by boat, also from Frontera Corozal or from Bethel, farther upstream in Guatemala.

Yaxchilán's “oxbow” location, that is, on a high point formed as the river encircles the site in the shape of a Greek omega (Ω), gives rise to one of the most surprising Mayan technological achievements. When the river crested with the rain, it made Yachilán into an island. So, the Maya built what might be the world's first formal suspension bridge—certainly the longest in the ancient world—running north to the Guatemalan side of the river where Yaxchilán's agricultural fields lay.

When American structural and forensic engineer James O'Kon, who has long studied Mayan construction technology, visited Yachilán, he noticed a rock structure on the southern shoreline. Looked like a bridge base to him, so he turned to the north shore, where he did indeed see a much deteriorated pile of stones. After studying the stones, O'Kon integrated archaeological studies and aerial photos to produce a computer model of the bridge. It had support structures on the banks, and two piers 12 feet square and 35 feet tall located 600 feet apart in the river. The bridge itself was made of woven hemp.

Downriver, Piedras Negras had an uneasy relationship with other Mayan cities, with evidence of a war with Yaxchilán (795 – 808 CE), won by Yaxchilán, which resulted in an alliance between the two cities. The most logical reason for war and the subsequent alliance was Piedras Negras' control of trade, both on the river and overland from the interior.

Piedras Negras overlooks the Usumacinta with more than half a hundred outlooks cut into the cliffs. From the Acropolis, you can see at least a mile up and down the river. Canoes—be they war canoes or trading canoes—would be readily observed. The stories of Piedras Negras were deciphered from hieroglyphs by Russian-born, U.S. educated architect Tatiana Proskouriakoff; her work provided keys to all subsequent decoding of Mayan hieroglyphs. (Her ashes are interred at Piedras Negras.)

Alas, perhaps because it is so remote, feasibly approachable only from the river, Piedras Negras was subject to intense looting in the 1960s, as well as occupation by squatters and drug cartels in the 2000s. All that seems to have died down, but it still a challenge to visit: “This is a trip only for the experienced and adventuresome,” explains the website www.mayan-ruins.org. “You must travel to the site by a long, difficult and perilous boat trip which can be arranged at Frontera Corozal, Mexico. Not all the boats are willing to make the trip.”

But if you go, you will get a taste of what it must have been like to guide baskets filled with shimmering piles of jade ornaments and quetzal feathers down the Usumacinta in 750 CE.

In a 2012 article in the Journal of Mesoamerican Studies, Charles Golden et al. counted 14 Mayan cities on the Usumacinta, and another 28 with easy access to the river, mostly by water. This makes 42 shipping points with access to each other and the Gulf of Mexico trade routes.

Not that it was an easy float down the river—the Usumacinta is a fast river, it's hard to navigate with heavily loaded, flatbottomed canoes, and there are rapids between Yaxchilán and Tenosique (top star on the map) in Tabasco. At least eight big rapids, through narrow canyons, some of them so bad that Mayan traders usually opted to portage their cargo around them. (Comparative study of aboriginal use of United States rivers indicates that it would have been possible to cross these rapids in trade canoes, but nothing has been found to confirm it.) Afterwards, of course, the canoes had to come back UP the river, fighting the current all the way.

Marina Chahue, Huatulco Tel. 958 105 1671 Cel. 958 100 7339 Closed Mondays

www.cafejuanitamexico.com The Eye 13

Bottoms Up in Marina Chahué

By Jan Chaiken and Marcia Chaiken

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an you imagine that at one time Rio Chahué flowed vigorously and majestically down from the mountains north of Crucecita to Chahué Beach and from there to the Pacific Ocean? Although now there is a bridge labelled “Rio Chahue” on the highway from the airport to Salina Cruz, at this season of the year the bridge crosses over a dry river bed. South of the highway, and all the way through town, the river bed is now a mundane concrete channel, dividing roads such as Tamiagua and Guelaguetza into two one-way corridors on either side of the concrete watercourse. The channelled Rio Chahué passes by the Marina Park Plaza Condo Hotel and then flows under a handsome bridge where it reaches its ignominious end at a dam.

Beyond the dam is Marina Chahué, visible from the road connecting Santa Cruz and Tangolunda. The marina has berths for various sizes of pleasure boats and the shore is lined with restaurants, an area for repairing and storing boats, offices of the marina, and a fueling station. The marina was constructed by Fonatur, the governmental agency that creates and maintains a number of tourist destinations in Mexico including Ixtapa, Cancun and of course, Huatulco. Rather than providing better services for the local fishermen who had long lived in the area, Fonatur's explicit purpose was to attract foreign visitors and extremely wealthy Mexicans on their super yachts.

