Welcome to all 837 subscribers of the Jaltemba Bay Life Newsletter, and many more who view it on our sponsor site, Jaltemba Bay Life, and our forum.

I was always under the impression that things quieted down during the "off season", but these past few weeks have proven that theory totally wrong -- there was a huge political rally in La Penita, the Moto Fiesta roared through Guayabitos for 4 days (literally), plus the circus was in town. I am seriously starting to wonder if this place ever really slows down?

The heat is obviously here to stay, and an extra shower or evening dip in the pool is about the only way to keep cool. The clouds have been making a presence, the crabs are starting to come out from hiding, and the majority of gardens have been cut to the ground (including ours), all of which are signs that rainy season is expected to arrive shortly.  

The next Cancer de Mama Clinic will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 3-5. This incredible 3-day clinic provides free prosthesis, funds medical expenses, and helps with after surgery, counseling, and physical therapy for Mexican women with breast cancer. For details on all upcoming events, see our 2011-12 Fundraising & Charity Events section listed below. We update it as we receive information.

To find out what else is going on in the coming weeks, read through the information below. Be sure to take a peek at our online Community Calendar for even more local happenings.     

We want to remind you that the Jaltemba Bay Life Newsletter is now being published bi-weekly. The next issue will arrive in your InBox on June 27th just in time for your morning coffee.  

Saludos! 

Editor, Jaltemba Bay Life Newsletter

We are thrilled to announce the addition of Lo de Marcos and Chacala to the Jaltemba Bay Life site. In recent issues of our newsletter, we featured La Casa de los Ni�os and Taller Mec�nico Villasana, both located in Lo de Marcos.  

Today, we'd like to unveil our newly created interactive maps of these towns. To view them, click on the links below...

Map of Lo de Marcos  

Map of Chacala 

In the upcoming issues, we will introduce you to a few more businesses and rentals in these towns (along with a surprise or two), so be sure to keep an eye on your InBox.

Since the last issue of the Jaltemba Bay Life Newsletter was published on May 30th, the Hotel & Vacation Rental section of our site has received nearly 2,000 pageviews. This is evidence that people are actively searching for the perfect place to stay next winter in the Jaltemba Bay area.

But... users cannot find your rental home, B&B, condo, apartment or RV park if your information isn't listed on our site.

If you haven't seen how the Vacation Rental portion of our site works, go to Jaltemba Bay Life and click on the "Hotels & Rentals By Owner" tabs to view listings in each rental category.  

Adding your Hotel or Vacation Rental to our directory is easy; simply fill out this form to get started. 

by Catherine Hart

(top) Ing. Aar�n Esliman Salgado and Tec. Jes�s Lucero use a model turtle to demonstrate measuring techniques. (bottom) Participants stop for a group photo. 

Summer is on the way! For most people who visit the Pacific coast of Mexico it means long days on the beach relaxing, but not for the "tortugueros" the name given to a small group of people who dedicate their time to the protection of sea turtles in Mexico. The tortugueros include biologists, students, government officials and the general public who are willing to spend the summer patrolling beaches at night (9pm until 7am) protecting sea turtle nests. Since 2004, tortugueros have arrived in Guayabitos for the biannual training course organized by Los Grupos Ecologistas de Nayarit A.C. (GEN) and the Hotel Pe�amar. 

Held between the 14th and 15th of May with a turnout of more than 40 people from Nayarit and Jalisco, the course "Tecnicas de Monitoreo de Tortugas Marinas en Playas de Anidacion y en sitios de Alimentacion" (Sea turtle monitoring techniques for nesting beaches and foraging areas) was a great success.

Saturday the 14th began with an introduction by Ing. Aar�n Esliman Salgado, Executive Director of Grupo Tortuguero de las Californias A.C. (GTC), which included subjects such as the life cycle of sea turtles and laws protecting them, followed by measurement and flipper tagging methods. The morning

concluded with a look at in-water monitoring techniques given by Tec. Jes�s Lucero (Field Work Coordinator for the GTC).

