AKUMAL COUNCIL

The next General Assembly of the Akumal Council is scheduled for 11:00AM on Friday, August 13, 2004, at the Lol-Ha Restaurant.  At this point in time there is no known agenda, but one is expected to be published prior to the Meeting.  If you are in town, please make an effort to attend and support this community effort.  See www.akumalcouncil.com
 

"AKUMAL: PARADISE IN MEXICO" WORLD PREMIER

On Sunday evening, July 11, 2004, there was a World Premier at CEA of the DVD titled, "Akumal: Paradise In Mexico" produced, directed, photographed, scripted, and distributed by John and Amy Davis, of www.yucatandvd.com  The premier was without spotlights, red carpets, stars, an open bar, and a lavish buffet, but it was very well attended and the video was well received. 

The DVD's target market is the tourist:

 The DVD has a main section on Akumal that runs about 20 minutes or so, and then there are additional segments for Restaurants, Services, Maps & Directions, etc.  The DVD costs $39.99, but the web site has a Pre-Release Special for $35.99.  There also are quantity discounts for orders of 10 and 20 DVDs

However, while the concept is excellent, the video does leave a lot to be desired.  It is understood that the Producer has to draw the line someplace, with regards to what is covered within and outside of Akumal.  The geographical range does go as far North as Playa del Carmen for some services, and it does include some information on the excellent site of Coba.

The biggest flaw in this video is that it states, "Akumal consists of two bays, Half Moon Bay and Akumal Bay."  It totally ignores Jade Bay/Beach, South Akumal, and Aventuras Akumal.  So much for the "Akumal" unity the Akumal Council is striving for.
 

AROUND THE MAYA RIVIERA

There now is a third traffic light in Playa del Carmen.  It's about .854 miles north of Av. Constituentes, at the intersection with the road that leads into Galaxia-del-Carmen and Resedencia San Francisco.

 The work on Sam's Club in Playa del Carmen is proceeding very nicely, and while there are no signs on an opening date, it has been rumored that the opening will be August 31.

 With those same two months in mind, Home Mart in Cancun is in the process of having its signs removed.  When asked about Home Depot, the response was, "September, maybe August."

 Blockbuster in Cancun, at least the one by Office Max, is selling previewed DVDs and VHS tapes with a "3 for the price of 2" special.

 At Costco's outdoor food court, the Caesar Salad with Chicken, and now tomatoes, has about doubled in size, and now costs $45.50 pesos.  This is also available inside, up on the meat counter with the finished plates, for $47.50 pesos.

 Closer to home, South Akumal continues to be without any sign on Highway 307 to indicate its entrance, despite the diligent efforts of the Consejo de Desarrollo de Akumal A.C.   BUT, right across from the entrance to Jade Bay/Beach is a base for a hanging road sign?????

 The billboard at the entrance to the Akumal Pueblo is GONE!!  It's DOWN!!  And, the one just to the north of the entrance to the Pueblo has a CLAUSARADO sign.

 What's going on behind the blue gate/entrance that leads into Yal Ku Lagoon from MEX 307?  Could it be a major all-inclusive resort development?  A 9-hole golf course?  A Water Park?  Or, just a 'new' entrance for all the vehicular traffic bringing tourists to the Lagoon?

 Reconstruction /remodeling of Kukulcan Plaza in the Hotel Zone, home of Boliche Kukulcan, continues with its major makeover of this large shopping mall.  It looks like it still has a long way to go, but it has not affected the Summer Bowling Season of the ABC.
 

ABC SUMMER LEAGUE

The Akumal Bowling Confederation continues with its Summer League activities at the Kukulcan bowling lanes despite a low attendance due to summer vacations.  Steve & Ingrid Clouther are using this to their advantage to pad their handicaps, while still remaining atop the standings for High Average, High Series, and High Game.

During the July 4^th Firecracker Tournament, Steve successfully defended his title and came away with another trophy for the mantle.
 

DID YOU KNOW?

            There are 6,000 species of reptiles, 73,000 kinds of spiders, and 3,000 types of lice.  For each person there are about 200 million insects.
 

