The Weekly Watch

The Tip of the Yucatan

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We're in the Yucatan of Mexico for the next three weeks...lucky us. I thought I would take you along to see the sights we're experiencing. This week we're in a small fishing village/beach town, El Cuyo, and visiting a UNESCO recognized biosphere reserve, Rio Lagartos, to do some birding.

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El Cuyo is a small fishing village of just a couple thousand people located on a sandbar along the Gulf of Mexico. Owing to its relatively out-of-the-way location, El Cuyo is still very much a hidden gem. The beaches in El Cuyo are the main reason to visit. They are perfect for kite surfing, stand up paddleboarding, kayaking, or just relaxing on a patch of white sand with a drink in your hand. Although not technically an island, El Cuyo has a laid back island vibe. If you ever wondered what Tulum or Holbox or Isla Mujeres were like before the throngs of tourists descended, you might fall in love with El Cuyo!
In many ways, the quiet beaches in El Cuyo are what Holbox used to be before the crowds started streaming in. The sand is nearly perfectly white, the water relatively shallow and warm, and there is rarely more than a handful of people in a given 100 meter stretch of sand. There are many access points to El Cuyo beach, and the entire stretch of sand is pretty homogenous, so you can safely just grab a towel and sunscreen, and find your private patch of paradise!

More info at this link.

Life goes slow at El Cuyo, Yucatan. Gradual development has seen a small community of locals and expats move in, drawn in by the tranquil and peaceful emerald waters. The laid-back island vibe echoes strongly in the colorful houses, palm-lined streets, and tropical decor. The town consists of a few blocks of colorful buildings connected by sandy dirt roads and centered around the main pier. The center of town is mostly walkable, although a car is nice to have if you’re staying on the outskirts.

https://vivalatravelista.com/el-cuyo-yucatan/

These folks also had high praise for the restaruant in the previous clip

(8 min)

About an hour to the west is Rio Lagartos

Drone video clips and scenic footage of Rio Lagartos located in the north part of the Yucatan peninsula in the state of Yucatan in Mexico. Las Coloradas is where you have the pink lakes. Rio Lagartos does not have any pink lakes as a lot of people think. But in this video I will show you the beauty of Rio Lagartos located at a lagoon, the Ria Lagartos, which is part of a natural reserve. This makes it an ideal place for birdwatching. This lagoon is part of the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, and the Ria Lagartos has been designated as an internationally recognized Important Bird Area

Rio Lagartos is best place for Birdwatching & Photography tours on the Yucatan Peninsula..
¨If you are looking for a one-stop location to see as many birds as possible while visiting the Yucatan Peninsula, the Ría Lagartos Reserve tops the list with 395 birds -70% of all the birds reported for the region. The reason is simple: diverse habitats that include the sea, coastal dune, scrub, an extensive estuary, salt flats, fresh water wetlands, as well as both dry and humid forest. On top of that, you have some of the best local bird guides in the region that know just where to find the birds on your “wish list”.

a fantastic full day bird-watching tour to the Northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. During this tour we will be birding at different habitats.We will try to find passerines such as Yellow-faced Grassquits, Blue-black Grassquits, Orioles like the Hooded, Black-cowled, Altamira, Yellow-tailed as well as endemics such as the Orange Oriole, Yucatan Jay, Yucatan Woodpecker, Yucatan Wren and the almost endemic Mexican Sheartail. (there is a small population in Veracruz as well) We will also make a fascinating boat-ride through the Biosphere of Ria Lagartos, where other than birds are good chances to see crocodiles. Since the Biosphere is the breeding ground of the American Flamingo it will be very likely to see them in their natural habitat. It is as well home to the Bare-throated Tiger Heron. (2.5 min)

(4.5 min)

As I said this is not a standard Yucatan tourist destination, but a little town at the end of a long road north. On the shores of the Northern tip of the Yucatan peninsula you will find a little settlement with less than 4,000 inhabitants. Rio Lagartos always used to live off the fishing industry, but slowly it is turning into a tourist hotspot. But don’t worry there are still only a handful tourists to be found here that come to admire the natural beauty this region has to offer. Most tourist traveling to the North shores of the Yucatan peninsula visit Isla Holbox, Rio Lagartos is often a little forgotten.

