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April 4, 2010 Page 2

Beach Scenes Rincon de Guayabitos and La Penita, Nayarit

Photographs by Bill Bell and Dianna Belitski

Beach Scenes Rincon de Guayabitos and La Penita, Nayarit

Las Olas Makes Surfing Safaris Sexy
Jill K. Robinson - Tonic
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March 30, 2010

Visit the Las Olas website at www.surflasolas.com (Las Olas)

Grab your girlfriends and get away to a surf camp in Mexico just for women.

Just watching surfers enjoy the waves on a perfectly sunny day can make a beach bum a little jealous, especially when the weather is getting warmer and vacation is top of mind. Why not mix vacation with learning something, like surfing, and come home just as relaxed as if you spend the entire time lounging on the beach?

Check in to Las Olas surf camps for women, touted as a reverse finishing school with the motto, “We make girls out of women.” Classes are held beachside in a small village north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and students stay at luxe villas and get fresh local cuisine for breakfast.

Each day begins with yoga, an essential warm up for a good day of surfing. After the sun and surf fun are over for the day, students can take workshops on Spanish language, making margaritas, salsa dancing and more. There’s always time to wander through the town and shop, or just relax and take a siesta.

With sweet extras included during your six-night safari, like airport transfers, a one-hour massage, orientation and finale dinners, a rash guard and water bottle (surfboards are also included, of course) — Las Olas is like a surf/spa week for the girls, or just yourself. How often do you come back from vacation with a new hobby, and have so much fun while learning it?

Visit the Las Olas website at www.surflasolas.com

Remember you have a friend in Tequila

by Lilianne Fuller

"Remember, you have a friend in Tequila", said our new acquaintance Arturo Ramos. He was not referring to the alcoholic drink but to the beautiful city that we found ourselves in. He was on hand to greet us when we arrived with Esteban Valdivia, our tour guide and his Albertan compadre Jim. What brought us to Tequila was a quest to find a special type of hand cream made from the blue agave plant. We also wanted to purchase some really good tequila.

I had read a travel story about the Mexican state of Jalisco. One of the cities featured was Tequila; a small city nestled in the Sierra Madre Mountains. The story talked about a Jimador named Izmael. A Jimador is an experienced farmer who harvests the ripe blue agave cactus using a flat bladed knife called a coa. The story described how Izmael made his own therapeutic cream that was purported to improve even the most severely damaged and rough skin.

We had planned a visit to the Rivera Nayarit and decided to include a side trip to find him. Our destination was a three-hour drive from the coastal town of Rincon de Guayabitos. "Guayabitos", as it is known is a popular tourist town located in this rapidly developing region of Mexico.

We realized that without the help of a guide, our hopes of finding this Jimador would be virtually impossible so we decided to seek out Esteban. Esteban is an extraordinary knowledgeable tour guide who works out of his family restaurant, the Piña Colada. We ventured over to the restaurant and made plans to leave early the next day.

Our drive took us up into the Sierra Madres. Deep valleys line the road and now dormant volcanoes dot the landscape. Before we knew it, we were in Tequila. We made our way to the City Square for a late breakfast and waited to meet Arturo. When he arrived we showed him the newspaper article that I had brought with me. A rapid conversation in Spanish ensued and we were assured that even in this city of over 26,000 people our guides would find the man we were looking for.

They suggested that we spend some time in the nearby Sauza family museum and return to the square in an hour. Sure enough, true to their word an hour later Esteban came striding across the square and said "We have found him!" We walked the short distance to a nearby factory and after a formal introduction I bought 10 jars of the cream that I had come so far to find.

Having completed our quest we set off to seek the other reason for our trip, tequila. Tequila is made using traditional family recipes. The root of the blue agave cactus is distilled to make this potent drink. Our guides had included a trip to an agricultural college that specialized in using some non-traditional ingredients. There we were treated to a tasting. We sampled some tequilas that were made from blackberries, tamarind and mango. We also enjoyed some of the more customary tequilas that ranged from the young Blanco or silver tequila to the amber coloured very mature Anejo.

After an early dinner it was time to go. We bid farewell to our new friends and made our way back to the coast with fond memories, some delicious tequila and the agave cream that I had come hoping to find. Arturo, while encouraging us to return to his beautiful city also assured me that if I wanted more of Izmael's special cream he would send some to me. "Remember" he said, you have a friend in Tequila.