The afternoon session was dedicated to nesting beaches. The correct management of sea turtle protection camps was given by M. en C. Catherine E. Hart (biologist for GEN & PhD student

BEMARENA, Universidad de Guadalajara). Methods of beach and nest monitoring, species specific nest characteristics and the implementation, advantages and disadvantages of different methods of nest incubation were explained.

The second day of the course M. en C. Alan Zavala (CIDIIR-IPN) presented information on conservation medicine,  the collection of blood and tissue samples, and biosecurity.

The course ended with the presentation of certificates. Participants commented that the course had supplied them with a greater knowledge and useful tools to help them continue with their important conservation work on the coast of Nayarit and Jalisco. 

Jugo Verde (Green Juice) 

Years ago when I had a little more free time on my hands, I would walk downtown after breakfast with our B&B guests to give them a tour and/or take them shopping. Often times I would stop at the little juice stand on the corner of Avenida del Sol Nuevo and Retorno Tabachines in Guayabitos and order a glass of "Jugo Verde". I must admit, I had completely forgotten about it until I drove by the stand recently. On this particular day the gal happened to be out of pineapples, so she substituted a combination of orange and grapefruit juice. It was as good, if not better than I remember.  

For those of you who have never tried Jugo Verde, it is a blended drink made with pineapple juice, celery, parsley and nopale cactus. It is delicious and super healthy. A large to-go glass will set you back only a few pesos. The stand also sells other fresh squeezed juices and seasonal fruits like Jaka. This is one of only two places I know of that makes this tasty treat; the other stand is on the southbound lateral where it meets up with La Avenida in La Penita. Try it, you'll like it! 

"Heermann's Gulls: Fashionistas in the World of Gulls"

by Christina Stobbs 

Heerman's Gulls on Guayabitos Beach (top) and Los Ayala Beach (bottom).

 

Heermann's Gulls are shore birds which are easily recognizable by their bright cherry red bills culminating in a black tip. These birds are considered good-looking, in the "World of Gulls", and indeed they are! In fact they are quite fashionable, their coastal grey bodies nicely complemented by dark grey wings. The wings of these gulls are accented with striking black edging -- the perfect match for their black legs and feet, and black tipped bill. Their unique Gull Beauty is at its peak during the breeding season (March through May, and sometimes as late as June), when the Heermaan's Gull dons its breeding plumage and its head is pure white.
 
Heermann's Gulls also have character and are known for being beach bandits, as they are frequently seen pursuing and harassing other shore birds until they drop a coveted catch! They have no hesitation in pursuing larger birds including frigate birds and they have been known to pilfer fish directly from the pouch of brown pelicans.

Heermann's Gulls are found on the Eastern Pacific Coast of the USA, Canada and Mexico. They migrate south to Mexico in March to breed and most breeding occurs in Mexico on the Island of Isla Rasa; an island located in the Sea of Cortez. During breeding season the gulls are monogamous and both parents share the responsibility of feeding their young. By June most of the gulls have migrated north following the migratory pattern of the amiable brown pelicans, no doubt following an easy food source.

To view more from Christina Stobbs, This & That - Photography & Writing, click here.

If you enjoy taking pictures, send us one of your favorite photos taken in the Jaltemba Bay area. Simply email us a title for the photo, a brief description of the photo and/or where it was taken, and the photographer's name. We feature photos when we receive them.  

View all past and present Photos of the Week here.

by Dave Easby

The Recycling Program that Los Amigos first put in place in 2008 continues to gain momentum. What began as purely a school-based program recycling plastic bottles in La Pe�ita has now been expanded to include other types of plastics as well as corrugated cardboard and covers the entire community of Jaltemba Bay.

The departure of most of the community's seasonal residents represents a good time to review the progress that was made this season.

Thanks to the generous support of the Jaltemba Bay Rotary Club, Los Amigos embarked on an ambitious program to build more recycling baskets. An enthusiastic group of volunteers attended the ten Saturday workshops -- many of them coming week after week to help out. The basket-making season concluded with a special session at CONALEP, where the regular basket-making team worked with a group of students, including a number of scholarship recipients, putting together baskets for the school.