Not only were the piers, buildings, and infrastructure such as sanitation, electricity, and potable water built there by Fonatur, but the entire waterway, the channel that allows boats to enter the marina, and the breakwater which separates the marina from the rest of the bay and provides the boats protection from rough seas. An extensive dredging operation removed tons of sand to increase the depth of the area allowing safe access by boats and avoiding boats running aground with the possibility of releasing contaminants such as fuel into the bay and the ocean. The original dredging plans also envisioned that dredging would need to be repeated every three years.

This year, those of us who live where we can look out over Chahué Bay were treated to a daily sight of an oddly-shaped blue tugboat dragging a barge out toward the horizon and the ocean beyond. Depending on the wind direction, the barge might have been to the left or right of the tugboat, or behind.

Trying to guess the route and destination of the tugboat was a good idle-time preoccupation, as a round trip of the paired tugboat and barge took more than an hour. This routine has been repeated several times a day for months now, and may still be continuing as this issue of The Eye goes to press.

In the marina was a blue dredge, sporting a crane-like structure with a scoop hanging from it. The scoop is like a clam shell or two hands that come together with the fingers intertwined. In Spanish it is called a cuchara bivalva or bivalve spoon. It lifts stuff from the floor of the marina and deposits it in the barge that then gets tugged out to sea. The dredge has been working methodically from the base of the dam out to the bay and then back, clearing out the entire floor of the marina.

The Eye 14

We interviewed the Fonatur employee who is in charge of the dredging operation, including contracting for the dredging services, reviewing progress, and paying for the work, Arq. Omar Sánchez, to find out just how disgusting might be the sludge that gets lifted out of the floor of the marina. He informed us that it is not sludge at all, but very fine, clean sand that gets pushed into the marina gradually, over the years, by the action of waves, especially during storms. He proudly told us that the material lifted by the dredge scoop is subjected to laboratory analysis and does not pose any harm to the environment. To make his point, he encouraged us to consider that fish live happily in the marina before, during, and after the dredging operation and can be seen leaping over the surface of the water. (Actually, he didn't say “happily.”) Small quantities of sludge do make it over the dam from Rio Chahué into the marina, but they are not significant for the dredging operation.

He said the dredging is needed because the bottom of the marina gradually rises high enough that the typical boats that visit may not be able to reach their assigned docking position or the fueling station. In addition, without dredging, the largest yachts (up to 75 feet long can be accommodated) would be too deep to reach the marina.

We also asked why a mechanical dredge is used, with its tediously slow operations that have stretched out over months.

Another type of dredge, which works by hydraulic suction, would be substantially faster and more efficient. He said that a suction type of dredge has too deep a draft (distance from water line to keel) and could not itself get into the marina to carry out the dredging. Residents who live on boats in the marina told us that the last dredging operation, five years ago, did use a suction dredge. It so forcefully discharged the watery material from the marina that you can still see the area directly to the west of the marina looks like a wasteland with no large vegetation remaining.

Rattlesnakes and Scorpions

By Kary Vannice

One question we and other The Eye writers had was where the tugboat goes with the barge to dump the dredged material. Sr. Sánchez said that the barge is taken out to a place where the depth of water is at least 400m. The contents of the barge are then released to fall into the ocean. The tugboat never goes to the same location twice, which is why we shore-bound observers could not deduce any pattern to the tug's round trips.

We inquired who employs and supervises the dredge workers.

Although Sr. Sánchez said he was not authorized to release that information, we were told by a security guard at the marina that the Mexican Navy operates and supervises the dredging operation. We did not have official verification of naval oversight but we did see a man looking like a naval officer arrive in a military truck labeled Marina, and from there he went in a motorboat to talk to the workers on the dredge.

Fonatur has consciously tamed Rio Chahué to the point of extinction and provided marina shelter for people who live on boats or visit our area. But we're quite sure they did not intend to have a dredging project that would provide such interested scrutiny by tourists and residents.

T

he rivers of Mexico offer a tremendous amount of variety for aquatic enjoyment. You can partake of whitewater rafting, fishing, swimming, mangrove exploration; there's an almost endless list of ways to experience their watery depths.

But beware! There are dangers that that lurk in and around Mexico's rivers. And two of them are scorpions and rattlesnakes!

While both of these creatures are considered terrestrial, they are frequently found near water. And, in the case of the rattlesnake, can even be found in the water.

