Dancing Horses, Flashy Rope Tricks, Colorful Horsewomen, and Crazy Barrel Racers Highlight Free Event

Sunday May 12, 2013–Festival in Todos Santos:  – this is the second annual Gran Cabalgata (Parade of Horsemen and Horsewomen) and Festival del Caballo (Festival of Horses) in Todos Santos.

Todos Santos, a spectacular location on the Pacific Ocean, is located about a one-hour drive from either Cabo San Lucas or La Paz. The town is well-known for fine dining, shopping and art galleries. It is also a center of traditional vaquero (cowboy) culture that started in Baja California more than 300 years ago and eventually spread throughout the American West.

Riders will meet at Puente la Muela north of Todos Santos to be ready to ride by 11 AM. The procession of horsemen and horsewomen will arrive in Todos Santos beginning at approximately 1 PM, before passing through town in a colorful parade.

The final destination for the riders will be the “Jesus Rosas Izquierdo” Stadium, behind the Pemex station in the center of town.

Commencing around 2PM, will be the Festival del Caballo with the Escaramuza,(ladies riding traditioinal sidesaddle), Charro Cala (Charro reining), Floreo de Reata (trick roping),Caballos Bailandos (Dancing horses).

Alta Escuela and Rejonero (Highly trained horses performing maneuvers) with a special presentation of Doma Natural with Javier Corrales of La Paz. Barrel racing will also be featured as well as a local presentation of Ballet Folklorico.

The event is free.

A trip to Loreto, Baja California, delivers whales, cave paintings and history

By MARLENE MARTIN
Original Article Special to The Monterey, California, County Herald
Posted:   05/02/2013 02:00:29 PM PDT
Updated:   05/06/2013 12:16:27 PM PDT

Reblogged on ExperienceBaja

For whales of adventures, let’s go to Loreto, Baja California, guided by Jerry Loomis, a retired Point Lobos, California ranger, and Dana Jones, a California State Parks superintendent. In addition to the often-friendly gray whales, we will see blue, fin and humpback whales — and much more. You won’t believe what our brown pelican does in sunny Mexico. Apparently unsuccessful with online dating, they spiff up and head south where they sport burnt umber Mohawks and orange pouches — their dating plumage. This is a romantic area for other birds as well, for example, blue footed boobies and frigates. The mangroves and rocky shores lining the inlets are a Noah’s ark of species.

The dozen in our group includes people who have gone for a decade. John Steinbeck will come too, via his novel “Log from the Sea of Cortez.” While visiting in March 1940, he wrote: “We were eager to see this town … where the inhospitality of Lower California had finally been conquered and a colony has taken root.”

Getting to Loreto from Monterey took Steinbeck 10 days on The Western Flyer. We’ll need two air hours from Los Angles. Loreto has evolved from the friendly town that welcomed Steinbeck to a town that welcomes tourists to enjoy nature, food, music, ancient cave paintings and the oldest of the California Missions, the beautifully restored Our Lady of Loreto, founded in 1697.

We’ll stay at the casual, colorful La Damiana Inn, a 10-minute walk to the water. Accommodations and restaurants are plentiful. While fishing is important here, the economically big fish — tourists — come from around the globe.
A major goal is to cozy up to whales. So, let’s drive two hours across Baja’s rugged mountains, admire the desert vegetation, then hop into a 30- foot panga (boat) and head to Pacific waters. We’ll enjoy Loreto later.

To view an ExperienceBaja video of Whale Watching, please paste the following URL into your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHF6b0hjf-w

While fishing is important here, the economically big fish — tourists — come from around the globe.
A major goal is to cozy up to whales. So, let’s drive two hours across Baja’s rugged mountains, admire the desert vegetation, then hop into a 30- foot panga (boat) and head to Pacific waters. We’ll enjoy Loreto later.

Other days, we’ll explore inland. The Sierra la Giganta mountain range, 9 miles from Loreto, has stunning abstract figures in vivid colors — paintings that date back 10,000 years created by unknown artists. More spectacular paintings are a couple hours north in caves. Well worth the trek via four-wheel drive, these paintings include human figures as well as birds and reptiles. An hour ride inland leads to charming old mission villages like San Javier with its restored church and century-old irrigation system. This arid world with its astonishing desert vegetation adds another facet to our Baja adventure. Seven decades after Steinbeck’s visit this is still a wonder-filled world.