A GOOD READ

            While we were in the Northeast, we visited Richard & Arlene Pargot, and Arlene loaned Ingrid a book titled, "On Mexican Time: A New Life In San Miguel" by Tony Cohan.  It's about the 'adventures' and experiences he and his wife, Masako, had on first visiting, and then eventually moving to, San Miguel de Allende.  They eventually purchased a large house in town, on Calle Flor, and did some remodeling.  Almost all of you should be able to relate to their experiences with contractors, workers, bugs, insects, and the weather.
 

A GOOD BARBACUING IDEA

Like the idea of barbecuing on the patio/balcony/deck/roof, or even out on the beach, but you don't want/need one of those $5,500 pesos stainless steel ones from Costco.  Think about the fantabulous Thane Q Grill.  The Q-Grill is the bronze medal recipient of the prestigious IDEA award (Industrial Design Excellence Awards).  It has high grade gas jets, giving you uniform heat for perfect grilling every time.  And unlike others, the Q BBQ has 105 square inches of non-stick cooking surfaces!  They pop right out for easy cleaning, and are dishwasher safe.  And the disposable foil drip trays make Q BBQ cleanup a snap.

The grill body is made of durable steel with heat resistant cool-grip handles.

It uses compact and affordable propane tanks that you can pick up at the Wal-Mart and Commercial Mexicana stores in Cancun, and they will last for hours of grilling enjoyment.  Q-Grill can be taken apart and reassembled easily for thorough cleaning. 

The Q BBQ weighs just 13 lbs., so you can go anywhere and cook anything you want, any time you want.  Plus, there's never a need to cook in the dark.  Just click on the Q BBQ's built in light so you can always see what you're doing.

We brought one of these back from the Northeast on our last trip, and it is just wonderful.  These can be seen on TV Infomercials, or you can find numerous web sites selling these, and you can go directly to the web site at http://www.thane.com/html/products/kbh/qgrill/qgrill.html

They cost about $100US.
 

DID YOU KNOW?

Brahms did not, as the saying goes, suffer fools lightly.  He had a well-earned reputation for being blunt and, at times, rude.  One story has it that as the crusty composer was leaving a party; he paused at the door - turned to the assembled revelers - many of whom were relieved to see him leave and said: "If there is anyone here that I have not offended tonight I apologize."

Do you know anybody like that?
 

SUMMER RESTAURANT HOURS

Things are not as "slow" in Akumal this season as in the past, so the restaurant scene is somewhat up-in-the-air as the proprietors "play-it-by-ear."

The Lol-Ha Beach Bar kitchen will be moving up their closing time from 9:00PM to 8:00PM, and restaurant is definitely scheduled to close during the month of September.  October is To-Be-Determined, and Laura will make a decision in August.

La Lunita will be closed from September 20^th to October 4^th (Stefanie's Birthday), and the hours continue to be 5:00 - 10:30PM.  Try the scallops on the half shell with cream sauce.

Turtle Bay Cafe plans to remain open for breakfast and lunch for the duration, and the plans for dinner are still open.  Currently they are open for dinner on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings.  Be advised that the breakfast pastry is 50% off after 12:00.
 

DID YOU KNOW?

What Sea does not have a coastline?

The Sargasso Sea is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, covering some 3 million square kilometers (2 million square miles) between the West Indies and the Azores, and it is encircled by the Gulf Stream and the North Equatorial Current, causing the oval-shaped sea to move in a slow, clockwise drift.  Its warm waters are exceptionally clear and blue, and filled with seaweed.  Early navigators becalmed in the sea's still waters mistakenly believed their ships were tangled in the seaweed.  They named the sea "sargaco", the Portuguese word for grape, after the seaweed's bulbous floats.

The Sargasso Sea is also known as "the floating desert".  Although about one-third of the Atlantic's plankton is produced here, the Sargassum lacks the nutrients to attract commercially valuable fish.  But many small marine animals, including tiny crabs, shrimp and octopuses, live on and among the Sargassum.  Deeply connected to the weeds, many would sink and perish if they lost their grip.

Jules Verne wrote about the Sargasso Sea in "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea".
 