Rattlesnakes, like all snakes, are good swimmers and will take to the water to hunt, mate or escape being bothered by humans or other animals. Even though snakes have no arms, legs or fins, they are powerful swimmers, using their bodies (which are almost entirely muscle) to propel themselves forward.

Think you're safe in the water because a rattlesnake must coil before it strikes? Think again! It is not necessary for a rattlesnake to coil before delivering a dose of venom, though I could find no account of a rattlesnake biting anyone while in the water.

Scorpions aren't swimmers, but at least one source says they can live underwater for up to 2 days! These guys get most of their “water” from the prey they eat, so they don't hang out near rivers to take a dip, or a sip, but rather, it's simply their natural habitat, which is why you need to watch out!

If you'd rather not spend a day at the river smarting from a nasty sting, then a good rule is...don't put your hands or feet where you can't see them. Also, be sure to shake out your beach towels, backpacks and clothes before you pack them away, or put them on. And, remember, they love to crawl inside unoccupied shoes, so don't slip your feet back into those sneakers until they've had a thorough inspection.

So, when in and around the water, have fun, but always be aware of what might be hidden, inches away, ready to strike!

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The Eye 15

Play Ball: Sporting Insights

By Carole Reedy

M

any books and articles have been written about famous athletes, but few are able to relay a story with the intensity, subtleness, and human insight that a finely tuned novel gives us. Most athletes have ghost writers or at least assistance from writers and editors who have the ability to translate the roller-coaster range of emotions and thought processes that define the physically demanding life of a professional athlete.

Here are a few selections that have the ability to transport us into this world of competition, pain, confusion, and satisfaction. It's my guess that even readers who don't thrive on sports would enjoy these books because they convey the human emotions that permeate each of our lives, and thus are, in essence, about all of us.

Open by Andre Agassi I recently finished Open, which inspired this article as well as a desire to delve into other sports books. Although the story of Agassi's confusion, painful physical and emotional state, love lives, friends, and family features his byline only, he received support that provides the book's form and substance from Pulitzer Prize winner J. R. Moehringer. Reading Open, I was constantly amazed by Agassi's perseverance, troubled by his domineering father, intrigued by his choice of women, entertained by his comments about other tennis players, and, finally, content with how it all turned out for him after years of doubt and even agony. A must-read for tennis fans.

Ball Four by Jim Bouton Ball Four's publication in 1970 (by the former Major League pitcher) created a furious controversy. The book is essentially a chronicle of the 1969 season, but unlike other baseball memoirs, Bouton revealed not only the pain and camaraderie players often endure, but also the drug and alcohol abuse, previously unreported locker-room antics, idiosyncrasies of players and managers, and things never before discussed outside baseball's chosen few. The baseball commissioner at the time, Bowie Kuhn, tried to convince Bouton to retract his statements, but time has given the book its due.

Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, in 1996 the book was named one of New York Public Library's Books of the Century. It's also is included in Time Magazine's 100 greatest non-fiction books of all time. Critics call it an important document and readers say it helped them in everyday life just knowing the players were human. Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer David Halberstam describes it as “a book deep in the American vein, so deep in fact that it is by no means a sports book.”

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall Popular with both obsessive and more casual runners, this engaging account explores and explains the phenomenon itself. From a study of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's Copper Canyon, who can run miles without rest, to the science laboratories at Harvard University, the author is passionate about the art of running.

The Eye 16

Books and New Yorker articles by Roger Angell (or anything with his byline) Roger Angell is 95 years old and readers of The New Yorker magazine have seen his name on the masthead since 1944. In addition to film reviews, stories, casuals, and Notes and Comment pieces, Angell has written more than 100 Sporting Scene pieces, most about baseball. His books about baseball are the crème de la crème, and any fan of the sport should sit down and devour them. They are: The Summer Game, Five Seasons, Late Innings, Season Ticket, Once More Around the Park, A Pitcher's Story, and Game Time.

Most of these books are either collections of essays or a résumé of several seasons of the Major League. For example, in Five Seasons, he recalls “the most important half-decade in the history of the game, 1972-76.” Right now on Amazon you can buy three of these books in a single volume. Entitled The Roger Angell Baseball Collection: The Summer Game, Five Seasons, and Season Ticket, it costs just $16.00 US. I highly recommend the compilation, which would also be a memorable gift for your favorite baseball fan.

