AMAZING HALF-DAY TRIP WITH MEXICO KAN TOURS!

Wow, I have been on an amazing half-day trip with Mexico Kan Tours! They offer special, environmental friendly tours in small groups for example kayaking day trips in the nature reserve with bird watching and fishing or relaxing floating trips in the freshwater lagoon with picnic in the wetlands, Cenote tours including biking and rappel or kite surfing adventures, etc. The tour guides all live here in Tulum for quite a while and they are passionate about the area, its history and the variety of flora and fauna. They love nothing more than sharing their comprehensive knowledge about ancient Maya ruins, nature and with their guests and let them discover Tulum, the breath taking Biosphere Sian Ka’an and the Yucatan Peninsula from a different point of view. On our trip we first visited the historical Maya ruins of Muyil, considered as the largest ancient Maya site in the northern part of the about 1.6-million acre Sian Ka’an Biosphere reserve. 


After that we went across the two beautiful freshwater lagoons by boat and experienced my personal trip highlight – a funny but relaxing floating trip about 1km downstream across the wetlands. Awesome! I though Frank, our tour guide, was kidding by explaining us how to get ready for the floating adventure. Did you ever wear a lifejacket like a nappy? It looks very odd to be honest but you will forget about it soon once you started the adventure. 




Our boat was already waiting with a rich picnic including traditional Mexican snacks and Jamaica water in the middle of the wetlands. Relaxed from the floating trip with yet the picnic in our stomachs we started on the way back as the sun began to set. The last beams of daylight were perfect for some really nice pictures. Thanks to Frank, Miguel and Johan for the great experience! 


For more information about the tours please contact: Mexico Kan Tours 
Plan your tour via Tripadvisor! or find them on Facebook

TULUM DUMPSTER HAS NO MORE THAN ONE YEAR LEFT TO SATURATE!

Have a closer look at this picture and figure out what is going on here:


Is this the soil on which trees should grow in the future?
This is the local dumping point of the Tulum Municipality

The local dumping point, just 10km west of town, is an open air site on top of a fragile limestone rock bed and cenote sinkholes, that gets all types of non-separated, non-recycled trash - tons of trash daily! This dumping point has been in use for decades now. It is occupying about 5 hectares of land. Tulum Municipality registered 28.263 inhabitants in 2010 census and the number is growing rapidly well over the country average. It is said that the dump site receives up to 200 tons of garbage during high season. It has no more than 1 year left to saturate!

Have a look at this recent newscast in youtube (Spanish audio):


Location on the map: 20.278954,-87.501732 (copy/paste link to google.maps)

Serious environmental problems arise from such a non-recycled trash dump operation, as well as its associated health risk hazards:
  • Fermented liquids (laechates or lixiviates) with pathogens drain directy into the fresh underground water which also feeds tourist attracting cenotes (sinkholes).
  • Gradient makes this contaminated fresh water flow into town and from there to the mangroves and the reef
  • The dump site is right next to a green house facility that grows vegetables for human consumption using underground water, adding several chemical enhancers to their plants, and later, sending back all this waste fluids to the aquifer.
  • The city of Tulum also has its fresh water wells placed very near to the dump site. This is the source for the town drinking water.

Liquids from organic compost are not the same as lixiviate liquids from un-separated trash in the dump! The fluids draining into the aquifer contain a high count of pathogen bacteria. These bacteria have to be below 100ppm in the water. If their concentration rises, above 200ppm, they become an infection hazard. Tulum´s Hotel Association has mentioned that the count is below the 100 ppm mark at the beaches so far. Drainage occurs easily due to our porous and cracked limestone rock bed. Altitude decreases from Coba, the next important town, towards Tulum and the  Caribbean sea. The dump is located about 14km from the sea. Tulum is about 12m above sea level. From there only 4km remain to the sea and there is nothing which stops the water from flowing down towards already depleted mangroves and the reef.

What happens to the dumping point when it saturates?

Currently there are several municipal solutions being analysed:
Installing a membrane lining and closing the dump as sanitary landfill is pending federal authorization from Mexico City. (Foro de Agua June, 2013. Tulum). A new dump site off the south exit of Tulum-Chetumal highway will be opened. Status is that environmental impact studies are being made by local INIRA institute (Instituto de Impacto y Riesgo Ambiental), and if approved the file will be passed for SEMARNAT(Federal Ministry of the environment and natural resources).

