Maya Paradise

First Hurricane this Season?

2008-07-06T15:28:00.001-06:00

Looks like our first hurricane for this season is building out in the Atlantic:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN0635314520080706

Colom's Speech Less Than Anticipated

2008-04-16T22:09:00.003-06:00

April 16, 2008

The government announced last week that president Álvaro Colom would announce 32 economic measures to stabilize or reduce prices of the “ canasta basica” or “basic basket”, including price caps on items such as beans, rice, flour, and fuel, subsidies, and employee bonuses. The announcements implied that some of the measures were quite strong and that they would be laid out specifically in a nationally televised address last Sunday. But that's not quite how it went Sunday night. Colom did speak about a package of medium and long-term strong economic measures to attenuate the economic crisis but the presentation was short on details.

The president did announce four measures that “should have an immediate impact”. He said that he's looking for an agreement “in solidarity” with private business and cooperatives in order to achieve a reduction or stabilization of prices on basic necessities. Details were not given but it is known that since last week the president has been seeking accords with the various business associations in the agricultural, commercial, industrial, and financial sectors because, according to Colom, some of the measures being planned are “a little strong”.

Also announced was a “program of solidarity” involving a state investment of Q1.47 billion in grain production, rural development, improved accessways, construction of 40,000 homes, and assistance to small and mid-size businesses. Colom indicated that measures will be adopted to maintain the price of propane at its present level at least until December of this year, and steps will be taken to save energy in all public institutions. Specific details were not forthcoming as to how prices will be maintained or reduced.

The president confirmed that Guatemala is passing through a period of difficulty for the economy, aggravated by the high price of oil, which affects transport and generation of electricity. He discussed the fact that many countries have started to produce biofuels made from food grains and this drives up the price of those food grains. Colom also pointed out that the economic problems in the United States are connected to the problems in Guatemala.

“Previous governments have not put in place measures to deal with a crisis of this type”, Colom said, and added that his administration is taking this opportunity to spend the time and effort to put plans and measures in place to deal with such problems now and in the future.

So not much detail was given in the president's Sunday address although there was some new information. As more on this story unfolds, it will be reported here.

The Fair!

2008-04-14T02:30:00.005-06:00

Yes, Rio Dulce has an annual fair, complete with thrill rides, kiddy rides, food and candy booths, large portable restaurants, game booths, and portable beer drinking establishments that show videos of Central American and Mexican rodeos (which are considerably rougher and tougher than the U.S. version). The fair takes place each year around Semana Santa (Easter). It officially opened today, Sunday, April 13th and will run until Sunday, April 20th. This year the fair unofficially got under way a week early, last Sunday, April 6th, and officially opened today.

For the locals, one of the highlights of the fair is the "Flor de la Feria" (Flower of the Fair). This is a teenage girl who is elected and reigns as "Queen of the Fair" and you will see her making her rounds at the fair wearing her crown. The selection process begins well before the fair starts and this year culminated last Sunday, April 6 with the election and parade of her and the runners-up. Unfortunately, the election caught us by surprise and we did not get photos of the event this year. However, Don Gato has taken quite a few photos of the fair itself. Just click on the photos to see larger versions.

Guatemalan Government Intervenes to Ease Rising Prices

2008-04-12T00:33:00.003-06:00

April 11, 2008

President Álvaro Colom decided to go ahead with an economic package to help ease the effects of rising prices. The measures will include subsidies and capping certain prices. Details will be announced on national radio and television Sunday night. There are 32 specific measures in the plan with a couple of them quite drastic. Vice-President Rafael Espada said that everything is on the table, details are still being worked out, and some decisions are still to be made.

None of the officials were willing discuss exactly which products would be affected but government sources say that subsidies on diesel and propane are being discussed as well as price caps on basic products such as sugar, beans, maíz, rice, and flour. Also among the measures are special consideration for the elderly and other at-risk members of society and increased taxes on cellular phone service and utilities to encourage conservation.

A presidential spokesman said that Colom will speak on television and radio because he wants to speak directly to the people about the current economic crisis, the external causes of the problem, and that these measures are in keeping with the gravity of the crisis that is expected.

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Puerto Barrios Sewers in Disrepair

2008-04-12T00:06:00.001-06:00

April 11, 2008

Ninety-five percent of the sewers / storm drains in the city of Puerto Barrios are uncovered and sewage sometimes floods across the ground and into Rio Escondido. Local residents complain that the river has been polluted for about 30 years and instead of pure water is more like a swamp which increases the risk of disease. About 250 homes suffer flooding from the collapse of the sewage system. Residents in the area bounded by 18th through 25th Calle and 1st through 8th Avenidas dread the coming of the rainy season. Sea level geography, poor construction, failure of government leadership, and irresponsible residents clogging the sewer system with trash results in a nightmare during the rainy season. When very heavy rains come, the flooding creates a drowning hazard for children. The local health director acknowledges that there is widespread pollution and the uncovered drainage ditches result in a plague of mosquitos that can spread dengue, malaria, and other diseases, not to mention the foul odors.