TELEPHONE BOOK WITH AKUMAL

            While at Telmex this week, The Akumalian picked up, literally from the floor where a stack was used as a door stop, the Yellow Pages book for Cozumel - Riviera Maya 2003/2004.  This also has white pages for the appropriate towns, including Akumal, and we are all in there, for the most part.  Check it out.
 

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

            There is a full moon on Saturday, July 31^st, and this is the second full moon of July - the first being on Friday, July 2^nd.  Therefore, keep an eye skyward for the "Blue Moon" on Saturday, because this is the only one in 2004.  The last "Blue Moon" was in November 2002, and the next one will not happen until August 2005.

            The accepted concept is that when a calendar month contains two full Moons (as does July 2004), the second one is called a "Blue Moon."
 

COMINGS AND GOINGS

            This was going to be left out this issue, but decided to do just the immediate "comings and goings."  If you are left out, please use Letter To The Editor.

            Bud & Alice Blatner were here for three weeks, and during that time they celebrated Bud’s 60^th birthday with a small dinner party at Turtle Bay Cafe.  Bud's daughter, Gretta, came down as a birthday surprise.  And, on the day before his birthday, Telmex presented Bud & Alice with a real live connection to their number, 984-875-9124.

            Butch was back in town for a short visit, with the main purpose to close on the sale of their house.  That cuts the last formal property ties for them in Akumal.

            Paula and Neil are back again from their tour-of-duty in Qatar (think that's it), and they are enjoying lots of diving with their two girls, Hugh and other friends.

            Also passing through town were Frank & Lennie (Casa del Sol), Jack Kennedy, John & Barbara Kennedy (Aventuras Akumal), Bud & Kendall Inman, Oveta & Gary Vardell, Macon & Susan Gravlee, and Cliff Meyer's daughter, Monika with her family and friends.

            Out of towners include Denny & Diane, Bob & Gabriella, Laura & Dave, and Claudia Munoz.
 

THERE AIN'T NO LOW SEASON IN 2004!!!

            It is July, and usually you could sit at the Beach Bar and be alone with the waiters.  Not this year!  The Riviera Maya is packed!  People making last minute reservations for this time, had an extremely difficult time finding a room!!  Some people had to make 2 and 3 moves over a ten day period!  Even Travel Agents could not find a room!  How bad is it, I hear you ask?

            MX 307 seems to have more traffic than ever.  This week we wanted to take a "short cut" using the "new" road by the airport to get into Playa del Carmen around 11:00AM, and got stuck in a traffic jam of about 10 large buses picking up tours all along that road.  It was a zoo!

            Then, on Friday night, we were returning from La Lunita around 9:30PM, and we encountered between 12 and 15 cars going the other direction, north, on the very busy and bumpy Avenida Akumal Norte!!!

            Cancun reportedly has 96.5% occupancy and Akumal 85.6%.  One of the local rental agencies reports close to 100 percent for Akumal in the first two weeks of August.

JOHN KERRY AND GEORGE W. BUSH SING "THIS LAND"

Go to www.jibjab.com to see and hear our two presidential candidates sing Arlo Guthrie's "This Land", and be advised that obviously does work a lot better with a DSL line.  Using just a modem, the background music plays without the animation and singing for sometime before getting to the song.

            The creators, brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, of this satirical version of "This Land" were "The Persons of the Week" on Peter Jennings' news show on Friday, July 23, 2004, and they showed a fair amount of the animated movie/short.

            It's OK, because the creators take no political sides, and both parties and candidates are treated to an equal degree of satire.
 

CARNIVAL HOMEPORT AT XCARET??

            Apparently, Carnival Cruise Lines has shelved its plans to build a homeport at Xcaret, and now they are concentrating on building a homeport in the Dominican Republic.  It seems that the Mayor of Solidaridad (Playa del Carmen), Gabriel Mendicutti, refused to issue a building permit to Carnival-Xcaret for the homeport to be built on the Xcaret Theme Park property unless the investors agreed to pay a $30 dollar a head tax on debarking passengers.  They refused.

            But, according to the Mexican Secretariats of Tourism and Communications (SCT), all cruise ship passengers debarking at ports of call in Mexico will be paying a tax of between $5 and $7USD.

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