If you want to know more about this grand old man, read his essay called This Old Man, which appeared in the February 17 and 24 issues, 2014, of The New Yorker. Angell is a hero to all baseball aficionados as well as to writers, editors, and avid readers everywhere.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Another controversial book, though from a different perspective, Into Thin Air was written in 1997 about the 1996 Mount Everest climb that claimed the lives of eight climbers who were stranded after a rogue storm. Doubts arose about the leader of the group, among other factors, after Krakauer's version was published.

This compelling read also gave pause to travelers who had previously viewed adventure travel as a romantic romp.

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand It's the quintessential American story: the smallest, laziest, most awkward, and most-unlikely-to-succeed underdog eventually triumphs. In this case, it's the rags to riches story of a horse (though nobody involved in horse racing ever dresses in rags!). Seabiscuit's original owner sold him for a mere $8,000 US, and his new trainer and jockey drew the horse out of his lethargy. This is the story of those men and this horse, who in 1938 received more newspaper coverage than Adolph Hitler. It's also about the journey to Seabiscuit's success, in the face of a plethora of problems that were eventually overcome.

Alive by Piers Paul Read It's been many years since I read or even thought about this book, which relates the tragic 1972 plane crash in the Andes Mountains that resulted in the deaths of most of the 45 rugby team players. It is a story of survival, strength, and human character. Read's book sold more than five million copies worldwide and was later made into a film.

Just a few sports topics were explored and recommended here.

More to come in the future, in case your favorite went unmentioned this time.

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www.consultorialegalvm.com The Eye 17

The Schizophrenic River

By Marcia Chaiken and Jan Chaiken

T

he current focus of Republican candidates in this U.S. presidential election year on the border between the U.S. and Mexico is nothing new. Ever since the mid-1800s when the Mexican state of Texas declared itself independent from Mexico and 10 years later was annexed by the U.S., border issues have led to such craziness that it literally drove a river schizophrenic.

The river that once defined the border between the selfproclaimed independent state of Texas and the rest of Mexico has a split personality. In the U.S. it is known as the Rio Grande; in Mexico, Rio Bravo del Norte. Both are Spanish names with essentially the same meaning, respectively “big river” and “strong northern river.” The names themselves are indicative of a personality disorder, since drought, dams, and drainage of the water for irrigation have reduced the river in many places to a trickle, where it is neither big nor strong.

Even geographers don't take a dry scientific approach to mapping the river. U.S. maps show the Rio Grande consisting of a 1,885-mile waterway beginning in Colorado, flowing south through New Mexico and then South East around Texas and ending in the Gulf of Mexico. Mexican maps show the Rio Bravo Norte as a 3034kilometer river coursing through the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.

Along the river, whatever you call it, cities that are divided by the waterway have different names and different official languages, although for centuries Spanish has been the predominant tongue. Estranged sister cities include El Paso-Ciudad Juarez, Laredo--Nuevo Laredo, McAllen--Hidalgo, and Brownsville--Matamoros. It took an act of legislation by both congresses, U.S. and Mexico, to ratify a treaty in 1944 that formally designated the river as a legal separation of land, language, and families. It took an act of courage by Pope Francis (Papa Pancho) in February 2016, to begin the process of bringing them back together when he celebrated a collective mass in El Paso/Ciudad Juarez.

The river, as a child of mother nature, has provided a channel for people to escape the depravity of human civilization. When slavery was outlawed in Mexico in the 1820s and black people were granted full citizenship, slaves from the U.S. and the territories began to cross the river to seek asylum. When extreme poverty was rampant in Mexico and agriculture was flourishing in the U.S., men swam across the river to work in the U.S. fields, providing stoop labor from sunup to sundown. And when authorities tried to stem the flow of people, the river changed course and in so doing changed the legal boundaries.

The Eye 18

Centuries ago, the river was a beautiful feature of a continent that supported many forms of life including humans. But over the centuries, the river has been abused. Water has been diverted for irrigation, dams have been built for an insatiable need for energy, agricultural fields near the river have been fertilized with toxic chemicals poisoning the water, and concrete channels have been built to prevent the river from naturally changing its course.

During the Johnson administration in the 1960s and the Clinton administration in the late 1990s progress was made in protecting and preserving sections of the river. But abuse in non-protected areas affects the whole body. And now the river is threatened by voters in a U.S. presidential campaign who don't care if the river dies as long as a wall is built there.

Fortunately there is a Democratic presidential candidate who cares about the river, cares about the environment and cares about tearing down barriers between the U.S. and Mexico.