The Alcalde, David Pineda is aware of the situation and said the city will invest Q300,000 to clean out the system. To rebuild the whole system of storm drains and sewers will carry a price tag of Q100 million, which the city cannot afford, but the alcalde says that the government and foreign sources have promised to help.

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The Stoplights in Puerto Barrios are Working Again

2008-04-10T00:38:00.001-06:00

April 9, 2008

Stoplights were installed 12 years ago in Puerto Barrios / Santo Tomas de Castilla, but without maintenance they fell into disrepair and stopped functioning four years ago. In some cases, the neglected equipment was stolen and sold as scrap. After an investment of Q150,000 the traffic signals are repaired and operating again.

Approximately 25,000 vehicles, 5,000 motorcycles, plus cargo vans and semis enter and exit Puerto Barrios / Santo Tomas de Castilla every day and without traffic signals the result has been chaos. Now that the signals are repaired, traffic should flow in a more orderly manner and vehicles should be able to keep to their schedules. The Alcalde, David Pineda, confirmed that two more traffic signals are being considered at 23 Calle, and at the entrance of the Hospital Nacional in order to cut down on accidents at those locations. The municipality of Puerto Barrios is also studying a plan to install traffic signals but is concerned that the equipment might be stolen.

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Congress Passes Law Protecting Women

2008-04-08T20:44:00.003-06:00

April 8, 2008

After a month of debates, the Guatemalan Congress surprisingly completed the entire planned agenda for today without making any amendments to the legislation on the floor. The law against "feminicidio", which criminalizes all acts of violence against women, passed unanimously along with various changes to the criminal code. The motion to introduce Q200, Q500, and Q1000 notes was also approved on the first vote after discussion about the inclusion of certain languages and a mention of the peace accords on the new bills.

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Congress to Consider New Quetzal Notes and Law Protecting Women

2008-04-06T19:47:00.004-06:00

April 6, 2008

This Tuesday, April 8th, the Guatemalan Congress will reconvene. Much of the Congress's recent attention has been focused on a law that would criminalize all violent acts against women. Further consideration of this topic is planned for Tuesday. Also on the agenda are discussion of the designs and colors for the proposed new Q200, Q500, and Q1000 notes. A third item on the agenda is a plan to lift the IVA tax on petroleum fuels and derivatives in order to reduce the cost of gasoline and diesel by Q3 or Q4.

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Inguat to Promote Tourism in Izabal

2008-04-06T01:38:00.003-06:00

April 6, 2008

According to an article by Rosa M. Bolaños of the Prensa Libre, in two weeks, Inguat will launch a massive campaign to promote tourism in Rio Dulce and Lago Izabal. The promotion will be via the embassies and through other media in various countries in Central America, Europe, and the United States. According to Maruja Acevedo, head of the Mercadeo del Instituto, the Mercadeo will also promote tourism to this area and will organize an International Garífuna Festival to take place in November.

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Viernes Santo / Good Friday in Rio Dulce

2008-04-01T16:18:00.003-06:00

March 21st was Good Friday (Viernes Santo). It is a day of penance and fasting that is observed throughout Latin America. In Guatemala, the Catholic Church and the cofradias (brotherhoods) mount processions commemorating Christ's Passion. These processions vary from small ones bearing just a crucifix to huge processions with many displays carried by members of the various cofradias. The most elaborate such procession in the world takes place in Antigua, Guatemala. The streets are decorated with elaborate colored sand paintings and it's an unforgettable sight. Because it is a day of penance, the difficulty of the labor is part of it. The largest display in the Antigua procession is that from the Church at La Merced. It weighs 8,000 pounds and is carried through the streets on the shoulders of 80 men.

Rio Dulce is an aquatic community where we get around much more in boats and canoes than by road or on foot so the procession in Rio Dulce takes place on the river itself. Don Gato was there to shoot photos:

(click the photos to see larger sizes)

Photo Gallery

2008-03-28T14:46:00.001-06:00

Part of the facelift that Maya Paradise is undergoing includes addition of a new photo gallery for high-quality, high-resolution photos of the Rio Dulce and surrounding area, the local scenery, scenes in Fronteras, at the mercado, on the water, Quirigua, Tikal, animals, insects, macro photos, whatever snazzy pics you'd like to show off. In other words, "eye candy".
A few gallery pages are up already and more will be added as needed. The old, small, fast-loading snapshot pages that have been there for years remain. If you go to the Photo Index page and scroll down, you will find the entrance to the new "eye candy" photo galleries.