Marlene Martin is an English instructor at Monterey Peninsula College. Her composition students helped edit this article.

Traveling While Disabled: Cabo San Lucas to Todos Santos
Originally Posted on www.ThirdAge.com at May 2, 2013 10:41 PM

Note: This is the first of a two-part story that originally appeared on ThirdAge.com, a web site for Senior Women. I am re-blogging it on ExperienceBaja, because I think it offers some valuable insights. My wife Penny and I have lived in Todos Santos full-time for three years. We’re in our 50′s and we’re the first to admit that the streets of Todos aren’t always easy to navigate. Streets and sidewalks are uneven. Potholes are numerous. Wheelchair access is, for the most part, an afterthought.

I’ll re-blog the second half of the article when it becomes available.

************************************************************************************************************************************************

The first dilemma is how to get to Todos Santos. There is a tour for about $80. But I’d have to get up before the sun, so that wasn’t happening. Or there is the intrepid version. You take a taxi, local bus or walk to the bus station. From there you take the direct (mas o menos) bus to Todos Santos. The bus leaves downtown Cabo at 45 minutes after the hour. Note: all local transportation and local shops take pesos solamente (only).

I was going to try a cab from the hotel to the bus station. However, I had forgotten to get pesos. Getting pesos from the desk required a trip back to my room to get my passport for currency exchange. Grrr. When you walk with a cane and/or have nerve damage to the spine as I do you don’t jog back to the room. The round trip absorbed another 20 minutes.

It was pretty clear that unless the cab had wings I was never going to make it the bus to Todos Santos before lunch. But I had to try. Several other eager tourists joined me in the cab, which was really a large touring van. Careening through back streets, the driver suggested that we skip the local bus, split the charge, and let him take us directly to Todos Santos. So for approximately $60 a pop, we hired him. Mind you, it wasn’t the local experience I had envisioned aka Kathleen Turner in Cartagena on a bumpy, dusty, crowded, aromatic bus ride surrounded by a cacophony of ur, um, culture. I considered this a divine intervention and a good omen going to the town of All Saints. There are certain things you think about when you travel with a disability. Avoiding chaos is one of them.

The village is known as an artists’ enclave. Mexicans and Americans alike have their works in studios and galleries. Many of the shops have locally made crafts as well. There is a place named “Hotel California”, basically a cantina for tourists, with the obligatory streaming Eagles albums. Across the street from Hotel California is “Tequila Sunrise”. This restaurant /bar has had top ratings on Trip Advisor for the last 5 years. I found a cozy corner and took in the ambiance, which included brightly colored walls, every inch covered with permanent marker tag-ups and signatures. Also they had single US dollars taped together and used as frames around TV monitors. Along with the wall-to-wall graffiti were giant posters for beer and Margaritas, and of course a 4-foot-tall “Tequila Sunrise”.

Thus inspired, I ordered the Tequila Sunrise and the Mexican mix. The food and the drinks were incredible! The care and excellence cannot be overstated. The proprietor personally made sure I was satisfied, and I was. A strong adult beverage with a kick of citrus was the perfect foil to the rich dishes. The Mexican Mix included “grinded” beef tacos, a chicken burrito, tostadas, and chili rellenos to die for. Or at least to nap for. The mellow cab ride home cut between views of mountains and ocean. I slept for the entire hour.

To be continued . . .

Sally Franz is a former stand-up comedian, motivational speaker, and radio host. She is a twice-divorced mother of two and a grandmother of three. Sally has a degree in gerontology and several awards for humor writing. She is the author of “Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey,”and “The Baby Boomer’s Guide to Menopause.”

Baja Adventure of the Week: Petting Gray Whale Calves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHF6b0hjf-w

AT A GLANCE:

Location: Puerto Lopez Mateo, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Best time of the year to visit: January through March

Closest Airports:

• La Paz International, 3.5 hours south
• San Jose del Cabo, 5 hours south

Why Lopez Mateos:

• Protected warm-water, mile-wide lagoon
• Many whales and calves in a small, accessible location
• See and pet baby whales quickly and easily
• Fantastic birdwatching
• Insider’s tip: Get to the docks early (7 AM) for calmest water, uncrowded experience

Costs:

• 900 pesos/per panga boat per hour–about $75 USD/hr (boat holds up to 6 people; you can divide the costs)
• Average length whale watching trip: 2 to 3 hours

Dining in Lopez Mateo:

• Try “Baja Mar.” Owners Lauro and Amalia offer good fish dishes, personal service, fair prices
• Phone (from Mexico) 613-131-5196; it’s near the bus station, or ask anyone in town for directions

The Mag Bay Whale Watching Experience

It’s shortly after 7 AM on a slightly foggy morning in Puerto Lopez Mateo. My wife Penny, and her friend Julie, and I are sitting in an open-air restaurant on the waterfront enjoying delicious Mexican-style eggs, huevos rancheros. In a few minutes we’ll board a boat to experience one of the world’s greatest wildlife adventure up close and personal.

Ten minutes after we hop into our panga, we’re motoring at about three miles per hour, following a mother California Gray Whale and her six-week-old calf. Our guide is a soft-spoken fifty-something fellow named Pascual. Like all the guides in this carefully protected Marine preserve, he keeps to the recommended right or left rear flank of the animals at a respectful distance.

Suddenly, the calf puts on a spectacular aerial show, doing three leaps into the air to the right. For it’s final leap, it changes direction, and hits the water just in front of our boat.

After another 20 minutes of following the pair, we’re suddenly surrounded by mothers and their calves. We’re the first boat on the water; the sea is mirror-like. Suddenly the boat lurches. It’s a six-week old calf rubbing the length of its spotted body along the hull of our boat. Under the watchful eye of its mother, the calf pokes its head above the sides of the boat.

“Splash the water, splash the water!” our guide shouts in Spanish. A few seconds later the huge baby whale is rolling beneath our outstretched hands. Cameras click; camcorders whir. The baby’s skin is soft and spotted. He exhales, and we’re misted with a fine saltwater spray.

I love the kind of visitor experience you can find in Puerto Lopez Mateo. This tiny town has just slightly more than 2500 souls. Lobster pots line the dock. Except for the main drag, streets are dirt. A small town with a fish-processing plant at one end, it’s decidedly non-touristy.

Whale watching is run by two cooperatives that are closely regulated by the Mexcian government. We’re an international crew.Pascual, our guide, speaks only Spanish.  My wife Penny and I live in Todos Santos, and speak passable Spanish. Our guest, Julie Martin, hails from Aspen Colorado, and is fluent. So are Helene and Arnaud, from Paris, France, who add French, Spanish, and English into our patois. We’re a tri-lingual crew.

Many of the whale watching guides speak excellent English. One of the best is Luciano; ask at the waterfront for his boat. His Mexican cell number is (613) 100-2027.

Gray whales possess an amazing personality. Early whalers called them “devil whales,” because they ferociously defend their young against humans, sharks and killer whales, or orcas. At the same time, they’re also one of the most sociable whales. Friendly mothers frequently introduce calves to humans, although not all mothers do this.

About the Gray Whale:

• Length: up to 15 meters (about 50 feet)
• Weight: up to 35 tons
• Food: shrimp and fish larvae it filters from the sea floor
• Reproductive age: 8 years
• Calves: every 1 to 2 years
• Average lifespan: 60 years

“Absolute Best” Time of Year for Whale Watching:

First Two Weeks in March (But call ahead)

I’m the kind of guy who likes it all: great weather, no crowds…the peak experience. Puerto Lopez Mateo hots a Whale Fest in February, when the creatures are most numerous, and so are the tourists. How to avoid the crunch?

I asked several guides which are the best time of the year to visit, and they all agreed: the first two weeks in March. Christmas is too early. By April 1, many, if not all of the whales have departed northward. But be sure to call ahead before you go, as the migration patterns vary from year to year.

Blue Moon Theatre’s 10th Anniversary

‘To Salsa With Love’ 

Opening Night Special Valentines Dinner

Choose either Scallops, Shrimp or Seared Yellowtail with Passion Fruit Sauce.  Full course meal includes mimosa, organic green salad with special dressings, main course of your choice, chocolate and strawberry dessert, coffee/tea.