With serious analysis and cooperative, binational problemsolving, and maybe a little love and a lot of kindness, the river may recover.

River Food There are some food delicacies from the rivers around Huatulco that if you are an adventurous eater you will want to check out.

Tincuiche Tincuiche are small river fish that are scooped up by pulling a sieve through the river water and then layed in the sun to dry. Small bags of dried fish are often sold on the side of the road near river towns, although sometimes you might be lucky enough to find someone selling them on a corner in La Crucecita.

Often cooked with scrambled eggs or blended into a salsa or stew, these are a local favorite. To eat tincuiche check out Lucy’s at the Copalita and Highway 200 crossroad. There isn’t a sign, but you will see the smoke rising from her comal as she prepares handmade tortillas.

Chacales Chacales are river shrimp, similar to crawfish These delicious bottom feeders don’t need a lot of embellishments. Clean, saute in garlic butter and enjoy.

The best restaurants for chacales are found in Copalita.

My favorite is the Palapa de Andres, located in the town of Copalita 3 blocks from the main municipal building.

Closer to the crossroads and Copalita river is El Chacal.

Riding the Copalita River

By Renee Biernacki

I

f you've ever been to Playa La Bocana and strolled down this little gem you will find where the Copalita River runs down from the Sierra Madre into the Pacific. The waters of the Copalita flow through deep canyons with rich and abundant jungle vegetation and high cliff walls. The river offers some of the best white-water rafting and kayaking tours in this region. There are three different divisions of the Copalita, with rapids ranging from Class 1 to 5. Rafting is one of the spectacular things about this river. During your float you will encounter many species of birds that reside in and migrate to Huatulco. The trips can be relaxing, exciting, thrilling and you can expect a lot of laughter. What can be better than that!

I've experienced three float trips down the Copalita River. My first trip was unguided in an inflatable kayak with another inexperienced kayaker. Double trouble! Thankfully we entered the river at a point that we wouldn't ride anything considered a rapid. This was in November and because of the rainy season the river was flowing swiftly. In the first 5 minutes we lost a paddle, but luckily we recovered it with some fancy maneuvering. Once that escapade was over we began to spin in circles and started to go down the river backwards. Raroh. After we recouped and appeared to be heading down in the right direction we hit rock bottom on the bank of the river and tangled in the rich and abundant jungle vegetation. We were more than inexperienced. We were Abbott and Costello meets the River Monster. There were a few more obstacles along the way but we were improving on our navigating skills.

The challenge was definitely worth it, but decided that the next trip down the Copalita would be with a guide.

The most recent raft trip I encountered was a Class II - III, which means it was a much rougher, faster and exhilarating ride down the Copalita. Before you begin the float you are given a lesson from your guide on how to handle the rapids.

When you're being tossed back and forth, trying to hold yourself up on the side of the raft and still trying to paddle while screaming and laughing, who can remember those damn instructions? Not me! Although the guide was shouting out the commands over the sounds of the rushing water, I was too engrossed in trying to keep myself safe inside the raft.

Exhilarating to say the least. If you are a novice, DO NOT TRY

This next float trip was the Full Moon Float that we reserved with Leah Guzmรกn at Aventura Mundo. This is a must-do if you're lucky to be in Huatulco during the full moon. You gently float down the Copalita guided by the moon. It's serene, relaxing and peaceful as you gaze up at the moon and stars.

My kind of rafting for sure. But the trip doesn't end there.

When you arrive at Playa Bocana you are greeted with a welcome reception of a glowing, candle-lit path leading you to a bonfire. There, you are served appetizers, soft drinks, beer and wine, along with the sound of the waves from the Pacific and the astonishing full moon. Also included in this amazing adventure is pick up service from your hotel to the river, a return ride home and great company. You can't beat all that for $60 USD. Aventura Mundo offers many other tours and rentals. If you are up for an adventure, reservations can be made at their office in Tangolunda across from Dreams Hotel or contact Leah at 958.100.7592.

The Eye 19

Rio Copalita and River Restoration in Mexico

By Julie Etra

T

his column addresses three not so disparate subjects, the ecology and current status of the Copalita River, general problems with rivers in Mexico, and status of river restoration projects in the country.

The Copaltia River watershed, whose outlet is located approximately 10 km to the east of Huatulco, has a sort of dumbbell shape, large in the upper watershed but narrowing as its exit at La Bocana. The upper watershed is dominated by pine-oak woodlands, followed by the humid forest at midelevation, caducifolius forest (trees and shrubs drop their leaves in the winter) closer to the coast, and finally coastal species including mangroves, which tolerate brackish water.

