Lions Club trips
January 30, 2009 San Miguel de Allende

On Wednesday, February 4, the International Lions Club sponsors a one-day shopping trip to León, the shoe capital of the world. A first class bus leaves from St. Paul’s Church, Cardo 6, at 9am, and stops at two León outlets. The afternoon allows more time to shop for shoes, purses, leather bags, leather jackets and boots.

The 400-peso cost includes round-trip transportation and a donation to the Lions Club, which gives glasses to the needy and does diabetes testing at Correo 63 on Thursday mornings. For more information and reservations, call Janice Page at 152-5541.

A three-day trip to Xilitla and the Sierra Gorda Missions departs Wednesday, February 25, and returns Friday, February 27, on an air-conditioned bus with bathroom facilities. The first stop will be in Jalpan to view the beautifully restored mission church and visit a museum there.

The next morning the bus heads for Xilitla and Las Pozas, the Edward James gardens full of concrete buildings, bridges and spiral stairways leading nowhere.

The Friday return trip stops in Bernal for shopping. The Lions supply nibbles for two bring-your-own-bottle cocktail parties. The cost is 1,700 pesos per person (double) and 2,130 pesos (single). Reservations and deposit by February 11; call Jean Schickel in the mornings at 152-0934 for information.

Travel News You Can Use
By Judy Newell

Mexico Travel News

Mexico City’s multi-colored taxis

The 3,000 large, ample and expensive taxis that operate out of most hotels will be painted either black or gray starting in June and required to carry identification painted on the vehicles. All supposedly are licensed, and many hotels post signs near their entrances stating that hailing a taxi on the street can be risky.

All street taxis must now be painted red and gold in an official city design. Gone are the green Volkswagen beetles (Volchos) that had become something of a Mexico City trademark. Ordering distinctive colors for taxis is a general practice when a new municipal administration takes office. 

At the Mexico City airport, new taxi cooperatives have been authorized to operate, causing a storm of protest from the one group that had a monopoly on airport service. Airport taxis charge nearly twice what ordinary city cabs charge, but city cabs are not allowed to pick up passengers in the airport area. 

Whale Shark Festival in Isla Mujeres 

A five-day community extravaganza that showcases the achievements, traditions and environmental splendor of Isla Mujeres will be held July 1–5 in Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo. The family-friendly Whale Shark Festival will showcase time-honored dances, local cuisine, nearby businesses and works from local artisans. Guests can participate in some of the water activities that have made Isla Mujeres a favorite vacation spot: sport fishing, diving and snorkeling tours of the pristine reefs and, of course, swimming with whale sharks, the largest fish in the world and an endangered species. 

Promotion budget announced 

The Mexican Tourism Promotion Council, a government entity, has confirmed that it will invest 675 million pesos (about US$50 million) promoting Mexico this year. Of the total amount, 59 percent will be spent promoting Mexico abroad, the rest to encourage Mexicans themselves to vacation in Mexico. Where possible, the council will participate in cooperative projects, splitting costs with localities, hotel chains or airlines.

Prices for air tickets fall

Following the example of department stores in January, Mexico’s airlines have been reducing prices by about 50 percent on most domestic routes. In some cases, international fliers benefit as well. Aeromexico, which plans to inaugurate service to Denver and San Francisco next month, is advertising two tickets for the price of one. 

Hurt by the decline in the number of people flying and by the demise of three smaller airlines, companies operating many of the country’s airports are suffering as well. Brokers are classifying airport companies’ stocks as either “sell” or “do not buy.” In spite of this, the government is expected to open bidding on the construction of a Maya Riviera airport within the next few weeks. 

Pyramids project almost suspended 

The National Anthropology Institute has ordered a suspension of work to install equipment for a light and sound show at Teotihuacan, locale of the famous pyramids north of Mexico City. The institute declared the work was damaging the archaeological site. However, according to at least one newspaper, work continues. 

Teotihuacan may have been the largest city in the world 1,500 years ago. Apparently, invaders destroyed it a thousand years before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores. The ruins, which the Aztecs regarded as the City of the Gods, are a leading tourism attraction in Mexico City. The light-and-sound show was designed to attract even more visitors. State officials apparently intend to continue with the project, challenging federal authorities to stop them.