Dinner must be prebooked and can be paid at Tecolote Bookstore.  Cost is 300 pesos for dinner, 200 pesos for the play.  Dinner at 6pm, show starts at 7:30pm. Once you have purchased your ticket for dinner, please let us know your choice of main course by email: bluemooninbaja@yahoo.com

Thursday Feb. 14 – Opening Night

Friday Feb. 15/ Saturday Feb. 16

Friday March 1/ Saturday March 2

Friday March 8/Saturday March 9

Tickets at Tecolote Bookstore – 200 pesos    Will Call for Out of Towners: bluemooninbaja@yahoo.com

Doors open at 6:30, Show time 7pm.  Drinks, popcorn and snacks available

Is Mexico Safe … Really?

For the past 12 years I have been sailing in Mexican waters, from Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas throughout the Sea of Cortes, and down to Zihuatenejo. As a female captain, I was especially concerned about safety when I left the US. I skipper my 36’ sloop short-handed, often only with students or children. I have also driven the entire Baja highway to Cabo 76 times, and have crossed thousands of miles of mainland Mexico by myself. Not once did I fear for my safety. Mexico’s problem are the internal rivalries between drug cartels, and do not involve the foreigners. In all of my years in Mexico, neither I, nor anyone I know, was involved in any dangerous situation involving the cartels or others.

Whenever I had a problem, either with boat or car, Mexicans would show their incredible ingenuity and kindness, and the problem was quickly fixed, either for a “tip” (propina), or unbelievably inexpensively…. I have traveled around the world, but have never met a people so willing to give anything and everything they have to show their hospitality. When I needed a safe place to leave my boat for the summer, I found Marina Isla Navidad, a “hurricane hole” about 134 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, in Barra Navidad. It turned out to be the best marina in Mexico, and better than most in the world! My boat is safe; guarded 24/7 and maintained by a conscientious staff. harbormaster@islaresort.com.

Reblogged with the kind permission of Captain Adriana Kenlan

Angry. Enraged. Pissed off.

That’s how I felt when I made a discovery that started in my own back yard that changed my life forever–for the better.

Here’s the video that opened my eyes. The video is called “The Bitter Truth,” and it’s a 90 minute long scientifically based examination into how the soft drink industry is deliberately creating products it knows are addictive, dangerous poisons. (If you cant open the link below, cut-and-paste the code into your browser.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Most people instinctively know that super-sweet soft drinks are unhealthy beverage choices. But dig a little deeper as I did and you find out the long-term havoc they can cause to an individual or even a whole country.

And nowhere on earth is the soft drink industry doing more damage to public health than here in Mexico, the world’s number-one consumer of soft drinks, which gained the dubious distinction by recently surpassing the US.

The average Mexican consumes more than 160 liters of soda per year, the highest per capita in the world

Penny and I spent much of 2011 and 2012 finishing our home here in Todos Santos. We had a wonderful construction crew that did meticulous work.

But as the days and weeks wore on, we began to notice that our Mexican friends drank huge amounts of soft drinks, Coca Cola being a favorite. Several times a day they’d run up to the local market, buy several gigantic plastic bottles of the stuff, and carry it back to the job site. By the end of the day, the bottles were empty.

I’m no angel. I’ve drunk my share of fizzy drinks in my 57 years, but my journalist’s intuition sensed something bigger happening, and I was right.

It took about 30 seconds of research to discover that Mexicans consume more sugary soft drinks than any other country on earth. Mexicans’ love of super-sweet drinks is literally killing thousands of people every year, creating a public health crisis that threatens to swamp the country’s entire health care system.

• The average Mexican gulps 163 liters (43 gallons) per year. The US slurps 118 liters, or 31 gallons per person (1)
• In six years the cost of obesity-related health problems will equal Mexico’s current annual health care budget of $14 billion. (2)
• According to the U.N., seven out of every 10 Mexicans are overweight. Only the US has a higher rate of obesity (3, 4)
• Mexicans spend more on soft drinks than they do on eggs, tortillas and beans

The term “sugary soft drinks” covers a lot of ground, including sodas, fruit drinks and “juices”, sport drinks, energy drinks, flavored milk, sweetened tea and coffee, rice drinks/horchata and sugar cane beverages. (I’ll tackle artificially sweetened drinks in a future article, but they’re definitely NOT a healthy substitute for sugary soft drinks).