The watershed contains plant species endemic to the region and a variety of species in danger of extinction including the river otter, jaguar, ocelot, and tigrillo. The lower watershed supports a fresh water crayfish know as chacal, and a smaller freshwater shrimp.

Major threats, especially to the lower watershed in the vicinity of the village of Copalita, are increased demand for drinking water and associated over-exploitation of groundwater, contamination (including intentional poisoning to bring native freshwater shrimp to the surface for easier harvest), and dredging of sand and gravel for construction in Huatulco. The concern over management of groundwater is paramount especially with the increasing demand in the tourist destination of Huatulco and plans by Fonatur (El Fondo Nacional de Fomento al Turismo) for new resorts and hotels.

The region, known as Loxicha, supports approximately 32 communities and 35,000 inhabitants, excluding the larger communities of Huatulco, Puerto Escondido, and Pochutla. Of the seven watersheds in the region, which consists of approximately 374,157 hectares, the Copalita watershed is the largest.

Three sand and gravel contractors are dredging the river between the village and the northern boundary of the Parque Eco-Arqueológico; according to the local spokesperson for the the Comité Pro Defensa y Uso Sustentable del Río Copalita, without permits or environmental oversight by government agencies such as PROFEPA (Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection) and SEMARNAT (Secretariat for the Environment and Natural Resources). These operations are wreaking havoc on the ecosystem, destroying fisheries, lowering the water table, and causing severe erosion.

The Committee has initiated a program of reforestation, with an accompanying nursery and emphasis on floodplain restoration using native trees, some in danger of extinction, including the lovely guayacán (Guaiacum officinale), caoba, (Swietenia humilis) and three species of maquil (Tabebuia spp.)

They apparently will have a native plant booth for sales to the public at the bimonthly Organic Market in Santa Cruz. The Committee has received financial support through both CONAGUA (National Commission on Water) and the World Wildlife Fund for materials for the nursery as well as support to file the paperwork to become an organization recognized by the government. Typically they have work parties organized on Sundays, which include planting, garbage removal, and seed collection.

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The real issue for the Rio Copalita is the overexploitation of building materials, which is expected to continue as long as there is a demand, and the river provides an easily accessible and profitable source for crushed rock material.

As the river drops, it becomes more isolated from the floodplain and newly exposed over-steepened and vertical banks are highly vulnerable to erosion, exacerbating the problem and contributing to decline in water quality. Although the banks can be stabilized, there is no point to doing this work until the disturbance stops. Once the river is trapped and can no longer flood, essential processes are halted. Raising the bed of the river to restore these processes is extremely expensive and complicated. So the lesson here and elsewhere, is to limit disturbance, and determine how much material will be needed in the long term (planning). It is always harder and more expensive to fix these types of problems, rather than prevent them.

A search for restoration projects in Mexico yielded zero results.

Instead I read several reports about river contamination and over-exploitation. One involved the Atoyac River in Veracruz.

CONAGUA determined that a cavern beneath the bed of the Atoyac River collapsed due to erosion, leaving a 20 by 30-meter hole into which the water flowed. By early March this had resulted in a dry riverbed downstream and eight municipalities and 10,000 people without their principal source of water.

Their solution was to plug the hole; the status of this project is unknown.

Greenpeace has posted information on river contamination in Mexico: 'Ríos mexicanos, ríos tóxicos'. Sources of contamination are numerous, including industrial and agricultural waste, sewage, landfills, mining, and stormwater (www.greenpeace.org/mexico/es/Campanas/Toxicos/Conta minacion-de-nuestros-rios/ On a local level, I am happy to report that the rivers I have observed such as the Zimatan, and even the creek above the Zanate lagoon in Cacaluta, appear to be healthy, especially in the upper watersheds. I have also walked upstream of several of the concrete flood control canals in town, to find lovely ephemeral channels. A really challenging project, both politically and technically, would be to restore these channels to a more environmentally friendly and attractive condition.

Top-Down, Bottom-Up, Sideways: How Best to Conserve Mexico's Rivers?

By Deborah Van Hoewyk

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lsewhere in this issue, Julie Etra reports on the devastating effects of private “rock mining” on the Copalita River, said rocks then being crushed into gravel and sold, apparently for construction of luxury homes and hotels in the Huatulco resort area.

The private operation has a permit from the local office of Conagua (the national water commission), which is a sub-agency of SEMARNAT (Mexico's department of environment and natural resources), plus the “complacency” of the municipal president of San Miguel del Puerto, in which the operation is located.