Will the project happen? Do we have a different land composition at the projected new site that will improve the old dump site situation? Why will it not affect underground water as well? Is the membrane lining for the new dump already considered and in the process of construction?

We will continue to research and discuss this important subject in the following article about the dump site.


Creative Commons License
TULUM DUMPSTER HAS NO MORE THAN ONE YEAR LEFT TO SATURATE! by Mona Deutschmann, Juan Ayza is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at Mona Deutschmanndesign@monadeutschmann.de or Juan Ayzajuan.ayza@gmail.com.

DODGY BIKES IN CENTRAL AMERICA

I want to buy a bicycle because I am going to stay in Tulum for a while to work here! It turns out, that it is not so easy to find a good used one which is still fully equipped with everything you need. I am talking about important things like brakes, saddle, pedals, wheels, you know, just the basics! Once it happened to me in Belize that I needed a bike to go somewhere. It was a nightmare! The saddle wasn’t really a saddle anymore; it looked more like chewed foam. It was already dissolved half way. It kind of worked, as long as you adjusted your position every 20 seconds and stand up on the pedals every speed bump! And, yes, also lean to avoid the holes in the street at the same time. But the major problem was the foot support for the bicycle pedals, which actually were not present anymore. I had just bought new flip flops which I chose as the best footwear for going on a bike ride. Because of these awkward pedals I managed it to wrap my flip flop around the metal after every third pedal cycle.

And now remember the workout and do all these steps at the same time:
-         > Stand up every 20 sec and adjust position
-         > Lean to avoid holes in the street
-         > Manage to get your flip flop caught
>
and again from the beginning

This was my evening workout and the end of my new flip flops! And here you can make up your own mind about the fitness bike: I think I would rather buy a new one;-) 

THE TREE HOUSE


Can you imagine living in a tree house like I do currently? J It is in the middle of the jungle. That is a really nice experience. I am surrounded by a wooden construction and fly screens. That’s it! The wind blows through the cottage all the time and I can hear the jungle alive at night. If there is rain at night I need to pull up a cover behind the bed so that I don’t get wet. Remember my last description of thunder stormJ For leaving in the morning I have about 20 seconds time to leave the house, run down the steps, grab the bike and rush through the jungle before the mosquitos attack me! Be careful that you don’t run over a giant blue land crabSometimes they are still there in the morning.
Here are some impressions of the jungle house: 


Somewhere in there... 


Steps up to the front door


Inside, first floor


Inside, second floor


Roof top


Coconuts... breakfast next to the house:-)



KITEBOARDING AT LONG CAYE, BELIZE


Finally! That’s me kiteboarding! J It took me a couple of hours to remember the safety stuff, to body drag downwind and upwind and fly the kite again. Finally I got on the board and was at least riding downwind. I can’t be bothered to walk back upwind and start where I came from. That is so exhausting! I need to practice, practice, practice now to finally ride upwind! At least I have crosswind most of the time that makes it easier not to end up on the beach. The spot here is perfect for learning. It is all pretty much shallow water, even I can stand most of the time;-) There are no big waves so that you can easily find the position to stand up properly and ride. There is some sea grass on the ground, nothing special, but I don’t like it so I wear boots all the time and don’t need to think about that. If you want to learn kitesurfing over here check this out: www.huracankiteboarding.com and contact Ryan by email.
I need to go now, there is good wind out there…J


HOW TO CLIMB A COCONUT TREE;-)

On the island there is jungle, mostly mangroves and coconut trees, so I can have as much fresh coconuts as I want to have. And they look so different to the ones you get at home, the old and boring ones. If you want them fresh you need to pick them directly off the palm tree. This is a bit of a challenge, because if they are too high you need to climb the tree! Awesome, because I used to do climbing at home and there is nothing else to climb here than palm trees;-)… and maybe the treehouse,…  so, let’s climb:



No worries, in case you fail climbing, there are always some lying around ;-) only worry if you fall off the tree or a coconut hits your head while you shaking the tree;-) Once you have got them, you cut the skin off at the bottom with a machete until you have the fruity bit. Then press a hole through it and drink the juiceJ After you finished you can cut it in half and pick the fruit out of it. Awesome! 

