Results tagged “Mexico” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Biologist Lincoln Brower of Virginia's Sweet Briar University has been studying monarch butterflies and their astonishing annual migration to the central Mexican highlands for 45 years. He helped us square away the facts in Melina Bellow's feature on the monarchs, "In Search of Magic," in our November/December issue. We caught up with him to find out more about his work and gather some suggestions for traveling to Mexico to witness the magic yourself.Why do the monarchs make this journey?

Monarchs are similar in their migratory behavior to many songbirds that invade our temperate zone in the summer, but cannot survive during the winter and so they migrate back into their tropical habitats in the fall. In the U.S. and Canada, milkweeds and nectar sources become superabundant in the spring and summer but completely freeze back in the winter. The big difference between birds and monarchs is that the monarchs return to Mexico, to the same trees in successive winters although they themselves have never been there before. They are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the monarchs that were there the previous year. The entire migration is an inherited behavior pattern and we are just beginning to understand this incredible behavior.

What are some of the most interesting aspects of the migration you've discovered?

We have shown how critical the intact oyamel fir canopy is in providing a very tight microclimate that allows the monarchs to avoid freezing during winter storms. The fir trees serves both as a blanket and umbrella for the monarchs.

Our November/December issue is on its way to a newsstand or mailbox near you - and features our sixth annual Destinations Rated Survey. Conducted by the National Geographic Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations, this year's survey looked at how tourism is impacting some of the iconic places we first surveyed in 2003 and rated in 2004, with several new places added to the mix.

Topping the list this year was the "vigorously protected" Fjords region in Norway, followed by the "awe-inspiring" Kootenay/Yoho National Parks in British Columbia and the "authentic Francophone" villages of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec. And pulling up the rear, garnering strong concern from our panel of tourism management experts, was the "cruise ship hell" of Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas, the war-torn and "intimidating" status of Bethlehem in the West Bank, and Spain's Costa del Sol region, which one panelist called a "textbook example of tourism run amok." See all the results from this year's survey, and more comments from the panelists online.

Elsewhere in the issue, you'll find Jim Conaway's pitch-perfect piece on Portland, Oregon, and Andrew Evans' On Foot walking guide to Valpariso, Chile, which he reported for us while filming the pilot for "Confessions of a Travel Writer." Melina Bellows heads to the boreal forests of Central Mexico "In Search of Magic" (hint: it involves butterflies), and Raphael Kadushin brings us tidings of good cheer from Copenhagen, Denmark's eco-aware capital city, which is hosting the U.N. Climate Change Conference this December.

Want more? Visit our online table of contents for more maps, photo galleries, and World Wise quizzes from the issue.

Irony was not lost on Elizabeth Seward when she climbed into a Hummer to take an eco-tour through the Mexican outback. But the rugged terrain in Baja Sur, while being tough to navigate, offers hidden delights. 

Baja California Sur swells with tourism, despite the drug cartel wars intimidating those watching the news everywhere--or at least in the U.S. The state's pristine beaches draw in vacationers from around the globe. They're hooked on the teal waters, dolphin-gazing, rocky landscape, and perfect weather. But I never hear anyone talk about the Baja Sur outback.

The outback is in Australia right? Well, not if the trip I recently took, on the southern stretch of Mexico's peninsula, is any point of reference. I was invited to embark on one of the most ironic adventures I've experienced so far: a drive through the Mexican outback to the organic farm Rancho La Verdad... via Hummer. At 60 gallons of fuel wasted every 20 miles or so, I couldn't quite grasp the concept of taking a Hummer as an eco-enlightening adventure. But with my interest piqued, I slathered on my 70 proof sunblock for the day and did something I never suspected I'd do in Baja Sur--I turned away from the crystal blue waters and drove off into the desert mountains. I quickly learned that the sun beats down so abrasively on the terrain that the area's only 'river' reminds me of a dried up creek that ran, or tried to run, behind my house in Ohio growing up.