When confronted last October by the municipality's Commission on Public Goods, Conagua confirmed that it issued the permit, but doesn't have the staff to monitor compliance with the provisions of the permit. Although the Comité Pro Defensa y Uso Sustentable del Río Copalita has objected to both Conagua and PROFEPA (the environmental protection agency of SEMARNAT), there seems to be little they can do about it.

The Official, Top-Down System It's possible that working through the government isn't the best way to go.

Basically, there's not enough water to go around in Mexico, and the country sees water as a “strategic matter of national security.” Whether or not local collusion is damaging a riverine ecosystem is not at the top of the country's Water Agenda for 2030. The Agenda goals for rivers are that they be free from rubbish, pollution, and insufficiently treated wastewater. Watersheds need to be “balanced”: that is, supply and demand for usable water should match.

The Water Agenda shows that Mexico has a clear policy framework for managing its water resources, and the country is “fully committed” to managing water as close to the user level as possible. Conagua has done this since 1992 with 13 Hydrological – Administrative Regions, each managed by a River Basin (cuenca) Organization; these are divided into 37 hydrological regions. There are 1471 river basins, 728 watersheds, and 653 aquifers spread across these regions, each with its own guidelines, plans, and procedures. Each region is run by a council that has to deal with a wide variety of parallel or sub-organizations—the local Conagua office, a couple of Basin Councils, one or more “Technified River Basin Districts,” irrigation districts, clean beach committees, Basin Commissions, Basin Committees, and technical groundwater committees.

Does it work? Sometimes, sometimes not. A 2012 assessment by the international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found the river-basin approach had still not been fully implemented, and that coordination of the plethora of organizations at all three system levels (federal, state, local) was rocky at best.

The Council for the Oaxaca Coastal Basin (Consejo de Cuenca de la Costa de Oaxaca) includes nine sub-organizations; Río Copalita is covered under the Comité de Cuenca de los Rios Copalita – Tonameca. They don't appear to have been asked about the rock-crushing conflict on the Río Copalita. (A committee for the Copalita-Zimatán-Huatulco Basin was formed in 2002, but it never really got going.)

The Side-by-Side Approach, Building from the Bottom While the Copalita-Tonameca Committee has a neglected Facebook page (last post four years ago), they do participate in local environmental efforts and activities; for example, last August, they were collecting funds at the Organic Market in Santa Cruz for a reforestation project (Arbolotón) led by Alternative Agriculture of Suchixtepec. Planting pines along the upper Rí0 Copalita is intended to “guarantee the sustainability of the Copalita-Zimatán-Huatulco basin.”

The project is also sponsored by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, used to be the World Wildlife Fund), an international nongovernmental organization that has worked in Mexico since 1968, with a specific focus on ecological impacts.

In 2004, WWF got together with the Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte (FGRA) to develop new models for water management in Mexico. They identified three watersheds where they would work: the Cuenca Copalita-Zimatán-Huatulco (CZH) is one of them. (Revitalizing the Comité for the CZH is listed as one of WWF-FGRA's achievements; WWF also works with the Carlos Slim Helú Foundation in the CZH-Manialtepec area, mostly on fishing initiatives.)

One of the fundamental tenets of the WWF approach is to promote community participation, and the chief way they do so is to fund community projects like the Arbolotón in Suchixtepec—WWF may offer advice to such projects, access other resources, etc., but the project belongs to the people with whom it originated. In its first six years, WWF-FGRA directly benefited 660 people (3,800 indirectly), and sponsored demonstration projects in stream restoration, soil conservation, nurseries and reforestation, and ecologically sound sanitation.

Which is not to say, of course, that WWF hasn't been accused, and is probably guilty, of roiling the waters of community activity with donor “suggestions” and sometimes conflicting alliances—the WWF-FGRA count nearly 50 partners in their activities—among other issues . . . negative impacts of NGOs on host countries is a huge topic, with legions of articles and not a few books to explain it all.

Perhaps the most interesting promotion of community participation in the CZH basin is an educational program for the schools—both mainstream public schools and the rural schools covered by the National Council for Promoting Education (CONAFE). The program is based on a concept developed in the CZH basin—Caudal Ecológico: Salud al ambiente, agua para la gente (Ecological Flow: Health for the environment, water for the people).

Every graduation speech ever tells us our children are the future. If so, the WWF-FGRA educational program designed to “cascade” information on watershed issues through groups of teachers, to their students, and thence to the parents and community at large, may be an environmental lifesaver. And the best response and highest participation came from the rural schools of the CONAFE district surrounding Santa María Huatulco.