Baja's Tourism Police Are There to Lend Hand
Sandra Dibble - San Diego Union-Tribune
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April 01, 2010

Metropolitan Tourist Police Officer Al Burgueno scanned part of Rosarito Beach yesterday. The new force also began work yesterday in Tijuana and Ensenada. (Nelvin C. Cepeda/Union-Tribune)

Rosarito Beach — With the Tijuana-Ensenada toll road as the backdrop, authorities yesterday launched a new Metropolitan Tourist Police force aimed at winning back the confidence of foreign visitors to the region.

The group is made up of municipal officers from Tijuana, Ensenada and Rosarito Beach who will operate under a shared name and uniform as they patrol traditional tourist areas. Their common mandate: Assist visitors who patronize hotels, restaurants and shops in the 70-mile strip that links the three cities.

The officers are stepping into the role at a time when Baja California’s tourism industry has been struggling to revive itself after a decline in U.S. visitors. Authorities say they want to regain the trust of visitors driven away by reports of violence and police extortion, and restore the image of the region as a safe place to visit.

While Baja California authorities say crime rates have fallen and police agencies have taken extensive steps to reduce corruption, “the perception in Southern California is … that this zone is very dangerous,” said Hugo Torres, Rosarito Beach’s mayor and owner of the city’s largest hotel. “The message that must be sent out to Southern Californians is that they will be receiving better service, without a doubt.”

The new force comes into existence during an important vacation period across Baja California, when spring break coincides with Holy Week. In addition, thousands of cyclists are expected April 17 for the semiannual 50-mile Rosarito-Ensenada Bicycle Ride.

Oscar Escobedo, Baja California’s tourism secretary, said perceptions about safety are not the only deterrent to foreign visitors. He primarily blames clogged border crossings and a requirement since June that U.S. citizens present passports when returning home. This year, the state took steps to promote domestic tourism to make up for the loss in foreign visitors, and Escobedo expects about 120,000 travelers this week.

Members of the newly created force, most of whom are bilingual, have been tasked with responding to any domestic or foreign tourists who call to report crimes or ask for emergency assistance, said Daniel de la Rosa, Baja California’s secretary of public safety. His agency is responsible for coordinating the effort.

De la Rosa said the force is starting with two dozen patrol cars and 130 officers, but is expected to grow. Most officers are drawn from existing tourist-assistance units in the three cities, and officials hope the new force eventually will operate autonomously, with the authority to issue its own traffic citations.

The new force is being backed by the public safety and tourism secretariats, as well as the federal police. In December, the San Diego Police Department gave a daylong course to 24 Mexican officers, instructing them in subjects such as patrol tactics, gangs and how to treat U.S. tourists.

Julián Domínguez, a deputy chief in Tijuana, said officers are being instructed to go easy on visitors who commit infractions such as heading in the wrong direction down one-way streets. “There won’t be tickets, just warnings, if the infraction is minor,” he said.

Sandra Dibble: sandra.dibble(at)uniontrib.com

Are Greedy Water Bottlers Siphoning Your City's Drinking Water?
Tara Lohan - AlterNet
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March 26, 2010

The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand — how you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap. Visit the website for more information.

It took six years for residents of tiny McCloud, California, to give Nestle Waters North America its walking papers. The water bottler had hoped to build a 1 million square-foot facility in the town of less than 2,000 and was given a backroom 50-year contract (renewable for an additional 50 years) to annually take 1,250 gallons per minute of delicious spring water from the town, hunkered in the shadow of Mount Shasta, and unlimited groundwater. But after years of opposition from community and environmental groups, Nestle scrapped its plans and left with its tail between its legs.

However, the bottling giant didn't have to look very far for its next target. Last summer as Gov. Schwarzenegger was warning that parched California was in its third year of drought, and residents of the capital city of Sacramento were facing water restrictions, Nestle was getting a behind-the-scenes welcome mat rolled out and the keys to the city's water pipes.

The food and beverage giant is king when it comes to bottled water - it controls one-third of the U.S. market and sells water under 70 different brand names such as Arrowhead, Calistoga, Deer Park, Perrier and Poland Spring. It shares the stage with two other giant bottlers, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, although Nestle is the big culprit in targeting rural communities for spring water, a move that has earned it fierce opposition across the U.S. from towns worried about losing their precious water resources.