Oaxaca touted as cheap 

Trip Advisor, an online travel guide, lists Oaxaca as one of the world’s 10 great travel bargains this year. Oaxaca is the only Mexican destination among the top 10, which also mentions Maine, Nova Scotia and Warsaw. 

Stately, elegant and steeped in indigenous culture, Oaxaca long has been a favorite with travelers seeking something more than sunshine and sea. Cuisine and nearby archaeological attractions, as well as art, are among its enticements. On the negative side, Oaxaca has suffered from civil unrest and protests that at times have closed the center of the city, highways leading out of the city and the local airport.

Hampton Inn opens in Mexico City’s historic center

Hampton Hotels, an international brand of more than 1,600 mid-priced hotels, announced the grand opening of the Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Mexico City/Centro Histórico. The 108-room property is located in a historic building known as “Casa San Agustin,” a registered historic building in Mexico. 

Located at calle 5 de Febrero, the 108-room property features a six-story atrium with stained glass ceiling and a rooftop patio overlooking Centro Histórico. The hotel also offers fitness center, business center, kids’ club and meeting rooms. The hotel is minutes from the Benito Juárez International Airport as well as downtown Mexico City. 

Groundbreaking on Gary Player signature course

The Costa Baja Resort & Marina announced January 27 as the date for the official groundbreaking of the Gary Player Signature Golf Course, his first course in Mexico. Costa Baja Resort & Marina is a 550-acre resort community situated on the Sea of Cortéz just north of La Paz, the capital of Baja Sur. The Gary Player-designed course, a 6,800-yard par 72, commences construction in January and is scheduled to open for full play in summer of 2010. The golf course will be laid out over the coastal desert and offer views of the Sea of Cortez. 



International News 

London bringing back red double-decker buses

London was the only world capital with an iconic bus, the royal red Routemaster, a double-decker, hop-on, hop-off, totally British bus that for more than four decades transported riders on routes all over town. The bus wasn’t glamorous, but it was as memorable as Big Ben.

Yet in 2005, authorities replaced the classic Routemasters with “bendy” buses that could carry more people and were safer because they no longer allowed a hop-on, hop-off system (which also required a conductor to check tickets, an additional cost). But the replacement bus has been a bust. And the city’s recently elected mayor has been trying to fulfill his campaign pledge to bring the Routemasters back.

A new bus design has been cooked up by Aston Martin (maker of James Bond’s favorite sports car). This design brings back the hop-on, hop-off model, while adding wheelchair accessibility, something the old buses lacked. 

The new bus is also “greener.” It has solar panels built into a glass roof and an energy-efficient engine and interior heating system. It is doubtful the solar panels will see much sun in London, but co-designer Aston Martin insists that the buses will prove their environmental friendliness. 

The cost of producing the new buses is not certain, but the mayor insists they will be on city streets by 2011.

Disney submits plan for new Shanghai theme park

Walt Disney Company plans to submit a proposal to Shanghai city officials and the Chinese government to build a theme park in Shanghai. It will be the second Disney resort in China; the first is in Hong Kong. 

Disney intends to build a large theme park, hotel complex and shopping development in the Pudong district in the southern suburbs of Shanghai. The project must be approved by China’s central government in order for it to move forward. The park is expected to cost US$3.59 billion and would occupy roughly 371 acres. 

New online visa travel rules to US take effect

New rules went into effect January 12 requiring people traveling to the US under the visa waiver program to register online in advance, instead of filling out paper forms in flight or at the airport.

The new program, designed to improve US security, has been voluntary since August but now becomes mandatory. Travelers are being asked to fill out the forms at least 72 hours in advance of travel.

The rules cover the citizens of 35 countries—from nations in Europe and Asia to Australia and New Zealand—who are not required to have a visa to enter the US.

Derwood Staeben, US consul general in London, said nearly all applications would be approved in less than 10 seconds. He said travelers would not be required to give any more information than is already requested on the paper immigration forms that are being replaced.

Travelers filling out the online form will be told whether their request is authorized, denied or pending. Those with pending authorization must check back in 72 hours to see whether they have been approved. People whose applications are denied must apply to the US Consulate for a visa.