Rio Lagartos actually means Alligator River, but I learned from a local that it is completely wrong. There is no river, neither are there alligators. Rio Lagartos is located at a lagoon (means Ria) and the reptiles living here are crocodiles. The lagoon is declared a protected biosphere by UNESCO since 2004 because of its breeding ground for endless species of birds.

Rio Lagartos is a small village perched on the shores of mangrove-lined lagoon that holds special appeal for bird-watchers and wildlife photographers. In this tranquil village at the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, there is a relaxed vibe and abundant nature. Rio Lagartos offers an opportunity to get a glimpse into the lifestyle of a sleepy, rural fishing community.

The Yucatan Peninsula is a draw for many because of its warmth and beaches. Yet there's more to the Yucatan's cultural landscape than the Riveria Maya's Caribbean coastline. The wetlands area of Ria Lagartos is on the northeastern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, and along the Gulf of Mexico; Cuba is about 90 miles offshore.
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Rio Lagartos means "estuary of the lizard." The area was given this name in 1517 by a soldier accompanying Spanish explorer Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba. Cordoba's expedition marked the European discovery of the Yucatan and, in fact, Mexico. According to an amusing story, when the Spanish asked the indigenous people the name of the area, the response they got, was Yucatán, meaning "I don't understand you;" the rest is history.

More info at this link.

So that is the first week of this trip. Hope you enjoyed the vicarious visit. I will be back next week with more travels. Remember this is an open thread and any and all comments are welcome. Chances are I will have very little internet bandwidth, so y'all may need to carry on the conversation among yourselves.

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snoopydawg's picture

Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova

Russia has also dismissed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the successor of the Nazi Wehrmacht and the puppet of the US Government. Scholz, according to Zakharova, is one of the Germans who “lack[s] the spirit to make the right choice, not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors, for which the people of Germany, among others, paid a huge price… We remember well what German tanks are. These are machines which have become a symbol, not just of death and deadly ideology, but of hatred of humanity — a global, existential threat to the entire planet… What do they expect in Germany? That armoured vehicles in camouflage cover with iron crosses – symbols of the German armed forces both then and now will pass through our cities and villages? We remember how it ended then. Do they remember in Berlin?.. The day of the decision on the supply of Leopards to Ukraine…is also historic because [it is] the total loss of Germany’s sovereignty. [Olaf] Scholz has forever signed the rejection of an independent German foreign policy. He has abandoned everything that his predecessors had built for decades after the Second World War.”

“You asked about the US decision to supply American tanks. Why highlight this in particular? It is clear that this position applies to all countries. Only one country stands apart. This is Germany. This is a special story. We remember well what German tanks are. These are machines that have become a symbol not just of death and deadly ideology, but of hatred of humanity– a global, existential threat to the entire planet.

“When you read about fascism, Nazism, and the times of the Second World War, I think it is obvious that the SS uniform, German tanks with the symbols of the Third Reich have become a global symbol of humanity’s fall into the abyss of hatred, horror, and murder. From this abyss, all of us — and those who were alive then and those born later — were extricated by the fighters of the Red Army and the anti-Hitler coalition. These were young people who fought at the front and all those who were in the rear, connected to them. It was the German tanks which became the anti-symbol that was forever imprinted in the memory of mankind. Now these tanks, as [the Germans] are assuming, will again move on to our land. At least, that’s the task they have been given.

Recommend reading the article in full to get the gist of what she is saying. There is so much history left out when it comes to what happened with Russia during the war. According to the article Hitler planned to kill 30 million Russians before he planned to kill Jews.

So Germany gets to be the bad guy towards Russia by sending a whole 14 German tanks to Ukraine whilst Biden gets to take months and possibly years to send a few American tanks that won’t come from stock, but have to be built from scratch. I’m sure that will take many years, but wait there’s more. We have to fulfill the tank orders to Taiwan and one other country first and then we’ll start building them for Ukraine.

Germany has a treaty with Russia that was signed after the Berlin Wall came down and yet Germany is blithely throwing it away and sending military equipment to bonafide Nazis in Ukraine. Ahh well so does Ukraine and a few other countries that are ignoring them at our insistence.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg that ge would feel some sort of remorse or at least show that they learned from the W2 experience. I think that it is expecting too much.

