Sam Gray Boulder Colorado - Diversifying the Economy

Sam Gray Boulder Colorado: Diversifying the Economy Sam Gray of Boulder Colorado is deeply immersed in the culture of a small fishing village in a remote corner of the Dominican Republic, where he is living and working as a volunteer with the Peace Corps.

He is involved in a project that is known as Kayak Limón, a community-based enterprise that was started by local fishermen and is being developed as a viable ecotourism project that is aimed at not only benefitting the local community with new tourism jobs and the income associated with it, but also from the cultural exchange from international visitors like Sam Gray of Boulder Colorado.

The Kayak Limón project operates on the Laguna Limón, along which is the town of Los Guineos, a small fishing community of only a few hundred people. Seventy percent of the town's earnings come from working on the lagoon, which is about one kilometer away. The goal of the project is to diversify the local economy, and it is generating a source of income that, while not large, is new, and is expected to be multiplied in the years ahead as it circulates throughout the community.

The Kayak Limón project takes tourists on a four to five hour journey through the heart of the lagoon, which is home to many unique species of plant and wildlife. Probably the most noticeable vegetation there are floating mangrove plants, and the mosquito fern. And as Sam Gray of Boulder Colorado knows, there are sixty-three species of birds known to inhabit the area.

Only members of the community are allowed to fish in the lagoon, because it is such an important resource to them. The fish in those waters include tilapia, shad, sunfish, snook, the mampetes, and others.

Those taking the Kayak Limón tour might be lucky enough to see some of the amphibians and reptiles that inhabit the area. There are six species of amphibians and nine species of reptiles. Of the reptiles, seven of the species are considered vulnerable, including the green snake, the savannah snake, and the jicotea turtle.

So far, the Kayak Limón has been a successful project. A feasibility report says that it has been somewhat hampered by the lack of a clearly defined paddling route with enough points of interest along the way to keep visitors interested. But Sam Gray of Boulder Colorado says that it is such a unique ecotourism attraction that it will be able to overcome any problems. More information is at http://kayakLimón.wordpress.com.