The US Congress mandated the change. The US Homeland Security Department warned that travelers without authorization do risk being delayed or denied entry to the US. There is no fee for the service and the travel authorization is valid for two years. People can apply for travel authorization at any time and about 14,000 applications per day are being received.



Cruise News

Cunard transatlantic crossings to feature authors

Cunard will feature a host of noted authors on transatlantic crossings aboard Queen Mary 2 from April through September. 

The authors scheduled to sail are Kathryn Harrison, who has published six novels and reviews for the New York Times Book Review, April 20; Oscar Hijuelos, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, May 8; Rita Dove, a poet and Pulitzer Prize winner, May 25; E. L. Doctorow, author of The Book of Daniel and Ragtime, May 31; Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying, June 13; Susan Cheever, daughter of John Cheever and author of numerous books, June 25; Amy Bloom, author of Away and Love Invents Us, July 6; Brad Gooch, author of Zombie 00, Billy Idol and Scary Kisses, July 30; and John Guare, author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation and Landscape of the Body, September 8.

In 2009, Queen Mary 2 marks its fifth year of service with an extended transatlantic season, including more than 20 six-day voyages between New York and Southampton, two voyages between New York and Hamburg and two voyages between Boston and Southampton. 



Sources: Mexico Tourism New, Travel Pulse Daily, Travel Agent Central, Budget Travel, Associated Press 

Judy Newell heads the travel company Perfect Journeys, which specializes in discounted rates for airfare, hotels, tours and cruises worldwide, as well as luxury and adventure travel. Contact her with comments or suggestions at JudyNewell_03@msn.com  or go to her website www.PerfectJourneys.net.  
 

Global Justice sponsors trip to El Moral
By Dr. Betsy Bowman

Trip: Hacienda La Trinidad in El Moral
Sat, Feb 7, 9am–4pm
Center for Global Justice
Calzada de la Luz 42
Reserve: 150-0025
300 pesos 

No visit to San Miguel is complete without a visit to a rural community. This winter, the Center for Global Justice will return to the women’s sewing cooperative in El Moral, to the organic tomato cooperative in Peñon de los Baños and to the local development center CEDESA in Dolores Hidalgo. For visitors from last year, there are many new accomplishments to see. For new visitors, this is an opportunity to see Mexicans triumph in their struggle to survive and the new business opportunities they have created for themselves and their relatives returning from the US.

At Hacienda La Trinidad in El Moral, Angelina Soto is the dynamo behind the women’s sewing coop. The sparkle in her eye belies the struggles and challenges she has surmounted since its inception in 1999. Starting with 27 members and lots of hope and determination, Angelina worked tirelessly to find small government grants to get the concrete blocks to build the workshop and the sewing machines, fabric and training. She travelled to Guanajuato and Mexico City to pound on government office doors. Some members, discouraged by working without pay to get the business off the ground, left the coop. Others left under pressure from their husbands, who did not want them to work outside of the home.

Today, she and the coop’s seven members are positively bubbling with hope and excitement. The coop has many orders from businesses and retail outlets. Throughout the fall, the coop made school uniforms and fall/winter clothes that they market in surrounding rural communities. But the best change for Angelina and her cooperators is that now they have a small, old SUV to drive to neighboring villages to market their wares instead of taking the bus. Over the last two years, the Center for Global Justice has raised small amounts of money to help them buy a vehicle. Its Fund for Community Support, a small, revolving loan fund, also loaned them US$850 to complement the donations for the vehicle. Carrying 50 kilos of clothes three kilometers on cobblestone streets to catch the public bus was just too exhausting for the members of the coop, virtually all of whom are women. They have learned to drive! And today they face new challenges.

Their success brings problems. More business means more bookkeeping—a skill that in practice is rather rudimentary in rural areas. The Center is looking for a volunteer to help them with bookkeepping. They also have several new designs but not enough time and woman-power to organize the production of clothes that are not already ordered.

Join us Feb. 7 for a visit and lunch of the best mole con pollo that I have ever eaten.

Call the office at 150-0025 or come by Calzada de la Luz 42 to reserve your place. The cost of the trip includes transportation, translation, comida and guides. We leave the Center around 9:15am and return by 4pm. Please arrive at 9am.

Dr. Betsy Bowman is a research associate at the Center for Global Justice.