The Eye 21

Calendar Oaxaca City Recurring Events:

April 1st Fool’s Day

Full Moon April 22nd

AA Meetings (English) Daily - Monday and Thursday - 7 pm Also Saturday at 1 pm - All 12 step groups welcome.

518 Colon Religious Services Holy Trinity Anglican Episcopal Church Sundays 11 am Crespo 211 (between Morelos and Matamoros) Liturgy followed by coffee hour. Information 951-514-3799

April 22nd Earth Day

April 23rd Passover

April 30th Children’s day

Religious Society of Quaker Friends Meeting, Saturdays 10 am Free All are welcome. For more information and location, contact janynelyons@hotmail.com Weekly Markets Etla Market, Every Wednesday Tlacolula Market, Every Sunday

On the Coast Recurring Events: AA Meetings: English AA Huatulco, 7:30pm Remax Plaza, Every Wednesday English AA 6pm, Puerto Escondido Cafecito Rinconada, Every Thursday English Al-Anon 4:30pm, Puerto Escondido Cafecito Rinconada, Every Saturday Weekly Markets Pochutla Market- Every Monday

April

Biking Oaxaca is More Beautiful on a Bicycle, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday - 9 to 10:30 pm Free, Meet in front of Santo Domingo Church Rental bicycles available at Mundo Ceiba, Quintana Roo 2011 You must bring a passport or Oaxacan credentials. They have tandems, too!

Danzón Every Wednesday - 6:30 pm Free Alcalá and Constitución A tradition imported from Cuba, the danzón is a stately dance with syncopation. The citizens of Oaxaca gather weekly to dance and watch the dancers.

Ethnobotanical Garden Tours in English Weekly - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - 11 am $100 pesos Entrance Reforma and Constitutión.

Saturday April 2nd Huatulco’s Organic Market Santa Cruz 8am-2pm

Bridge Tuesday Bridge Game at eMax Learning Center, Hidalgo 104, Jalatlaco, $20 pesos, no partner necessary, starting at 12 noon.

Monday April 4th - Friday April 8th African Dance Worksaho at Casa Tilcoatle see poster

Baseball: Guerreros de Oaxaca 7pm weekdays; 5pm weekends when in town $50 pesos for men in Centro, $25 pesos for women Vasconcelos Stadium Oaxaca's own AAA baseball team always includes a couple of players who had brief moments in the major league. Go for the baseball and/or go for the entertaining crowd. This is real Oaxaca! The season is April to August.

Niños Heroes and Vasconcelos

Saturday April 16th Huatulco’s Organic Market Santa Cruz 8am-2pm Sunday April 24th Encuentro de Cocineros - Local cooks gather with sample dishes to raise money for local charities.

2pm Santa Cruz 100 pesos

Email Us to list your event on our calendar.

It’s FREE! TheEyeHuatulco@gmail.com The Eye 22

Garden Club Monthly - 1st Wednesday Free The Oaxaca Garden Club is dedicated to: learning, sharing and education about gardening, agriculture and nature, primarily in Oaxaca. It is achieved by regular meetings, field trips, outreach to the community and by parties.

To receive the monthly notices of activities, send an email to oaxaca.garden.club@gmail.com Hiking Weekly - Tuesday & Friday 9 am - November thru March Minimal cost for transportation Oaxaca Lending Library- Pino Suárez 519 Hoofing It In Oaxaca (http://www.hoofingitinoaxaca.com/) is a program of weekly hikes for adventurous gringos who hanker to explore this part of Mexico on foot. Individual outings fall into three categories: rambles through the open countryside in the Valles Centrales; visits to archeological sites in the area; and more vigorous hikes in the mountains surrounding Oaxaca City.The Oaxaca Lending Library is the rendezvous point for all of the weekly hikes. All information and a full schedule of hikes is on the Hoofing In Oaxaca website. Reservations required.

Tour to Teotitlán del Valle Weekly - Thursday and Saturday - 9 to 5 pm $750 pesos Instituto Cultural Oaxaca Travel, Learn, Fight Poverty. Fundación En Via (http://www.envia.org/) is a non-profit microfinance is a non-profit microfinance organization providing tours to communities around Oaxaca where participants visit women in need of small loans to improve their lives. 100% of the tour fees are given to the entrepreneurs as an interest-free micro loan.

Instituto Cultural Oaxaca Av. Benito Juárez 909