Ideally such photos should be hosted on Flickr, both for faster page loading and so a photo that's displayed at 800 or 1000 pixels across can be clicked on and viewed at 3,000 across or whatever your camera delivers. In showing off your work, the gallery will bring traffic and views to your Flickr photostream and raise your "interestingness" rating on Flickr.

Photos will, of course, adhere to the Flickr guidelines and requirements that links be included with photos, and credit / your copyright / licensing will be displayed for each photo as required or requested by you.

If you have any eye-candy photos you'd like to show off, please respond here or email me.

Felipe, Webmaster

Tropical Weather Page

2008-03-27T14:40:00.003-06:00

Most of you cruisers are probably aware of the Maya Paradise Super-Duper All-In-One Tropical Weather Page. Over time it had become only partially functional but has been restored and is fully up to date. On a single page you can get all the weather forecast, wind and sea conditions, satellite imagery, and hurricane info that you need. To get the same information you'd have to navigate to 16 different web pages on different sites, one by one. Those 16 sources are drawn together on one page showing marine and general weather info for the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

Super-Duper All-In-One Tropical Weather Page

Skype Directory

2008-03-26T14:38:00.001-06:00

As you may know, many people in Rio Dulce use Skype to stay in touch with friends and to make phone calls. Maya Paradise has a Skype Directory page where your Skype ID can be listed along with a SkypeMe button so people can dial you simply by pressing the button next to your name right on the web page. If you would like to be listed or if your ID has changed, please let me know by commenting here or by email.

Maya Paradise Skype Directory

Felipe, Webmaster

Front Page Slide Show

2008-03-24T14:36:00.000-06:00

The entirely new main page design offers a cleaner layout, easier navigation, and a means to show featured links with photos such as the Catamaran Island Hotel link. Those featured photo link slots are available for a nominal fee.

To spice up the top of the page there is a cross-fading slide show displaying different scenes in Rio Dulce. If you have a photo that you think is representative of Rio Dulce that you'd like to show off, and if the photo works well within the limited slideshow window space (790x230 pixels) please contact me. I can embed a credit/copyright if you'd like.

Forum Upgrades

2008-03-23T14:32:00.000-06:00

The Maya Paradise forums / bulletin board have returned to immediate posting but with semi-automatic moderation. Eight years ago, the forums were unmoderated and new posts would appear immediately. Three years ago, the proliferation of spam robots and other problems forced me to go to full moderation where every single post had to be reviewed by an administrator or moderator before being approved. This sometimes took way too long and recently with my loss of connectivity to the site, the forums went completely dead for a long period.

But immediate posting is back! I am trying a new approach where a very strict spam and obscenity filter examines each post and determines whether it can appear immediately or be flagged for moderator examination. The primary focus of the forums is travel, tourists, and cruisers, and virtually all legitimate messages of that type should pass the filter and appear immediately. Those few posts that do not pass the filter are not lost but simply delayed until an admin or moderator approves it. (or deletes it if it's spam or junk)

Maya Paradise Forums

The New Maya Paradise

2008-03-22T14:48:00.000-06:00

The Maya Paradise web site is undergoing a major facelift and modernization. The site has been running for nearly 11 years with the same look and feel that was created in 1997. Back then there was no "broadband", everyone connected over dialup at 33 or 56 kbps. The design goal was to get as much content and visuals on the screen as possible while keeping the amount of data to an absolute minimum. Page load time was the most important thing. Pages that took longer than a few seconds to load over dialup were a no-no or visitors would surf away someplace else. Back in 1997, most computers had displays that were 640 by 480. "Power users" had 800x600. A handful with deep pockets might have 1024x768 but that was rare. The site was designed to function at 640 and was optimized for 800 across, under the assumption that most people would eventually upgrade to 800x600. Today 1024 across is minimum on most machines. Displays of 1280 and 1600 across are not uncommon, even on notebook computers.

All of the above adds up to the need for a complete revamp of the Maya Paradise site. The sections that draw 98 percent of the traffic have already been upgraded and new features added. The new design is immune to further advances in technology and should look okay well into the future. New features have been and are being added, and Maya Paradise is taking a whole new marketing approach. New content and new sections are in progress. The main index page has been completely redesigned. The forums are again in operation with a brand new approach that uses very tight spam filtering and new rules for participants. Those will be expanded more as times goes on. A new photo gallery is under construction as well as a means for posting news stories and current events of interest to locals and travelers (this blog right here).

For the past 16 months, Maya Paradise had been sort of "adrift without a rudder". The reason for that is a technical one having to do with Time-Warner / Road Runner having a routing problem that prevented me and anyone else in my region from reaching a good portion of the Internet, including the Maya Paradise server. The routing problem still exists and they seem unable or unwilling to fix it. But I have developed my own workaround and have regained control of the site.

I invite you once again to enjoy and participate on the Maya Paradise web site.

Felipe / Phil
Webmaster