Dr. Robert Lustig (left) of UCSF Medical School shows off foods with added sugar--except for the apple, a healthy snack

Of course, Mexico isn’t the only country where obesity is spiraling out of control. Japan, Korea, China, Australia and many other countries are wrestling with the issue,” says Dr. Robert Lustig of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco, California. “We even have an epidemic of obese six-month-olds around the world.” (4)

“There’s something wrong with our biochemical energy feedback mechanism that controls what we eat,” Dr. Lustig said. “We’re all eating more carbohydrates, specifically high fructose corn syrup found in sodas and sweetened juices. Fructose is a poison. Fat consumption is going down. Sugar consumption is going way up. And we’re all getting sick.”

Grape-ade, Orange juice, colas, teas--all with one thing in common: high sugar content. Even infant formula has the same sugar content as these soft drinks, which is causing kids to get hooked on sugar early

American teenage boys are eating 275 more calories per day than they were 25 years ago. Men are chomping down 187 more calories, and women packing in 335 additional calories. (One extra 150-calorie can of soda per day will produce a yearly weight gain of 15.6 pounds).

Lustig argues that the current obesity epidemic can be blamed on a marked increase in the consumption of a type of sugar called fructose over the last 30 years. Fructose is a component of the two most popular sugars: sucrose or table sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup, which has become ubiquitous in soft drinks and many processed foods.

Lustig says that fructose is toxic in large quantities because it is metabolized in the liver in the same way as alcohol, which drives fat storage and makes the brain think it is hungry.

"Soft drinks are poison," says Dr. Robert Lustig of UCSF

“People are searching for answers to this epidemic that make sense,” he says. “The science of fructose metabolism in the liver and fructose action in the brain turn the normal cycle of energy balance into a vicious cycle of consumption and disease.”

“What the liver does to fructose is really unique,” Lustig says. Fructose does not suppress the hunger hormone. If you pre-load a kid with a can of soda and let him loose at a fast-food restaurant they will eat MORE because fructose doesn’t suppress the hunger hormone grehlin.”

A “FACTORY FOR ANEMIA AND OBESITY”
The soft drinks industry in Mexico is big business. Nationwide, there are about 250 bottling plants. Between them they produce some 300 million cases of soft drinks a year, worth about $15.5 billion US dollars. (4)

“Our country has become a factory for producing anemia and obesity, because people with such habits go from malnutrition to obesity by substituting nutritious drinks with soda pop,” Dolores Rojas, coordinator of Oxfam Mexico, said.

Alarmingly, the rate of childhood obesity in Mexico is increasing rapidly. A 2002 study found that 30% of elementary school children in Mexico City and 45% of adolescents were either overweight or obese.

A “PARADISE” FOR JUNK FOOD COMPANIES
According the the Health Commission of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies, the country has become a “paradise” for food and drink processing firms offering products with little or no nutritive value. Alarmingly, the highest rates of increase in soft drinks consumption are in the poorer parts of the country.

In Mexico and many other countries with a western fast food diet, children as young as 6 months are being diagnosed and treated for obesity

I began to notice soft drinks all around me. There were huge double trailers full of the stuff barreling down the highway, floor-to-ceiling refrigerators, soda machines, street vendors, you-name-it.

The effects of sugary drinks–both carbonated soft drinks and sweetened juices–are devastating the health of the Mexican people.

Mexico has the highest rate of diabetes in the world, more than 11.9% The total number of patients diagnosed with diabetes has risen seven-fold since 1990. Diabetes is now the leading cause of death and costs the country more than $300 million annually.

Still or sparkling water, regular milk are soft-drink alternatives. However, unless a home or school has a specially plumbed water purification system in place (our home doesn’t and neither do any of the local schools) people usually have to buy bottled or purified water. And the bottled water racket, too, is owned by the soft drink companies. The only thing they don’t own are the mountains of discarded plastic bottles that litter every corner of the country.

Beverage companies owe their strong profits in Mexico in large part to a pervasive mistrust of tap water that took root in the early 1990s amid cholera outbreaks.Health authorities encouraged Mexicans to turn to bottled water, which led to a proliferation of unregulated companies hawking ­”purified” water.

A woman enjoys a swig of water from a PET plastic bottle

Many Mexicans also took to boiling tap water to ensure its safety, but a climb in natural gas prices in the middle part of the last decade made that a more expensive proposition.

The National Water Commission says 9% of the population lacks access to tap water and 13% to sanitation.

In Mexico City, where a powerful 1985 earthquake fractured many water mains, authorities have struggled to maintain the water delivery system. About 30% of the city’s water is lost to leakage.