A total of 334 baskets were produced. Well actually, there were 337 produced; three individuals made it into the "Order of the Double Bottomed Basket" when they accidentally put bottoms on both ends of a basket. After all, we did advertise that all you needed to bring to one of the workshops was your enthusiasm.

The Committee would like to thank Gayle and Tony Dixon and Ryan Campbell who took turns hosting the regular Saturday workshops over the winter season; and Mimi Beaupre and Zobeida Barrera who helped organize the session at CONALEP. 

The Committee also made great progress over the winter getting the hotels and bungalows to participate in the program. Thanks are due to Heather Gunn and Sheila Soenen for their hard work in helping to make it happen.

Los Amigos are now collecting an average of 4,000 kilos of plastics each month -- and having a huge positive impact on the environment. The program was also expanded this year to include corrugated cardboard. Between December and April alone, almost 12,000 kilos of plastics were compacted and sold to a recycler. The program is well on its way to become self-sustaining from a financial point of view.

The Committee owes a debt of gratitude to Vern Porter, who supervises the operational side of the program, and Gustavo Cisneros D�vila who operates it on a day-to-day basis.

One of our key initiatives next year will be to develop and implement an educational program for the schools on the benefits of recycling. Marion Rogers has agreed to chair the group looking at this and would welcome volunteers to help out.

Los Amigos also had an opportunity this season to thank two silent heroes of the recycling program: Danny Milski has provided us space for our compactor operation for the last three years at a rent of $1 a year and Rodger Murphy from Green Parrot who was instrumental in helping to finance the purchase of the truck, trailer and compactor when an opportunity arose to obtain it. 

All in all, it has been a busy and productive season; no small part of this is due to the work of Carol Wallace who agreed this year to take on the challenging task of chairing the Recycling Committee.

And it's not done yet. Contrary to what some people think, the recycling program will continue to operate all summer. So, if you are a permanent resident, be sure to keep putting out your plastics and cardboard. Collection is on Mondays for Guayabitos and Los Ayala and Wednesdays for La Pe�ita and La Colonia.  Please put out the cardboard only on collection days and break down boxes if at all possible.

And last, but not least, thanks to all of you for your support of our recycling efforts.

To learn more, go to the Los Amigos de La Pe�ita website.

Local Rotarians attended the Rotary International Conference held in New Orleans

by Susana Connors  

We have included a Featured Article page on our sponsor site, Jaltemba Bay Life, to make it easier for you to find the information included in our weekly newsletters. The page is located under the "Newsletter" tab, and contains links to past and present articles. Click here to view the Featured Article Page now.

Our website, forum, and newsletter have been up and running now for 5 months. During that time, only a few of our readers have submitted articles and photos to be featured in our newsletter. This really surprises us, because we know there are writers and bloggers amongst you, and even a few photographers too.  

While we don't mind being your roving reporters, we think it would be a lot more fun and interesting if we included other peoples' points of view as well. You could write about anything from local hangouts, food, surfing, fishing reports, birding and sea life, to interviews and personal stories. I guess what we're trying to say is that it doesn't matter "what" you write about, just that you participate in some way, shape, or form. And you certainly don't have to submit something every week, although we'd be thrilled if you did. Come on folks... join us in making our community website the best it can be!

We are proud to promote these businesses, vacation rentals, and real estate listings on the Jaltemba Bay Life site. Please support these and the other local businesses that make our website possible through their advertising. Thank You!

To see our complete directories, click the links below...   

> View all Businesses   

> View all Hotels and Vacation Rentals  

> View Map of Businesses, Hotels and Vacation Rentals 

Add your business, hotel, or vacation rental (rental home, condo, apartment, bed and breakfast, or RV park) to our directories, and be seen by people who are specifically interested in the Jaltemba Bay area -- VRBO and other rental sites can't offer that. And because you list "By Owner", you can change your information, pricing structure, discounts, photos, and availability as often as you like. For more information click the links below or email us today!

> List your Vacation Rental or Hotel 

> List your Business 

Listing your Real Estate By-Owner on our site is easy, affordable, and runs until you sell. And for a limited time, we will also include an ad for your property in our weekly newsletter like those shown below. Click here to find out how.