As small, rural towns across the U.S. started to organize in opposition to Nestle, the company tried to rope in a bigger city. In July it was announced that Nestle would be opening a bottling plant in Sacramento, but how much water the company would be taking is in dispute. The company says it will take 150 acre-feet of water (close to 50 million gallons) in the first year. Reportedly about 30 million of this will come from the municipal water system and 20 million from undisclosed private springs in nearby counties.

But an October article in the Sacramento Bee reported that the city's utilities director estimated instead that the plant would take 80 million, and not 30 million gallons a year from Sacramento. Other city departments have reportedly placed the number as high as 116 million, but the estimates are really inconsequential. Nestle is allowed to draw as much water as it can fit through its pipe; there's no maximum to how much it can bottle.

While residents are asked to conserve water, Nestle gets an all-you-can-bottle buffet. Expectedly, this has some folks worried. "We have concerns about conflicting numbers and the fact that this was supposed to be replacement for McCloud, which was hundreds of millions of gallons," said Evan Tucker, of the citizen's group Save Our Water Sacramento. "There is no limit on how much water they can pump, there is a flat rate. They can pump as much as they want, the city says there is nothing they can do about it."

While Nestle faced problems with its environmental impact in McCloud, Sacramento residents have no idea what the potential impact would be because the company was not required to hold public hearings or perform an environmental review.

Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a project is either "ministerial" or "discretionary." The city says that Nestle's bottling plant, which would be in an area zoned for industrial would pass as ministerial, which means all it has to do is fill out the necessary forms and pay the fees, but there is no public say in the process and no environmental review needs to be completed.

Save Our Water Sacramento felt differently. The group challenged the city on the decision, arguing that because Nestle had requested a second water line be added to the plant those changes actually pushed the project into the discretionary category of CEQA, where there should be ample review. But when legal challenges were raised, Nestle quickly withdrew its plans for a second water line and the city gave its stamp of approval.

The Business of Bottled Water

The world faces a global crisis of fresh drinking water. An estimated 3.6 million people, including 1.5 million children, die each year from water-related diseases. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement last week, "More people die from unsafe water than all forms of violence, including war." Yet, in rich nations like the U.S., where potable water flows from taps in most everyone's homes and costs pennies, people are still shelling out extra bucks for bottled water and the industry is making a killing.

The bottled water business has climbed steadily over the last few decades, only falling off slightly in recent years. TriplePundit reported in November 2009:

According to data from Beverage Marketing, a U.S.-based data and consulting firm, retail sales of single-serving plastic bottles increased from 1.4 billion gallons in 2000 to 5.2 billion gallons last year, lifting their share of total bottled water volume from 29 percent to more than 60 percent. And, over the past decade, per-capita consumption of bottled water in the U.S. has more than doubled to about 200 bottles per year, per person, according to MarketWatch.

Still, leading bottled water companies like Nestle saw a dip in sales beginning in 2008 - perhaps a signal that people are waking up to the environmental and economic costs of bottled water. It may also be a sign that during cash-strapped times, people are finding their way back to tap water instead.

In response to the downturn in sales, the industry has responded by trying to "bluewash" its image and make itself seem more environmentally friendly. A new report from Food and Water Watch reveals that bottled water companies are using awareness-raising initiatives like World Water Day to advertise contributions they make to water charities, especially in the developing world, and to claim they are making their businesses more green.

But, "Bottled water is inherently not a water-friendly product," the F&WW report says. "Bottling companies take water out of local water systems and ship it elsewhere - which is one reason that many residents worried about their local water have opposed water bottlers in their communities. ... No mater how much water bottlers talk about the steps they are taking to reduce their water footprint, as long as water generates profit, bottlers will never have an incentive to reduce overall water consumption."

It may be a no-brainer for many people to stop buying bottled water, but government has been slow to catch on in many places. A report by Corporate Accountability International found that four Northeastern states - Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont - spend nearly $2 million on bottled water that comes out of taxpayers' pockets. This seems especially troubling because we face a $24 billion annual shortfall of funding for public water systems and many cities and states are feeling the pinch of a slowed economy and cutting public services.

Ironically, last year Sacramento's city council voted to ban bottled water at its meetings, "in recognition that plastic water bottles are littering the world and the precious water they once contained is often wasted," as city councilor Kevin McCarty said. But the rest of the city government doesn't seem to be on the same page.