In 2010 the UN Development Program ranked Mexico 106th out of 122 countries for drinking water quality. (6)

THROWAWAY PLASTIC BOTTLES: AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER
The Beverage Marketing Corp. in New York City says Mexico’s bottled water market composes 13 percent of the world’s total, and has grown at 8 percent for each of the past five years.

Big companies see the boom in bottled water consumption in developing countries such as Mexico, India, China

Single-use plastic water bottles are "cool" in Mexico, where the public is distrustful of government-supplied drinking water. But only a tiny fraction of plastic bottles are recycled

and Indonesia as a godsend since consumers in Europe, once a stronghold of bottled water, have rebelled against throwaway plastic bottles as harmful to the environment.

Mexico is behind that awareness curve. Bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate—PET—have become a national environmental curse throughout the country.

Plastic industry officials here say Mexico uses more PET per capita than any other country: roughly 460,000 tons a year—55,000 tons in Mexico City alone.

PET plastic is eminently recyclable, and its fiber is used to produce carpets, shirts, sweaters and other products. But only an estimated 30,000 tons of what Mexico uses annually is recycled. Consumers aren’t accustomed to recycling the bottles, and the prices for recycled PET varies greatly, which hampers recycling efforts.

The rest takes up space in landfills or is strewn about the country, clogging storm drains and causing flooding, providing incubators for mosquitoes and other pests and, in general, creating a disgusting mess.

“The sale of water has risen on the order of 8 percent, while soft drinks rose 2 percent,” Pepsi Mexico President Juan Gallardo Thurlow announced in early April, 2010. (5)

“Bottled water and soft drinks consumption in Mexico has been growing for the past 5 years. This definitely rings in good news for the PET market as bottled water and carbonated soft drinks (CSD) are the two main applications for PET,” the PET industry crowed, without ever mentioning the environmental disaster they were causing.

Mexico’s urban waste exceeds 36 million tons a year, three times the equivalent figure for Canada. Many municipalities in Mexico have initiated recycling programs, primarily focused on aluminum, glass, certain plastics and paper. However, in 2008 only 3.3% of Mexico’s total urban waste was recycled. Waste from larger towns and cities, about half of the total, is deposited in properly operated sanitary landfills. Waste from smaller communities often ends up in dumps, two thirds of which are uncontrolled. (7)

NEW YORK CITY: A ROLE MODEL FOR REDUCING OBESITY TRENDS?
A major reversal of fortune in the Soda Wars seem to have come on September 14, 2012, when the New York City Board of Health voted into law Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest anti-sugar, anti-obesity initiative:, restricting the

Half of all New Yorkers are overweight. In an effort to slow down the growth of overweight or obese people, New York City has initiated a ban on soft drinks larger than 16 ounces

sale of sugary beverages in portions larger than 16 ounces in any of the 24,000 restaurants, movie theater snack bars, fast food joints and other food service establishments that the city already regulates.

Forget the howls of protest about New York’s new regulation and there’s some common-sense science at work. Many cities have tried to tax soft drinks small amounts–say a penny a cup. Those taxes haven’t worked.

On the other hand, cigarette taxes have proven effective because they’re much steeper, up to 50 percent of the value of the product. A 50% tax on soft drinks won’t fly. Bloomberg’s initiative is based on psychological research that shows people are happy to choose from what options are presented to them. Remove the option for a 64-ounce drink and most people won’t care (after a while).

OK, maybe not if they still have a soft spot in their hearts for a a Big Gulp.  But eventually: “No Big Gulp? No problem. I’ll just buy two 16 ounce sodas if I’m really thirsty.”

Here’s the irony in drinking sodas to quench your thirst. One of the reasons they’re loaded with sugar is to mask the taste of the salt. Salt is added to make you thirsty. The more soda you drink, the thirstier you become.

It’s too early to tell if Bloomberg’s strategy will work, but it’s innovative. It has pushed the soda wars debate onto the national stage in the US, which is a good thing.

HOW DID MY LIFE CHANGE?
So how did all this information change my life? I’ve never been a big drinker of sodas. But now, except for an occasional tonic water (for a gin and tonic), I am 100% off of soft drinks and juices. My wife NEVER drank soft drinks.