What I have come to believe is that the environment that gave rise to the 88 movement in ge wasn't tempered and didn't become more humanitarian because of the influence from we, the bastion of democracy and belief in human rights (/sarcasm) but rather that we were contaminated by that environment. We adopted the hatred. That end justifies the means business.

Long ago as I was just beginning to feel the expanse of human potential I saw the international cooperation of the IGY, the free interchange of scientific knowledge. That sure didn't last long, did it?

The rot goes deep. We traded our humanity for trinkets.

Whoa... getting weird downstream from all that nuke waste.

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snoopydawg's picture

@exindy

We adopted the hatred.

But not only did we adopt it we helped in its creation. There were lots of people in America that supported Hitler and helped him become what he was and we also helped him create his vast army. Nazism wasn’t confined to Germany and other European countries, but many people here were big supporters of it. Look up night at the garden where almost 40,000 American Nazis went to Madison square garden to party down.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Cassiodorus's picture

of the giant rock which plummeted to Earth and eventually wiped out the dinosaurs, the Chicxulub Crater?

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"I'm starting to believe that they want Donald Trump to get elected." -- Compton Jay

The Yucatán Peninsula was our playground in the 1970’s when we were just beginning our overseas adventures. We camped on the beach in Playa del Carmen which only had a few buildings and Isla Mujeres was still just a small settlement.

Have moved adventures further south to Costa Rica which unfortunately is being changed rapidly but still have favorite spot, Puerto Jimenez where many of the sodas and small shops are run by people that do not speak English or would rather speak in their native language. Bird watching here is much like the pictures you have shared of Rio Lagartos.

Enjoy being away from internet bandwidth………the news is not good or sane!

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

dystopian's picture

Hi all, Hey LO! Hope its all good out there!

Sounds a bunch of great places, always wanted to do the Yuc. Great birds, tropical fish, food, and beer! Toss on ruins, and what's not to like?

Those Bare-throated Tiger-Heron are awesome. Saw them in western Mexico. They get within a couple hundred miles of the border regularly in Sonora, and in Tamaulipas-Nuevo Leon on the east side. There are two U.S. (Texas) records now. One was 30 miles from me at a secret location, you had to know a secret handshake to get the call to go see it. I was never in the in-crowd.

The story I heard was Alligator was named that because when asked what it was by Euros, the Spanish based reply was "EL lagarto". THE lizard. As in the friggin' king of lizards. That beast was EL lagarto. Probably by bed time it was officially called Alligator.

Have a great trip! Happy feathers!

be a miracle if dsl holds and this posts...

Be well all!

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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

it's good to get away! Once loved Isla Mujeres.

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5 users have voted.

NATO US puppet so we get this.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/world/2023/01/501_344425.html

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in Seoul on Sunday, the first stop on a trip aimed at strengthening the alliance's ties with U.S. allies in South Korea and Japan in the face of the war in Ukraine and rising competition with China.

In Seoul, Stoltenberg is due to meet with Foreign Minister Park Jin, Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-Sup, and other senior officials, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said in a statement. He will also likely meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol, the presidential office has said.

Flying to Tokyo on Monday, the secretary general has meetings scheduled with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other Japanese officials.

"I strongly believe that we need to strengthen the partnership between Korea and NATO because security becomes more and more interconnected," Stoltenberg told Yonhap News agency in an interview published on Sunday. "What happens in Asia, the Indo-Pacific, matters for Europe and NATO, and vice versa."

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enhydra lutris's picture

@humphrey

more.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

enhydra lutris's picture

and not hanging out online. Started the videos at the bottom, on my lunch break, but I'm already a big fan of the Yucatan anyway, especially the birds and the food.

be well and have a good one

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5 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

included if he wasn't enjoying himself in the Yucatan.

Iran drone strike. UK tank armour secret. Baerbock, Russia twisted my words. Liberate Canada. U/1

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4xqY-3ODKY]

Western Volunteer in Bakhmut Admits Ukraine is Losing + is the Western Tank Card a Bluff?

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMcpFJ9cKFM]

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/us-israel-joint-milit...

Jan. 23, 2023, 10:00 AM EST

The United States and Israel began a massive joint military exercise in Israel on Monday to show adversaries like Iran that Washington is not too distracted by the war in Ukraine and the threat from China to mobilize a large military force, a senior defense official said.