The Sacramento Bee found that water use went up 22 percent at the city's metered properties during the last three years of drought. (Shockingly, water meters are an altogether new concept for Sacramento.) In response Mayor Kevin Johnson told the Sacramento Bee:

"We're going to have to learn to use water smarter, which is a new way of thinking in our city where residents have tapped into two major rivers for generations. We need to light a fire under the city's efforts to save water so we can be a shining example of how to use water more efficiently instead of being a showcase of waste and inefficiency."

But as Johnson was issuing that statement he was also offering other rather contradictory ones. "I appreciate the concerns of citizens who worry about water use and conservation. The city has asked residents to conserve. The city can't ignore industrial water use. Those concerns should be discussed and addressed," he said, but apparently that doesn't apply to Nestle.

"When I heard Nestle was bringing a plant to Sacramento, I was excited. I believe Sacramento should do everything possible to encourage businesses to move here and hire our citizens," he said. "For me, the Nestle story is pretty simple. It's all about jobs. Nestle is bringing jobs to Sacramento with the company's new water bottling plant."

So, 40 jobs trumps the potential impact of untold million and millions of gallons of water, as well as the environmental impact of the plastic bottles, themselves. Even Nestle's lowest estimate of 50 million gallons would mean 800 million new plastic water bottles a year, Treehugger reported. Across the country, the environmental impact of our bottled water addiction is huge. In just the U.S. in 2007, water bottling used the equivalent of 32-54 millions barrels of oil. That's how much it would take to fuel average consumption levels in 1.5 million cars for a year.

Consumers are also often duped about the quality of water. The Sacramento plant is the perfect example - much of it will actually simply be from the same source as tap. This is true for 40 percent of water bottled in the U.S.

Consumers are paying upwards of a thousand times the price for virtually the same product as tap and are instead putting an extra burden on the environment by using single-use plastic bottles, of which over 80 percent are likely to end up in landfills.

While bottled water companies may spend millions convincing you that you're drinking the cleanest water from pristine mountain springs, the truth is that in many cases, bottled water could be less safe for consumers. The EPA, as well as state and local governments, regulate tap water, but bottled water is checked only by the FDA and the standards are much less strict. Food and Water Watch reports that municipal water systems must test for coliform bacteria 100 or more times a month. But bottled water plants only have to test once a week.

The impact on local water sources is a big question, too - such as in Sacramento. "It doesn't make sense," said Tucker of his city's decision, "The city fines people if they don't comply with water restrictions, but Nestle can use as much as they want and pay very little for it."

Because rates aren't tiered in Sacramento, he says, the company has no reason to want to conserve. "Unlike other industrial water users who may use water as a part of their industrial process, like for cooling, their product is water," he said. "So they have a disincentive to conserve."

The Sacramento News and Review reported in October that one of the mayor's top volunteer advisors, Michelle Smira, was stepping down in order to run her consulting business, MMS Strategies. Guess who her big client was? That would be Nestle.

"It just happens that MMS was hired, over the weekend, by Nestle Waters, to help win hearts and minds, and building permits, for its controversial water bottling plant in South Sacramento," the News and Review wrote. "Johnson has been a major cheerleader for the project, despite concerns among some citizen groups and council members about the bottled water industry and the process by which the Nestle plant has been pushed forward."

City Councilmember Kevin McCarty has been one of the few local leaders to oppose Nestle's project. "At current rates, they would pay the city about 65 cents per 100 cubic feet of water, or 750 gallons," he said. "That works out to a payment to the city of $186 for the 215,000 gallons of water taken on an average day. By the time that water is bottled and put on a grocer's shelf, the consumers would pay more than $2.1 million for those 215,000 gallons - a profit margin of roughly 10,000 percent!"

Tucker is worried that Nestle has found a new model of operating that draws less heat than its previous plans to build bottling plants in small towns and pilfer rural spring water.

"They've taken the thing that has caused the most problems for communities, building the bottling plant," said Tucker, "and located it in a place like an industrial area of a bigger city, where they can do it relatively easily. They are taking a lot of our municipal water and that is a concern for us, but most people in cities don't worry about their water sources the way rural residents do. We don't have wells that could run dry from pumping plants or aren't concerned with local streams. We just turn on our taps and it comes out. I have a concern that this is a model they'll proliferate."