The hawks sound like pre-climatic death-whistles in a western movie in this area of Baja Sur. And as analogies would have it, the area I explored with the company, Baja Outback, was, in fact, the set for the movie, Troy.  If you've seen the film you can be assured that not much was altered from what is an everyday reality for the few daring to live in this seemingly post-apocalyptic graveyard. Coyotes hang dead from already dying trees--a kill and show tactic embraced by local farmers desperate to drive the culprits away from their prized livestock. But beneath the dried and aging shell of the Baja Sur outback, life flourishes--secretly.

One of the best travel souvenirs to bring home is being able to recreate the dishes you ate on the road. Freda Moon offers a quick guide to some local, authentic cooking courses in the two places where she divides her time, Mexico City and northern California.

It was in Oaxaca City, the capital of one of the poorest and most politically turbulent states in Mexico, that I first fully understood the lengths to which people go for an incredible meal.

Inside the city's cavernous central market air is thick with the smokey, chocolatey, chile-scented flavors for which this southern Mexican state is famous. The market's dimly lit interior, overflowing with vendors, buyers and hungry hordes of European tourists, is as daunting as it is thrilling. To eat one's way through the market's many food stalls--sweet rolls dipped in savory hot chocolate for breakfast; spiced dried grasshoppers at snack time; rich, earthy mole or fire-grilled carne asada for lunch--is an act of choreographed culinary devotion. There's never enough time to taste everything, but a true believer does his or her best.

On the streets and among the stalls of this small but bustling city, I encountered people who'd come from around the world to eat and, to my surprise, to learn to cook the cuisine that Mexican food expert Susana Trilling calls Oaxaca's "native foods."

Throughout the town I noticed that restaurants, shops and hotels catered to travelers--not food television celebrities, but middle-class foodies--who came eager to learn how to cook regional specialties. One such place, Trilling's Seasons of My Heart Cooking School, has established itself as an international destination. The school is outside of town (it sits between two small villages in the hills above Oaxaca's Etla Valley)

Upon returning to my native northern California, I started to see similar small-scale, regional and specialty cooking schools at every turn.

If you're thinking of heading south of the border this summer to take advantage of low fares to Mexico, consider the upcoming Whale Shark Festival on Isla Mujeres, in the state of Quintana Roo on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The festival runs this July 15th through the 19th.
           
The festival is billed as an ecotourism, family-friendly event featuring local cuisine, traditional dance, authentic artisanal goods for sale and, last but certainly not least, a chance to swim with migrating whale sharks in the Caribbean.
           
A little background before you take the plunge: The endangered whale shark is not a whale but a shark, despite its contradictory name. Its name stems from its massive size (up to 29,982 pounds and 40 feet in length) and because it eats krill, algae, plankton, and other tiny sea creatures. Whale sharks are filter feeders and have been known to be playful with human divers, though their tails can be a bit dangerous.

We checked in with Eyder Jahil Hoth Pérez, Director of Tourism, Isla Mujeres, Mexico, to learn more about the festival.

Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted its ban on nonessential travel to Mexico on May 15th, I've been wondering how the H1N1 flu virus, aka swine flu, has affected tourism to Mexico and how the country is poised to recover from the hysteria.

The World Health Organization estimated that 23,000 individuals in Mexico were infected with the virus during its peak in late April. During that time and in the past few weeks, travel bookings to Mexico fell some 80 percent. The Cancun Hotel Association reports a loss of some $2.4 million in tourism revenue. Cruise ships canceled 64 port calls that would have brought 134,000 tourists to Mexico. Some hotels temporarily closed down. The flu certainly had a devastating effect, in many ways still not completely quantified, on Mexico's bottom line as tourism is the country's third largest source of legal foreign income (some 0.3 percent of its GDP).