It feels great. I’ve lost about 10 pounds and am still losing weight almost effortlessly. I have no cravings for soft drinks. For quick snacks, we’ve substituted fresh seasonal fruit.

SOURCES

1, 2, 3:  http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2011/09/06/mexico-leads-world-in-consumption-sugary-drinks-study-says/#ixzz2784fMwnq

4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

5: http://geo-mexico.com/?p=1086

5: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20100527/wl_mcclatchy/3518260

6: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ivancastano/2012/02/22/mexicos-water-war/

7: http://geo-mexico.com/?p=2810

8: http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Polyethylene/Mexico-PET-Bottles17feb04.htm

For an excellent PowerPoint synopsis of many studies about sugary drinks and what YOU can do to protect your health, visit: www.dumpsoda.org/GlobalDumpSoftCampaign.ppt

Soulful Blues Coming to Baja

I love the blues. In fact, if you had to ask me, I’d say they’re my favorite genre of music. That’s why I’m excited about the Baja Blues Festival which will be touring our peninsula home this winter and spring.

The Baja Good Life Club will produce a ten-day, seven city fundraising concert series and silent auction tour entitled The “Incredible Baja Travelin’ Blues Show” (www.bajablues.com) to support the children of Baja.

The tour will run from January 8 through April 17, 2013 and will feature the best blues artists from the west coast of the United States and Baja at small venues in some of Baja’s finest hotels and resorts.

Mercedes Moore and her band will play at the 2013 Baja Blues Festival

This 2013 season the “Incredible Baja Travelin’ Blues Show” will feature Lisa Cee, Mercedes Moore Band, Chet Cannon and the Committee, and John January’s Rare Creed.

The tour will include shows in

• Rosarito Beach
• Ensenada
• San Felipe
• Loreto
• La Paz
• Los Barriles
• Los Cabos.

The “Incredible Baja Travelin’ Blues Show” is directed by John and Rachel Pack who have been producing events for more than a decade. In Baja, John and Rachel have produced/co-produced/hosted many charity events for children, including the Baja Love Ride, a multi-day cycling event from Rosarito Beach to San Felipe; 6 years of the Blues & Arts Fiesta in San Felipe held in Spring; and the inaugural Baja Blues Fest at Rosarito Beach Hotel held this summer.

Coyote Mike and the Wetbacks

In addition, this summer they walked 850 miles, from San Felipe to Cabo San Lucas on their Baja Walk to support Baja children.

The “Incredible Baja Travelin’ Blues Show” is way of extending the support music provides the children, by extending the music throughout Baja and throughout the season.

“We don’t want the music to stop”, says John Pack, “but build all year, providing the kids with seasonally steady support”. The “Incredible Baja Travelin’ Blues Show” provides Baja community charities with a fun, friendly way to raise funds for the community’s kids. All funds raised at the “Incredible Baja Travelin’ Blues Show” auctions stay in the community of the show to support the unique needs of each community. Please visit and follow the Incredible Baja Travelin’ Blues Show at www.bajablues.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BajaTravelinMusic.

The Baja Good Life Club is an expat club for full and part-time residents of Baja California. The club publishes annual books “Baja Good Life Guides”, a weekly Baja Report newsletter, and “Baja California” magazine monthly. Contact: Rachel Pack, Phone: (619) 550-0190, P.O. Boc 9019-460, Calexico, CA 92231, www.bajagoodlife.com.

Reblogged from www.bajagoodlife.com

Todos Santos was rockin’ at last year’s Todos Santos Music Festival, and this year promises another great show.

Peter Buck will once again be bringing his musical friends back to Mexico for the second annual Todos Santos Music Festival in the Baja region on Jan. 10-26, 2013. The first weekend, Jan. 10-12, is set to feature Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 and The Minus 5.

The Posies and The Baseball Project (Buck’s themed band with Steve Wynn and Scott McCaughey) will play the next weekend. Alejandro Escovedo and Joseph Arthur are set to close things down on Jan. 24-25.

The Elected, Kev’n Kinney, Jon Langford, and Ken Stringfellow will also play sometime during the fest. Mexican acts such as Torreblanca will also join the lineup this year.

Admission is free, except for the smaller Hotel California sets which are $2. VIP packages, which range from $15 to $75, will get you anything from a better seat to complimentary buffet, beer and margaritas.