For many communities, the privatization of water by big companies is becoming an issue that threatens local control of the most vital resource for survival. Groups like Food and Water Watch and Corporate Accountability International are waging campaigns to help communities fight for public control of their water and for clean, safe and affordable tap water for all.

Even Annie Leonard, whose hit Internet film (and now book) The Story of Stuff, has produced a new film (that you can view below), called "The Story of Bottled Water." The film is a call to action to all of us. We don't have to live in a place like McCloud or Sacramento to join the fight against bottled water.

"It's time we took back the tap," Leonard says in the movie. "That starts with making a personal commitment to not buy or drink bottled water unless the water in your community is truly unhealthy. Yes, it takes a bit of foresight to grab a reusable bottle on the way out, but I think we can handle it.

"Then take the next step - join a campaign that's working for real solutions. Like demanding investment in clean tap water for all. In the U.S., tap water is underfunded by $24 billion partly because people believe drinking water only comes from a bottle! Around the world, a billion people don't have access to clean water right now. Yet cities all over are spending millions of dollars to deal with all the plastic bottles we throw out. What if we spent that money improving our water systems or better yet, preventing pollution to begin with?"

Photograph by Bill Bell

With All of its Mystique, See Pancho Villa's Last Saddle
Allan Wall - PVNN
March 23, 2010

It is unknown exactly when or how many years it took to construct this saddle. Our knowledge begins on the day that Pancho’s widow took it from her home and gave it to the famous film producer Howard Hawks. From there it had a colorful history of theft and mystery. We do know it has been the number one attraction in Museums for the last 20 years. More information can be found at Pancho Villa’s Last Saddle website - LastSaddle.com.

Of all the personages involved in the Mexican Revolution (the second decade of the twentieth Century), Pancho Villa is the most well-known to Americans. Of course he’s also quite famous in Mexico where he is included in the official history as a revolutionary hero.

Nevertheless, the legacy of Pancho Villa is a controversial one. In the long run, did he really benefit Mexico? What is his true legacy? Even his last saddle is a part of that legacy.

Before the Revolution, Francisco “Pancho” Villa (birth name Doroteo Arango) was a sometime cattle rustler. But the outbreak of the Revolution and the ensuing chaos enabled him to become a revolutionary general who is now honored as a Mexican hero. For a time Villa was the provisional governor of the northern state of Chihuahua, whose government issued fiat money which was actually accepted in banks across the border in El Paso, Texas.

Whatever else he was, Pancho Villa was certainly a great horseman, which led to his being called "El Centauro del Norte." The Centaur of the North (the centaur, a mythical half-man, half-horse creature in Greek mythology would be an apt term to describe a great equestrian).

Relations with the U.S. had their ups and downs. At one point, Pancho Villa was supported by the United States, who sent him arms.

1913 photo of Pancho Villa with then-ally Alvaro Obregon and American General John Joseph Pershing (with First Lt. George S. Patton standing behind Pershing), taken at Ft. Bliss (El Paso), Texas.

Later Villa had a falling out with Obregon as the Revolution split into factions. And when the U.S. supported the other faction, Villa’s forces carried out raids on U.S. territory, in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. This in turn led to the Pershing-led Punitive Expedition into Mexico, which failed to located and apprehend the elusive “Centaur of the North,” though it did scatter his army.

It’s often said that history is written by the winners, but that’s not always true. Pancho Villa was on the losing faction in the final phase of the Mexican Revolution. Yet he’s much more famous than some of the leaders of the winning faction.

Pancho Villa’s faction lost the Revolution, but in 1920 the Mexican government let him retire to Chihuahua with the understanding that he’d stay out of politics. Villa did for a while, but he was getting involved again when he was assassinated while driving a car (a 1919 Dodge roadster) in the city of Parral in 1923. It is supposed that the conspiracy had been approved by then-president Alvaro Obregon.

Several years after Pancho Villa’s death, somebody dug up his body, cut his head off, and took it away. One story is that it wound up in the custody of the Skull and Bones, a secretive organization at Yale University. (Famous members of the club have included several generations of the Bush family, John Kerry, and Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee.) It’s also been said that the organization has the skulls of Geronimo and Martin van Buren.

A lot Pancho Villa’s fame is due to his flamboyant personality which he was careful to cultivate by, among other things, starring as himself in several Hollywood-produced movies.