To bounce back, the Mexican Tourism Board has launched a $90 million recovery plan to boost tourism and many hotels throughout the country are offering deals; two-for-one offers, discounts of up to 70 percent, extras like yoga classes, additional nights, nature treks, and a slew of add-ons. President Calderón says he'll invite international celebrities, including Plácido Domingo and golfer Lorena Ochoa, to visit Mexico to elevate its image as a safe and healthy travel destination. Many hotels and resorts are redoubling their cleaning efforts, installing hand sanitizer dispensers, and offering travelers refunds in the unlikely case they would fall ill after their visit.

In the New York Times, Michelle Higgins details some of the deals now available in Mexico. High-end hotel consortium Mexico Boutique Hotels is also offering many deals at it member properties. Specials are available in Cancún, the Riviera Maya, Los Cabos, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, and just about everywhere in between.

Is it now time to rally around Mexico as we overcome what some have called an "epidemic of fear" to help save our neighbor from a tourism crisis? Or, do you feel that snatching up today's prevalent deals is somehow taking advantage of the situation?

Photo: Cabo San Lucas, by Janelle Nanos

Traveler and Photo District News are currently hosting our annual World in Focus Photo Contest, and this year we're letting readers preview the submissions and vote on their favorites. Each week, we'll feature ten entries on the Traveler website. Here's one of of the featured shots:

This shot was taken of the hillsides of the central Mexican city of Guanajuato, by Dennis J. Butera. Guanajuato is a UNESCO World Heritage city, and was one of the first sites in Mexico to be colonized by the Spanish. Submit your photos now and get the chance to win great prizes, gear, and trips.  

Though few travelers will venture to Mexico to mark Cinco de Mayo (the fifth of May) this year due to swine flu fears, we'd like to acknowledge the holiday, figure out what it's really about, and mention some Cinco de Mayo celebrations that are still going on in the U.S.

Cinco de Mayo is not the commemoration of Mexican independence; that's actually September 16, 1810. May 5, 1862, is the day the Mexican army temporarily defeated French forces at the colonial town of Puebla in east-central Mexico. The French were invading in a bid to recoup the money Mexico owed them as a result of funding Mexico's 1846 war with the U.S.

In Mexico today, Cinco de Mayo is primarily a regional holiday marked in Puebla, though some re-enactments of the battle, period costumes and all, take place in Mexico City as well. In the U.S., some see Cinco de Mayo as the Mexican, or, more accurately, Chicano St. Patrick's Day. While Irish Americans celebrate St. Patrick, German Americans have their Oktoberfest, and Chinese Americans have Chinese New Year, Chicanos and Latinos from other countries see Cinco de Mayo as a celebration of Latino resilience and pride. Cinco de Mayo is not just a day of festivities for Latinos but for all Americans interested in the history of Mexico, Mexican culture and identity in the U.S., good food and drink, mariachi music, and folk dances.

Chicano students first celebrated the holiday in 1967 at Cal State University. Since the 1980s, Cinco de Mayo has been increasingly commercialized and become less about pride and self-determination and more about drinking Mexican beer.

Cities across the U.S. host public Cinco de Mayo celebrations though some have been canceled due to the swine flu this year. Festivities in St. Paul, Los Angeles, New York City, and Portland are still on.

If your city's celebration is canceled, perhaps have a little fun of your own. Mix up margaritas for the adults and get the kids involved in crafts and cooking enchiladas, mole poblano, and other traditional Mexican dishes to mark this very American Mexican holiday.

How will you celebrate Cinco de Mayo this year?

Photo: gilsonrome via the Intelligent Travel Flickr pool

Unless you're under a rock, you've probably heard about the threat of swine flu. This disturbing news prompts the questions: What is swine flu and how is it affecting travel?

What is swine flu?

The swine flu, known as gripe porcina in Spanish, is a new virus comprised of pieces of viruses that infect swine, humans, and birds. At this point, it seems to be susceptible to the anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza though health officials fear it may link up with the seasonal H1-N1 flu that is resistant to such treatments. Despite its name, you need not come in direct contact with pigs to get this flu. The World Health Organization (WHO) says you can't get this flu by eating pork. It is transmitted like any other flu, through direct physical contact, dirty doorknobs and keyboards, uncovered coughs, etc.

At this point, the best way to keep yourself from getting the virus is what your mother repeatedly told you: Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly with soap and water or use hand sanitizer (of at least 60 percent alcohol); cover your cough; avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes; get enough sleep, and eat well.

How is it affecting travel?

As of today, swine flu has caused 152 deaths in Mexico and 1,600 people are infected with the respiratory illness in 19 of the 32 Mexican states. In the U.S., 64 cases have been confirmed in New York, Ohio, Kansas, Texas, and California. Two cases have been reported in the province of Valencia, Spain, and one in Israel. Japanese immigration officials aren't granting entry visas to travelers arriving from Mexico and they're quarantining anyone arriving from the U.S. and Canada. The WHO has classified this as a Level 4 pandemic but has not recommended any official travel bans or the shutting of specific borders.

Additionally, many Asian countries are taking a hard line on the outbreak: Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore are using thermal scanners to check passengers arriving from North America for fever. China is requiring anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms within two weeks of arrival to report to the authorities. Russia says passengers arriving from North America who are running a fever can be quarantined until the cause is determined.

Photographer: Luigi Guarino, Italy

Getting the Shot: "This photo was taken in Merida, Mexico, which is located on the Yucatan peninsula."

The Details: "I liked the colorfully dressed people walking past the pastel-colored building."

We Love: How somehow, the iconic Beatles Abbey Road cover seems translated into a Mexican setting.

Want your own image featured on the blog? Add your photos to our online Flickr pool.

Friend of IT and World Hum contributor Jerry V. Haines has been chowing down on cheap eats in Morelia, Mexico, where butterfly madness is going strong, and wrote about it in his CasualEats column for the TravelBeat network. He picked Morelia because it's a college town and he figured that students know how to eat cheaply, but he wasn't expecting hordes of other visitors:

Talk about your winter tourist influx! Each year 150 million monarch butterflies set off from the American North for warmer quarters in the Sierra Madre mountains east of Morelia. Like so much in life, it's all about sex. Flying as much as 3,000 miles for their session of "Monarchs Gone Wild" they mate, then the males die with little chance to brag about it. The females return to the States to lay their eggs, then they die, too. Their delicate lives are made even more precarious by the risks of bad weather (freezing rain can kill them off by the millions), predatory birds that have learned to eat around their poisonous parts, and illegal logging of their preferred habitat, a species of fir tree called oyamel.

Haines gives the scoop on the local culinary treat favored by Morelian university students, gaspacho with an "s", which is probably not what you think:

The Morelian version consists of chopped pineapple and jicama, crumbled cheese, two kinds of peppers, salt, and lime and orange juice. Other fruits can be substituted as they come into season.

Served in a cup with a straw and a spoon, Morelian gaspacho sounds like a refreshingly drinkable salad, convenient whether you're running off to class or watching monarchs mate.  Thanks Jerry!

Jim Conaway's feature in this month's issue, "Is Baja on the Block?" looks at how the spread of tourism and development is threatening the integrity of Baja California in Mexico. Here, he introduces some of the people trying to help sustain the marine heritage of the region.

Peter Patterson looks more like an American teenager in designer sunglasses and a blue Coastkeeper T-shirt than a 27-year-old Mexican biology student holding a battery-powered device for measuring the temperature, oxygen content, and salinity of water. A wire dangles from it into the Bay of La Paz. Until recently, the view to the west was of blue water and, far away, dry and dusky mountains floating in a haze of heat and ambient yellow light.

Now the long sandy expanse in the foreground, with its necklace of green mangroves, supports the skeletal gray ramparts of a hotel and condos rising in the literal middle of nowhere, another baleful mirage in a desert seascape. This one has no drinking water, sewage treatment, or a direct link to the city. And strollers along La Paz's waterfront malecon, if they want to watch the sun set, must also look at a development on what was recently a federally protected beach and wetland.