Juniper Oak 23 is “the most significant exercise between the United States and Israel to date,” the official said, citing the enormous number of aircraft, extensive coordination with the Israel Defense Forces, and the complicated live-fire component.

About 6,400 U.S. personnel have joined 1,100 Israeli personnel for the exercise, which will employ 142 total aircraft. Of them, 100 aircraft are from the U.S. military, including four B-52 bombers, four F-35 fighter jets, 45 F/A-18 Hornet fighters and two MQ-9 Reaper drones. Six U.S. ships, including a carrier strike group, and six Israeli ships will also participate.

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snoopydawg's picture

@humphrey

Funny how the world looks the other way for Israel. Oh well I did. My 2 followers will appreciate it. Smile

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5 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg

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@humphrey

would probably fall under the US/Israel umbrella
would it not make more sense to speak of peace?
Perhaps that is another disallowed term in the MSM
thought box.

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6 users have voted.

this was an easy call

A rise in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem is feared following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to make it easier for Israelis to acquire firearms.

On Saturday, Netanyahu said he would expedite gun permits for Israeli citizens and to step up efforts to collect “illegal weapons”.

His office also promised new steps to “strengthen” illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
...
“You have the minister of national security who has made it very clear that he believes in killing Palestinians, you have a minister of finance who has made it clear that [Palestinians] are here only temporarily,” Haifa-based analyst Diana Buttu told Al Jazeera.

“And you also have a prime minister who’s making it clear that people should be armed and they’re going to do nothing to stop the killing of Palestinians. You can see the recipe is that more and more Palestinians are going to be killed.”

According to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry, more than 200 Palestinians were killed in 2022. The United Nations said it was the deadliest year for Palestinians in 16 years.
...
“In none of those instances [of killed Palestinians] – not one – was there an investigation opened that led to charges, not even in Shireen’s case, probably the most investigated murder we’ve ever seen,” Buttu said, adding that in more than 90 percent of attacks that settlers perpetrate against Palestinians, “the police does nothing, the army does nothing, they just close off the file, there are no charges that are laid”

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@gjohnsit

to kill, jail and persecute their neighbors?
steal their land, bomb their mosques ..
sure, the US is down with it cause of ?
personally, I have nothing against jews
as, I assume most of the citizens of the world
have nothing against ma and pa in hookalatchee
or their children, cousins, aunts and uncles
and neighbors. What gives these extremist racists
power over Arabs? Is it Islam that bothers these killers?
Their christian belief system is a sorry excuse for murder.

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@gjohnsit @gjohnsit @gjohnsit than even the horrifying new gun rules are.

For example----collective punishment is usual. If an Arab commits an offense in Israel or in Jenin refugee camp near Hebron,for that matter, any place, then the Israeli government can blow up the family residence. Hard to believe, but true.

The family is given time to evacuate, the house is surrounded by Israeli police and down comes the family home.

Similarly, for any reason, or no reason, all the lights and power can be turned off in Gaza.

Israel Apartheid State has different rules for Israelis and non-Israelis.

Not just Gaza. All Israel is a prison for anybody not Jewish.

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5 users have voted.

NYCVG

and I am spending all spare time getting my tax prep ready for my bookkeeper. 'taint fair!
My best birding was Guatemala and Honduras. They were everywhere we stayed. Nobody said a thing about them in brochures, and the guides said little. The finest and most famous birding habitat in the hemisphere, in Trinidad, resulted in seeing no birds and no wildlife. Out of desperation, our guide made a big deal out of a mound of termites. Then, in Costa Rica at a renown habitat, we saw no birds, no wildlife, only ants. The guide made a big deal out of ants. And finally, Columbia. We were in a bus for almost 2 hours to get to a condor habitat. No condors in sight. One tourist and I gave up on the hike, sat in the lodge, drinking beer. When everyone returned to tell us they saw nothing, we gave each other a toast. They were exhausted, we were buzzed!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

My Dear One and I recently went to Galveston, with it in mind to devote a day or day and a half to birding and wildlife viewing. Of course, that was the long weekend of extremely high winds, near freezing weather, and days we stayed indoors, taking naps.
A tip: Go birding without me.
I traveled to 3 countries in search of a sloth, finally saw one on the third try. Costa Rico. Same guide who raved on about the ants.

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2 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981