LONG CAYE - THE ISLAND CLOSE TO THE BLUE HOLE, BELIZE

I can't believe it! I am far out in the ocean right now on a small island, 80km away from the main land!
Right here: 17.218855,-87.592956
There are hardly any people out here. There is Huracan Diving, owned by Ruth and Huracan Kiteboarding, operated by Ryan on the island. You can either book diving courses and dive in the Blue Hole, one of the most impressive diving destinations in the world, or learn how to Kitesurf or even both.
They have lovely resorts out here in the middle of the jungle. Everythings is well organized by Ruth, the owner of the diving school out here. There is everything you need and of course there is internet as well! :-) that is awesome, so I can work and live in paradise;-) This is one of my childhood dreams!
My new office;-)


Furthermore there is plenty wildlife over here. I watched birds chasing fish, lots of iguanas running around, sometimes they fight, no worries, they don’t do anything, there are giant crabs and some other animals and unfortunately plenty mosquitos, but they are only annoying, they don’t do any harm. I still miss the Australian kangaroos or at least monkeys:-)


Fighting iguanas 


Pelicans chasing fish








DRUMMING LESSONS IN DANGRIGA, BELIZE

Dummdididummm, dummdumm, dadamm... A few days ago Wellness-Bummler and I had drumming lessons with real Garifuna people in Dangriga, Belize. They are born with the beat in their blood and they are great musicians. They have a lot of fun playing their drums and socialising with their friends and family. I picked it up quickly and they were surprised that I got it that fast! I was playing together with them! Great! I wanted to buy a drum but unfortunately the drums are too bulky for traveling around and you need to have at least two of them for gread sound, a primary and a secondary one. I am still struggeling to carry my backpack, my photo equipment and my laptop. I need to optimize my bags. I need one bag which fits the photo equipment, laptop and some clothes ...and maybe a drum;-)... any ideas?
Furthermore I have been to "Mr. Drum Manufacturer" itselfs and learned how to make handcrafted drums. Have a look here: by the way, it is a very nice workshop next to the beach:-)




SAD BUT TRUE - PLASTIC POLLUTION;-(

The quiet after the storm...
The day after the big thunder storm and the heavy rain I was offered a sad sight. I went down to the harbour to catch the boat and the whole water was full of rubbish. I nearly cried because of the environmental desaster. I couldn't take a photo because it took my breath away. The rubbish washed away straight into the sea and the boat needed to find the way through all the bottles, plastic, metall and other shit which ended up in the water. Horrible! There is no recycling system here and hardly any rubbish bins. No one even thinks about the environment. Everyone throws the garbage carelessly into the territory, no matter where they are. Whether in the own garden, at the neighbours, in the street, the sea, the river, the restaurant... there is garbage everywhere. This needs to be changed! We are all thinking about the environment and recycling systems, spending so much money to reduce the pollution and third countries are not involved. They destroy paradise! Please watch this: The Midway pollution disaster 
Please help!!! This is a good start: PlasticPollutionCoalition
...

RIDING THE TUCTUC:-)

Hahaaa:-) riding a tuctuc is fun! Very handy this little friend...



RIO DULCE

Rio Dulce is a river in Guatemala and has become a popular cruising sailboat destination. It starts where is flows out of the lake Izabal. The river is spanned by one of the biggest bridges in Central America. There is a little village right next to the bridge with local vegetable markets on both sides of the street. Huge trucks, buses, tuctucs and motor bikes cause a big traffic jam every time because the street is so small. By the time the trucks go down the bridge towards the village the use the engine brake and that is a horrible noise, it sound like a plane crash! (unfortunately the hostel is next to the bridge but it is funny) The traffic rules are simple here: Toot and go! ;-) Everyone is running around no one cares about anything and you need to be careful not to get run over by a truck or a tuctuc. Tuctucs, the littel taxis are very common here:-) look at these pictures... awesome, isn't it?