Miguel Hidalgo in front of the church where he launched the Revolution

 ¡Viva Mexico! ¡Viva Dolores Hidalgo!
Dolores Hidalgo is where, after centuries of Spanish exploitation, Mexicans began a revolution that ultimately overthrew their hated European overlords.  The action started on September 16, 1810 and ended  eleven years later. Viva la Revolucion! 

For an American such as myself, this tiny town (population about 60,000) is like visiting Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Boston all rolled into one. This puebla truly is the birthplace of modern Mexico.

Today, the charming town is quintessentially Mexican, and worth a few hours’ visit. Penny and I came in mid-August, 2012 and never saw another gringo the entire half-day we spent. However, we’ve heard that around mid-Spetember revolution celebrations the town is packed and accommodations are virtually impossible to find.

Brightly painted buildings on the Plaza in Dolores Hidalgo

Soaking Up the Action in Downtown Dolores Hidalgo
The town centers around a beautiful, shady Plaza Principal, with the imposing pink stone facade of the Parroquia de Nuestra Senora de Dolores (Parish of our Lady of Sorrows). It was inside or out on the front steps of this church (historians disagree on the exact location) that parish priest Miguel Hidalgo issued his now-famous “grito” (shout) for independence.

Today, all the action centers within a few blocks of the very pleasant Plaza Principal, where an imposing bronze of Hidalgo keeps an eye on things. It’s fun just walking around the shops within a few blocks of the plaza and soaking up la vida Mexicana. We found some outrageous Harlequin-colored, pointy-toed cowboy boots. Be sure to sample ice cream from any vendor in town, including exotic flavors such as guacamole, rose petal, various fruits, tequila, chicharone (fried pork rind) and even shrimp and octopus.

Miguel Hidalgo developed Talavera ware 200 years ago

No Ordinary Parish Priest
Hidalgo…what a guy! He spoke five languages, including the native Otomi tongue, was a superb musician, orator, and dancer who also researched cures for devastating diseases affecting the area. He developed pottery techniques to create colorful talavera ware, which is still sold on practically every street in town. He encouraged local people to plant olives and grapes, a direct challenge to the Catholic establishment. He didn’t believe in hell. And, he defied his church overlords by having a mistress and several children out of wedlock.

An Untimely End
When Hidalgo called for an end to slavery in Mexico, the enraged Spanish government excommunicated him for heresy. But it was too late. As a military leader, Hidalgo tapped into a huge reservoir of discontent that swelled the numbers of his troops. At first, he led a successful military campaign to San Miguel, Celaya, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas. But his troops were repelled by much more heavily armed Spanish forces at the gates of Mexico City.

Hidalgo was captured, and on July 30, 1811, executed by firing squad. He was beheaded, and his head was sent back to Guanajuato where it hung in a cage for ten years along with the heads of other rebel leaders. But rather than quell the tide of nationalism, these grisly trophies kept alive the memory and spirit of sacrifice of the heroic martyrs.

Accordion music flows from the front of an old cantina

Check out the National Independence Museum (located at Zacatecas 6), admission is 35 pesos (about $3.50 USD; free on Sundays). It features eight rooms of displays, but dust off your Spanish to read all of the excellent signage.

Also worth a visit is Also known as the Home of Don Miguel Hidalgo (located at the corner of Hidalgo and Morelos); it is also known as “House of Tithe.” This beautiful colonial building dates back to 1779. The country’s founding father lived here from 1804 to 1810. It exhibits historical objects and furniture and is open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 am. to 5:45 pm.

Getting to Dolores Hidalgo
I recommend using either the pleasant towns of San Miguel de Allende or Guanajuato as a base, and making a day trip to Dolores Hidalgo.

Mexico City to Guanajuato estimated travel time: 4 hours, 5 minutes. Distance: 346 KM or 215 miles
Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende estimated travel time: 3 hours 9 minutes. Distance: 282 KM or 175 miles

Penny and I started our trip to Dolores Hidalgo from Guanajuato. Buses are easy, cheap, and frequent–at least one every 30 minutes until about 10 PM. Don’t let the Google Map estimations fool you. They say the trip takes 35 minutes. Wrong! It took us 90 minutes to get to Dolores Hidalgo from San Miguel de Allende and a much faster (and more hair-raising) one-hour ride on the return trip. Everyone with whom we spoke said the Metropolitano buses seem to offer the fastest service.