The popular image of Pancho Villa is one of a fearless horseman battling the forces of injustice. The reality of the Mexican Revolution (its centennial being celebrated this year) is much more complicated. Untangling the complexities and shifting alliances of that era is a study in itself.

As for Pancho Villa, some see him as a revolutionary hero (that’s the official view), but others regard him as a cold-blooded killer. He definitely did carry out a lot of killings, including the execution of prisoners of war. Whether Pancho Villa killed people or let them live could be quite arbitrary, and he would sometimes allow his men to rape and pillage with abandon. Rodolfo Fierro, one of his subordinates, had an especially cruel reputation and was known as “el Carnicero” – the butcher.

What about Pancho Villa’s last saddle? That too is tied up with Hollywood and the man’s public image.

In the early-1930s, a Hollywood movie entitled “Viva Villa” was filmed in Mexico. This movie, a fictionalized biopic, did much to further the Pancho Villa legend. It starred Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa. (The principal actress was Fay Wray, who had starred in King Kong the previous year.)

The film, that had some problems during filming, wound up having several directors and wasn’t released until 1934.

In 1931, Howard Hawks had been fired as director. But before leaving Mexico, he was given a gift by Maria Luz Corral de Villa, one of Pancho Villa’s widows. (Villa had at least 20 wives.)

The gift was a saddle – Pancho Villa’s last saddle, in fact.

The saddle had been custom-crafted for Villa by carpenter Joaquin Rodriguez and leather-worker Alberto Tulan Cingo Marquez. Hawks took the saddle back with him to his home in California, where it stayed from 1931-1954.

Hawks was busy in his distinguished directing career, which took him to locations in North America, Europe and Africa, and his home was sold in 1954. Three years later he returned and discovered the saddle was gone. But in 1976 Hawks saw the saddled advertised, for sale. Hawks reported it as stolen to the police and the saddle was recovered and returned to him.

Hawks died a year later and the saddle was eventually a part of a court case. In 1982, it was returned to the Hawks estate.

In 1990, Chuck Ramsey of California bought the saddle. From 1990 to 2009 it has been displayed in the Witte Museum in San Antonio, Texas, and the South Texas History Museum in Edinburg, Texas.

Now, in commemoration of the centennial of the Mexican Revolution, the famous saddle is to be displayed at the Witte Museum from September 2010 to January 2011. It is also for sale.

Information can be found at Pancho Villa’s Last Saddle website. This website includes a history of the saddle and detailed photographs.

Besides its connection with a famous figure of Mexican history (and a great horseman), the saddle is a carefully constructed piece of craftsmanship. It was a parade saddle, designed not to be used on the ranch but to be shown off.

The design of the saddle includes a winged devil engraved in the leather. Now what was the significance of that?

Was it just a fearsome design leather-worker Cingo decided to put on the saddle, somewhat along the lines of a scary-looking school mascot?

Is it related to the story that Pancho Villa buried a large golden hoard near a place called “Devil’s Cave”?

Or is it linked to the belief of some that Pancho Villa had a pact with the devil?

So you see, even the examination of this individual’s last saddle adds to the continuing controversy over the legacy of Pancho Villa.

Allan Wall is an American citizen who has been teaching English in Mexico since 1991, and writing articles about various aspects of Mexico and Mexican society for the past decade. Some of these articles are about Mexico's political scene, history and culture, tourism, and Mexican emigration as viewed from south of the border, which you can read on his website at AllanWall.net.

Rare Worthen's Sparrow Nest Sites Found in Mexico
Matt Walker - BBC Earth News
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March 22, 2010

A male sparrow searches for a mate.

SPARROW SPOTTING: Worthen's sparrow stands just 13cm tall on average and is identifiable by its distinctive head pattern, sporting a grey head with a rufous crown, brown stripe and pink beak.

Overall it is similar in appearance to the far more common field sparrow, though it has a unique plumage and song, a dry chipping trill that last two to three seconds.

The species nests from May to July, usually laying three to four eggs.

Three new breeding sites of one of the world's rarest birds, the Worthen's sparrow of Mexico, have been found.

The discovery of nests in the states of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila confirms the bird needs desert scrub to breed.

Such information may help conservationists formulate a plan to save the species from extinction.

Just a few hundred Worthen's sparrows survive, and until the latest discovery little was known about where and how the bird reproduces.

Details of the new breeding locations are published in the Journal of Field Ornithology.

Worthen's sparrow (Spizella wortheni) was originally discovered in the United States, where just a single bird was caught on 16 June 1884, near Silver City, New Mexico.

No Worthen's sparrows have since been captured in the country, where it is now thought to be extinct.

Formally, the bird also ranged over much of the Mexican Plateau.

However, now it is found in just a handful of places in northeastern Mexico, says Dr Ricardo Canales-del Castillo of the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico.

That makes it one of the rarest sparrows in North America.

What is more, although flocks of the sparrow are sometimes seen in winter, little is known about where the bird lives and breeds in the summer, information that is crucial to safeguarding the species's future.

Caught in the act

So Dr Castillo and colleagues decided to search out places where the sparrow might be hiding.

This was particularly difficult because of the sparrow's behaviour: Worthen's sparrows do not migrate, but they move on from nesting sites as soon as the breeding season ends.

So the researchers had to catch the birds in the act of egg-laying and rearing.

Over the past 30 years, the sparrows have only been seen in a 25km squared area in northeastern Mexico, with most of its historical breeding sites since converted to agriculture.

These historical records also suggested the sparrows like to breed in valleys full of desert scrub and grassland, habitat also filled by prairie dogs.

So Dr Castillo's team targeted areas of similar habitat, particularly searching around the La Soledad valley in the municipality of Galeana, home to one of Mexico's most important prairie dog locations.

They found nests at San Rafael in Galeana, Nuevo Leon and at La Carbonera in the same state.

Another nests were also found at San Jose del Alamito just over the border into the state of Coahuila, but still within the La Soledad valley.

Overall, the researchers recorded 51 individual sparrows, which is half the 100 to 120 individuals that survive in the wild, according to the latest data held by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"Our most optimistic estimate is that 500 individuals remain," Dr Castillo told the BBC.

Knowing where the sparrow breeds could help protect it in the future, as conservationists can now attempt to preserve grasslands and associated shrubby areas, he says.

One such project under way, coordinated by the Bird Conservation Alliance, is seeking to purchase prime grassland habitat in the Saltillo Savannah in Mexico, which will also help preserve habitat vital for other species such as long-billed curlews, burrowing owls, mountain plovers, Sprague's pipits and Ferruginous hawks.
Jaltemba Bay...Paradise found!

by Dorothy Bell

Jaltemba Bay

Jaltemba Bay and the three communities of Los Ayala, Rincon de Guayabitos and La Peñita de Jaltemba sit on the Coast in the State of Nayarit approximately 64 kms north of Puerto Vallarta or a 1 hour drive North on Highway 200. The three communities share the Bay and like pearls of a necklace, each of these gems are similar yet have a distinct character.

La Peñita de Jaltemba is the commercial center of the tiny bay area. It has a bank and an ATM outlet. There are a few general grocery stores, butcher shops and other food and tourist trinket stores along the main street, the Avenida – THE AVENUE - as the locals call it. The formal name is Avenida Emiliano Zapata, named after the Mexican Revolutionary hero who fought for land reform.

La Peñita is arguably larger than the other communities and therefore has more shops and stores than the communities to the south. It has a population of approximately 7,000 people and during the November to April tourist season, it is likely that another 2 to 3,000 people call the town their home.

The town is decidedly Mexican. It has a large bull ring that is owned by the Cuevas family who owns a number of meat shops in the area. Often there will be parades with colorful costumes, kids in marching bands, banners and flags. Celebrations can close down a street, occupy the town square or blast into the night. Fireworks going off intermittently during some festivals, often keep folks on their toes at night as does music or events at the bull ring.

One of the main ways merchants advertise is with a vehicle, usually a dilapidated car, with a blaring speaker system. They drive up and down the street announcing this bargain or that, from shrimp, tamales and elotes, to events and community warnings. Of course there are the gas trucks that frequent the streets with similar speaker systems belting out the familiar jingle or simply the word “GAS!” When the circus comes to town, promoters drive animal trailer cages through the street. It is very strange to see a couple of Bengal tigers drive by as you eat lunch at one of the many eateries.

The beach is fairly narrow in La Peñita, and in places your beach walk may be blocked by concrete remains of former homes on the beach. These eyesores have not been removed for various legal reasons while the community simmers and waits for the government and legal system to kick in and bulldoze the area and build the forever promised sea promenade.

One of La Peñita’s major attractions is the “Tianguis” or open air market. Every Thursday, rain or shine, the market attracts locals and visitors to the town. Artisans sell their crafts: pottery, jewelry, fabrics, baskets, purses. Food vendors sell fish and shrimp, veggies and fruit, breads and herbs as well as prepared market food such as large plastic cups filled to the brim with a fruit salad.

The market also specializes in clothes, used clothes, 10 peso stores (the equivalent of a dollar store), household tools and small equipment. You can purchase flower pots to gas stove parts. Blender pieces to baseball caps. You can also purchase Real Estate.

La Peñita has a number of restaurants with a variety of menus and prices. Every year the selection and quality improves. Explore the town. Take your camera and enjoy.

Separated by a river to the south, Estero Zarco, Rincon de Guayabitos lies in the centre of the three towns. Rincon de Guayabitos name is derived from the Spanish meaning Inside Corner of the Guavas. This is in reference to the guavas orchards of the past that inhabited the corner of the Bay.

The town was developed for Mexican middleclass tourists and later for foreign residents. The Avenida del Sol connects the two as it twists and turns through the towns residential area and then past the police, square and church through the commercial area. The town is a hub for small hotels and bungalows, usually a one or two bedroom apartment with a small kitchen. These are perfect for the Mexican family vacationers that travel from the interior.

The residential area of Rincon de Guayabitos is where the majority of Americans and Canadian have built their houses. There are small modest casitas to million dollar oceanfront homes. While the intention was never to be commercial, bed and breakfasts, small bungalows and hotels have invaded the quiet neighborhood. There is an ecological park, beach access, and tennis courts.

The Guayabitos beach is a circular half moon of sand that stretches from Estero Zarco past the residential area down and around the commercial sector. It is an entertaining beach with a number of vendors that keep things lively. Of course there are a number of small entrepreneurs that sell, like everywhere in Mexico, jewelry from briefcases, tablecloths and T shirts. They also sell beach toys, umbrellas, fish on a stick, nuts, oysters and tattoos. A favorite are the huge blown up beach toys in the shape of sharks, lobsters, airplanes and the traditional round lifesaver all in florescent blue, pinks and greens.

The beach is a flat walking beach that comes alive every morning as the sun rises. At this time of the morning you often see fishermen haul their pangas to shore and onto the sand; selling fish directly from the boat. Brown pelicans hang out nearby, nervously awaiting a chance to grab a fish and fly. Morning joggers and power walkers in a mantra of their own, traverse in a determined path to better health.

Later, the beach is alive with people. There is a wide variety of hotels, restaurants and bars, from simple fair to very fancy five star experiences. And the prices are very reasonable.

High on the southern tip of the rocks is the Vista Guayabitos; a restaurant with fantastic views that separates Rincon from Los Ayala.

The town of Los Ayala has had a facelift of sorts lately. Rather than being the poor cousin of Rincon to the North, Los Ayala is developing into a small boutique community in its own right. While there are many hotels and bungalows, there are also private and winter homes.

The beach is beautiful and flat, ideal for walking or spending time with kids. Restaurants dot the beach. It is slower, more tranquil, than its northern neighbor with less vendors and therefore fewer opportunities to purchase tablecloths, blankets and the like.

Big changes have come recently and the amazing result is the town of Los Ayala boasts the best designed town plaza on the Riviera Nayarit. It has the traditional bandstand and lovely tropical gardens. The main street that runs parallel to the beach is now paved and the beaches are cleaned by paid workers. The community has raised funds through concerted efforts; fundraising events and lobbying for matching grants. This is a proud, motivated and dynamic community that has proved that it can achieve great things by working together for common goals.

Cora men traditionally wore ankle-length white manta pants and colorful shirts along with leather huaraches, palm hats, and hand-woven shoulder bags. Many men now wear jeans, western-style shirts, cowboy hats, and other non-traditional clothing. The dress of women varies among communities, but generally women wear long, full skirts and elbow-length blouses of bright colored fabrics often decorated with ribbons and embroidery. Women also wear bead necklaces and earrings, wrap themselves in dark-patterned rebozos, and carry colorful hand-woven shoulder bags

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Pacific Coast Road, Driving and Travel Guide Log 2010

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