TRAVEL PLANNING

The plan is, see what happens;-)
There is only a rough idea where to go but you never know if it will work out the way you thought about before. That is the challenge! By the time you start in the morning you only know where the bus station is, maybe. Then you ask the people when the bus is coming. Maybe it will be there, maybe not. Then you maybe only find a minibus and they say the are going to the place you want to see. There are only locals on the bus and that is the only possibility to go somewhere. So get on the bus and hope that is works out well:-) It will be fine. They are all very friendly here and I never got robed yet. It would be very stupid to rip off tourists because that is what they earn money with. Well, you only need to pay more than the locals:-) it is only a few Dollars, or Quetzales in Guatemala, but if you pay in Dollars everyone is going to have their own exchange rate to earn one Dollar more;-) I hope they will spend it wisely! (no, I know)
If you hop on the minibus you never know how many people are going to join the bus on the way.. have a look here:-) this bus is made for 12 to 15 people and I think we were about 24 people including the ones standing on the door step outside ... any questions? ;-) haha!



The only thing I really need for travelling is my computer, my camera and the internet. So far it worked out well. While I am travelling around I work online to earn money, do graphic jobs, photography and advertise accommodations and cool spots on my way! :-) 



NERIAS PLACE IN UAXACTÚN

Neria is a Guatemalan Woman from Uaxactún. She spent her whole life there. She has got a little accomodation, very simple but lovely and again awesome local food. The place is called Campamento El Chiclero. Thank you very much Neria! I would like to go back another time with more Spanish;-)
I never heard about Ramón before. It is a nut and they make really good cake out of it or mix is up with coffee, it is very tasty. I already bought the flour of Ramón on the market to make my own dessert! They also make natural chewing gum. It is an old Maya tradition. It simply tastes like tree:-)
Here are some impressions of a wunderful time in Uaxactún:


Nerias Place


Neria and I


Grandma making corn tortillas


her family 


on the left: chewing gum (no bread), in the back: Ramón the nut and
on the right: Pepper fresh from the garden


MAYA HISTORY

In the meantime I have been to Tikal in Guatemala where you can explain all about the Maya history. It was very interesting and I have seen a lot of temples, ruins and tourists;-) I don't like too many tourists so I went further into the jungle to find the real exiting stuff! Again I went on a local adventure bus to Uaxactún, a jungle town with more exiting ruins and history but no tourists at all! I met some wunderful local people and spent my time at Nerias place. With Antonio I got a really good introduction and a tour around the area to see all the ruins and temples. They still dig out Maya temples there and they are still looking for the whole secret of the Mayas in the jungle. I think I got a rough idea now and I can read some of their signs, have a look here;-) 












MELCHOR DE MENCHOS

Impressions of Melchor de Mencos directly next to the Rio Mopan


Hola amigos!


The basic and the fancy stuff in the back


Making corn tortillas on the road


Gaming in Guatemala! 


 My litte green friend is with me again! Find more information about it on www.wellness-bummler.de


School bus

AWESOME FOOD

Wow, I really love the food on the road. It is all about food here. Many people do nothing else than cooking the whole day and sell their food on the road or they sell fresh fruits or sweets. It is really good stuff. The bus stops somewhere and there are street sellers jumping on the bus selling food or they sell through the window. On the bus stops you will always get something sweet. Here is one example: it is caramelised sugar with coconut and pineapple bits in it! This is awesome!!! :-)


And by the way, I can nearly eat everything here! I can not eat gluten, but gluten hardly exists here. Everything here is made of corn. I love corn tortillas, fresh or toasted with vegetables or black beans. I eat fresh tropical fruits every day. Like we have apple trees at home they have banana and coconut trees in their garden.

I realized it when I arrived at Marcos and Dethlevs in Melchor, Guatemala. They have really good fresh homemade food: hot tortillas with vegetables and cheese potatos and meat if you like. Or the second one: cheese omelette with blackbeans, the weird looking mush, and hot tortillas.



Marco has a lovely place called Rio Mopan Lodge directly next to the Guatemalan border and the river Mopan. He is from Switzerland and lives there for about 35 years now built up his own hotel with a little private jungle around. It is a wounderful place to stay, enjoy the river, canoeing, swimming or walk trough Melchor, the town center. Thanks to Marco, Dethlev and their family! Here are some impressions: