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Media Contact: Nicola Inwood or Michele Kinnon
marketing@tasteofplaya.com
www.tasteofplaya.com
011 52 1 984 125 5608

taste of playa event September 5th, 2009

You will NOT regret stopping by the Taste of Playa! Come down to the Parque Fundedores- this is the park next to the ferry to Cozumel. (5th Ave and Juarez). Tomorrow it is open to the public from 3-9pm. VIP passport holders are welcomed at 2pm.
Entrance is free and you may buy playa pesos (tickets for tastes) or if quantity allows, VIP passes for 400 pesos each.
To see a full list of participating restaurants and food retailers, go to www.tasteofplaya.com

This will be an annual event. If you wish t be notified about the date for next years event, please let us know here at www.travelrm.com

Come and Enjoy!
Sherry

Helping Cats in the Riviera Maya, Mexico

Coco’s Cat Rescue is a non profit organization with a no kill policy, dedicated to reducing and controlling the cat population in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We achieve this via our TNR (trap spay/neuter and return) program for feral cats, and our rescue, treat, spay/neuter, and tame program for kittens under 3 months. We aim to find a permanent loving home for all the rescued kittens in our care.

We are also committed to education which encourages responsible pet ownership and challenges negative associations with feral cats and consequent cruelty. We provide free or low cost spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations and basic pet care to those on a low income. Our long term mission is to expand our model to embrace other local areas, as well as to extend our current program and enlarge our facilities to be able to shelter, foster and find homes for kittens older than three months and cats of all ages.

See their website! www.cocoscatrescue.org

The owners of this shop work closely with the cultural branches of the government whose sole purpose is to preserve the tradition and cultural heritage of the vast array of indigenous communities that exist in Mexico. So by supporting this particular shop you are helping to preserve the welfare of these artisans and their trade. They are open every day from 9 am to 9 pm.
Check out their website: http://www.akumalart.com/

-Sherry Stevens

After finishing a 4 day clinic in Playa del Carmen, they broke down the clinic and moved it to a school in Puerto Morelos and completed a 2 day clinic there as well, Aug 13 &14, 2007.

The total number of animals sterilized and treated (Includes cats and dogs, male and female).
Playa del Carmen in 4 days: 201
Puerto Morelos in 2 days: 97

Here are some photos to take you through some of a day of the Playa del Carmen VIDAS clinic.

After advertising the clinic weeks prior in local papers, radio and fliers around town… people start showing up for the free clinic in the morning at 8 AM.

First, we check them in with owner and pet information. Then they wait their turn for general exams.

Volunteers have plenty of time to meet and greet all the friendly customers. This is the best part!

Next, they get the pre-med ready for each individual animal in the surgery room.

This is US VET Meghann Burgland, she is in charge of everything that goes on with the medication doses and the flow of the surgery room. She is basically the backbone of the surgery room. Keep in mind they averaged 50 surgeries a day!

In one of the classrooms of the primary school they have their surgery room with 4 operating tables made especially for animals, other stations for sterilizing equipment etc.
Dr. Erica Periman beginning a surgery.

At 1:00 or so everyday, one of the Visiting Vet Students that is fluent in Spanish, taught classes to the local children.

Teaching them basic animal care and safety.

They LOVE it! 

Kids having a ball with Vidas Volunteer Teacher, Nolan Zeide. He is a vet student at Purdue University.

Showing off their work!

This is the recovery room where all patients go after surgery to recover and wake up. 

Volunteer, Deborah Payne checks a sweet Playa puppy for ticks.

We make comfy soft places to lay them and while they are still sleepy, we do a lot of extra care such as, cleaning ears, picking ticks, and a lot of TLC.

Any animals in need of parasite control or have skin conditions are treated at the clinic.

 Volunteer, Diane Patterson from Michigan takes care of a tiny black kitten in the recovery room.

After waking up and going through the recovery process, it is time to go home. The owners are told when they could return for their pet according to when they were dropped off. Some pet owners stay and wait the whole day and even help in the recovery room.

 ”Mom, I am ready to go home!”

It was a prefect success. Our community is grateful to VIDAS organization and volunteer crew. All of the visiting crew comes from the US or Canada, paying their own way and use their vacation time to come to this area and volunteer their skills!!!!- We love them for this!

During the clinic we have many locals and local businesses that have donated housing, meals, transportation assitance and hands on help. The Blue Parrot donated wonderful lunches for all the crew and volunteers, as well as, a thank you party at the end of the clinic. Mexico Escape donated two beautiful properties, as well as, an individual, Judith York Newman donated her condo for the visiting crew.

Vidas provides new collars and leashes to any animals in need! These dogs came with electrical cords as leads. (on the black dog in this photo you can even see the plug around his neck). If you have interest in getting involved with VIDAS or helping the animals please check out http://www.vidas.org/ or go to our local animal charity page.
I want to give my gratitude for the locals and visting volunteers that helped make this clinic work!
Thank you to Dr. Sandra Valdez, Dr. Claudia Lewy Sanchez, Dr. Diego Queijeiro G, Glenda Gabriel, Brenda Lee Carson, Deborah Ritchie, Libby and John Bekas, Paula Tunstall, Madi Collins, Deborah Payne, Marilyn Wall, Dale Cabauatan, Diane and Richard Patterson, Leslie Clark, Claire, Judith York Newman, Jan and Larry Hoffman and Pam and Tom of the Blue Parrot and their lovely staff – Sherry Stevens

Please see the below article published by BBC NEWS earlier today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6955163.stm

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6955163.stm

Published: 2007/08/21 12:25:08 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Hurricane Dean hits Mexico coast
The storm is expected to cause widespread flooding
Dean hits Mexico 
Hurricane Dean has struck Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula near the border with Belize, bringing driving winds and lashing rain.
Cancun and other tourist resorts were spared a direct hit as the storm came ashore at 0330 (0830 GMT) about 40 miles (65km) north-east of Chetumal.

The storm has weakened to Category Three, with winds of 125mph (205km/h) as it crosses land.

It could strengthen when it hits sea again after crossing the Yucatan.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Florida said the eye of the storm had made landfall near the town of Majahual.

At 1200 GMT the centre of the storm had moved inland about 40 miles (65km) north-west of Chetumal, travelling west at about 20mph (62km/h).

‘Windows shattered’

Last-minute evacuations took place along the coast as Dean was expected to bring a heavy flood surge.
The NHC said the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize as well as Guatemala and northern Honduras could expect heavy rainfall which could cause flash floods and landslides.

Tens of thousands of tourists have been evacuated from resorts in the Yucatan but many others are still there, huddling in shelters.

The resorts have been boarded up and offshore oil facilities are closed but there is concern for residents of poor communities living in flimsy homes.

Andrea Montalvo, of the US-based Spanish-language Telemundo television network, said the storm was wreaking havoc in the Mexican city of Chetumal.

“Inside the hotel it is really bad, every 10 or 15 minutes you can hear windows shattering and people are coming out of their rooms in panic,” she said.
 
City officials said there were power outages as the wind knocked over trees and sent debris flying through the air.

Ernesto Calzada from Quintana Roo radio and TV told the BBC: “I looked out of my office window and saw an enormous tree close by topple over.”

Further south, in Belize City, officials closed the hospitals and urged people to head inland, saying the town’s shelters were not strong enough to withstand the hurricane.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who is attending a trade summit in Canada, said that he would leave on Tuesday after a meeting with his US and Canadian counterparts.

Looting fears

The hurricane has already claimed at least 11 lives in the eastern Caribbean, but largely spared the low-lying Cayman Islands on Monday.
Cancun and other popular Mexican resorts are escaping a “direct hit” but that has not stopped around two-thirds of Cancun’s tourists leaving the area.

Some holidaymakers camped overnight at Cancun’s airport to find a flight while others were turned away.

Police officers have been deployed to prevent looting while residents boarded up their homes ahead of the storm.

Mexico’s state-oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, has evacuated its workers and shut down production on the offshore rigs.

The hurricane is moving steadily west over the Yucatan and may regain strength when it hits sea again over the Bay of Campeche on Tuesday night, the NHC said.
It is due to hit Mexico’s coast for a second time near Tampico in the state of Veracruz.

Dean is expected to be less damaging than the Category Five Hurricane Wilma in 2005, which lingered over the Yucatan for a day, killing 10 people and wrecking large areas of Cancun.

Category Five storms are rare – only three have hit the US since record-keeping began.

In the US, the return of the space shuttle Endeavour was brought forward by a day, to Tuesday, in an attempt to beat the hurricane should it eventually reach Texas, where Nasa’s mission control is based.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6955163.stm

Published: 2007/08/21 12:25:08 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Along The Riviera Maya coast, we are preparing with boarding up windows, gathering water and non perishable foods, candles etc. It is routine for us living in this area and it is not difficult to prepare. It is always possible to change course but at this moment it appears that it could reach land on the Yucatan Peninsula Monday sometime. If you are traveling to this area in the next few weeks or so, please check the above website and watch the storm. Our community seems to get things back in order pretty rapidly even if we get hit by a hurricane so don’t assume your vacation plans are ruined. I will be posting what it looks like on our end as soon as possible. – Sherry

Here is what he had to say…

“Here are some tips that worked for us.

1. Love the A/C – sprinkle in some cool down spots with A/C, cold drinks… and ice cream is always a welcome addition
2. Exploring Adventures are great, but not with kids. I used to love going down the side streets when traveling and getting a real taste of the area. No longer. It’s worth paying a little extra to remove all doubt about safety and security.
3. Instead of renting a car or taking the bus, take a taxi or a taxi van if the group is larger than 3 or 4 people.
4. The last thing that you want as a parent is to be in an unfamiliar area, unable to speak the native tongue and in an uncompromising situation (out of gas/broken down, lost, unknown neighborhood, dehydrated, overheated, etc…). Our hotel even arranged to have a taxi wait for us while we shopped and when we went to Tulum. The prices were already pre-arranged and it did not cost extra to have them wait. Just that little peace of mind was nice… Not having to worry about your ride home. And you knew that they would be there waiting because you don’t pay until you return to your hotel!
5. It seemed like the Tulum Ruins were popular with the kids. Some may not be interested, but Eliza (age 6) was enthralled, curious and hung on every word. Plus, it did not hurt that you could not spit without hitting a lizard. She was bummed that we did not get in the ocean at the end of the tour, but the water was pretty rough.
6. Always have water activities (swimming) planned at the end of the trip- whether it’s the pool or the ocean, it is very refreshing and gives the kids something to look forward to.
7. Get a good sun hat for yourself and the kids. Just getting the beating sun off of your face will help you stay outdoors longer. And it will make it more enjoyable if your kid is comfortable and not making it implicitly clear that it is time to go.
8. Take plenty of water with you when you go out, even if you’re planning on buying drinks there. Same reasons as above.
9. Put on your sunscreen in your room before you go anywhere. Many places are environmentally concerned (and rightfully so) and won’t allow you to put on sunscreen while in pristine areas. But you can’t let your kid turn into a bacon strip either, so be discreet or invest in environmentally friendly sunscreen if possible.
Our thoughts on staying in an All Inclusive Resort
We went to a brand new all inclusive resort due to having a six year old daughter. It really was great having all the meals, drinks, etc… ready and waiting at all hours. It is very nice to not have to consider where you’re going to dinner, how long it will take and whether there will be something that your child will eat or not. They can be pretty headstrong.
The negatives are that we got no real sense of the culture as the environment was anesthetized or watered down, if that makes any sense. We were wanting eat real Mexican food, but we did not get that at all in the all inclusive resort. Oh, and the shows… My God. The shows were horrific. But if you looked at it as if very bad entertainment is funny, then you might be able to stomach them. I, however, could not. But there were a lot of people who seemed to enjoy them. The people who enjoyed the resort entertainment ranged in age from maybe 40-60 (this age group is not that far off for me!).
After we returned, my wife Dawn & I discussed going the total opposite route next time and go to a very small place.

Here are the must haves, in our opinion:
Clean
Close to authentic restaurants
Close to the beach without having to cross traffic
Nice pool
It would be nice to go to a place that offers at least one meal a day so you don’t always have to go out.” – Dan Pajo

*Eliza LOVED the abundant Iguana’s and Gecko’s of Mexico. If Eliza was not satisfied with the stuffed animal lizard Grandma bought her as a souvenir, I would not be surprised if the Pajo’s have made a trip to the local pet store and had to purchase a lizard of thier own???