Eco Travels Calendar:
Central Mexico Tour
Visit the high country of Mexico. This tour takes place in the Spanish
colonial cities of Guadalajara, Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende - with a
view of everything in between and also a visit to the largest lake in Mexico.
There is plenty of free time to explore the countryside and ecology. For more
information, see http://www.mexconnect.com/MEX/holr/holr1.html or email David
Holroyd at dholroyd@infored.com.mx
EcoPassages, Inc.
Join Dr. Arthur Gaines of Woods Hole for a Coastal Marine ecotour of the
Dominican Republic or St. Vincent and the Grenadines aboard the Schooner
Kathryn B. Phone: 508.887.0959, email: info@ecopassages.com; Website:
http://www.ecopassages.com.
(Note - there is a small fee for items placed in the Eco Travels calendar)
Book Reviews - by Ron Mader
Gringos in Honduras
by Guillermo Yuscaran (William Lewis)
(Tegucigalpa: Nuevo Sol, 1995)
The author ventured to Honduras in the early 70s and has become a notable
author and painter in the past twenty years. In this book he traces the life
stories of a diverse group of Gringos, including William Walker, O. Henry,
John Lloyd Stephens, Lee Christmas and Archie Carr. Excellent reading material
for anyone venturing to Honduras - though the book may be hard to find outside
the country.
Honduras & Bay Islands Guide
by J.P. Papanet with Leah Hart and Paul Glassman
(New York: Open Road Publishing, 1996)
I was told "there are no guide books on Honduras," when I started thinking of
writing an environmental tourism guide. Well, there are a few - including Open
Road's title. Good history and plenty of details. But I'm still more fond of:
Honduras Travel Guide
by Brad Martin
(published by the author, 1996)
This continually updated guidebook is the print version of Brad's ubiquitous
Honduras advice, widely distributed via the Internet. Is there a greater
Honduras booster in the hemisphere? For general information, there is no
better bet than Honduras Travel Guide. The book is available for $25. Contact
Brad Martin, PO Box 531, Mountain View, CA 94042; Email: Honduras1@aol.com
Sierra Club Wetlands Reader
edited by Sam Wilson and Tom Moritz
(San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1996)
One of the post-modern truths is that there is fact in fiction and fiction in
fact. This is demonstrated in the delightful Wetlands Readers, which
celebrates the fast-eroding ecosystem in essays and stories by John Wesley
Powell, Aldo Leopold, Gary Paul Nabhan, Mark Twain and Marjory Stoneman
Douglas. From Peter Matthiessen to mitigation banking - this book boasts an
impressive, holistic approach to a rather murky subject.
The Meanings of Macho: Being a Man in Mexico City
by Matthew Gutmann
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996)
Anthropology should be so insightful. Gutmann, wife Michelle McKenzie and
daughter spent a year in the colonia Santo Domingo from 1992-1993. The
publisher calls this the "first detailed ethnography of machismo in Mexico."
With vignettes and theory in hand, Gutmann carefully reviews the stereotype of
"macho" with the finesse of a classical novelist. Again, the University of
California Press demonstrates that academic work doesn't need to be boring!
Decentralization of Environmental Protection in Mexico
Environmental Law Institute, 1996
The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) released the long-awaited and
well-written guide "Decentralization of Environmental Protection in Mexico: An
Overview of State and Local Laws and Institutions" funded in part by the EPA.
Contents include "Federal-State Jurisdiciton Under Mexican Law," "Legal
Framework for Environmental Protection in States of Baja California, Mexico,
Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca and Veracruz." The report costs $85. For info, call
202-939-3844 or 800-433-5120. Internet Web: http://www.eli.org/
Ecotheology
edited by David G Hallman
(Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994)
Linking Biblical scholars in both developing and industrialized countries,
this book is an excellent and eclectic review of spirituality and
environmentalism. Sections focus on indigenous peoples, eco-feminism, ethics
(!) and theological interpretations. Ecotheology is not a New-Age, Feel-Good
tract but a serious and lively work that accelerates North-South linkages.
The Tenth Insight
by James Redfield
(New York: Warner Books, 1996)
A New Age, Feel Good tract - The Tenth Insight has all the subtlety of a
Policy Academy sequel. (This book is the follow-up to the Indiana
Jones-meets-Shirley MacLaine Celestine Prophesy). The narrator should have
remained in Peru.
Eco Travel Resources
Big Hotels and Costa Rica's "Ecotourism"
Harry Pariser, author of Adventure Guide to Costa Rica, has an interesting
web page detailing the Playa Tambor project in Costa Rica. The original
description has been removed from his book. The URL of the web page is
http://www.catch22.com/~vudu/tambor.html. Costa Rica is often cited as a
"model" of ecotourism. Here's one of the rough spots. For more info, contact
Harry at (415) 665-4829 or write 1327 9th Av., No. 1, San Francisco, CA
94122; Email: vudu@Catch22.COM
Whale Watching in Mexico
Serge Dedina (email: serge@u.arizona.edu) and Emily Young conducted research
on the cultural and political ecology of ecotourism in Baja California Sur,
Mexico. The focus was on gray whale tourism in San Ignacio Lagoon and
Magdalena Bay. According to their survey, local people receive less than one
percent of gross profits from U.S. ecotourism companies.
"Conservation and Development in the Gray Whale Lagoons of Baja California
Sur, Mexico" was published by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Technical
Information Service. To obtain a copy of the report, contact: the Marine
Mammal Commission, 1825 Connecticut Ave., NW, Rm. 512, Washington, DC 20009;
Fax: 202-606-5510.
World Bank
The bank's Environment Department has released "Paper 033" in its
biodiversity series titled "Ecotourism and Conservation: A Review of Key
Issues" by Katrina Brandon. It's a compentent overview of the issues with case
studies throughout the world. Address: 1818 H Street, NW, Washington DC 20433.
Seeking International Distribution
One of the best collections of photography from Latin America that I've ever
seen is updated each year is the "Agenda: Honduras al Natural" produced by
Vincente Murphy. He has no trouble selling the calendar/agenda in Honduras -
but it's not widely available elsewhere. Contact him at EcoArte, Apdo Postal
3158, Tegucigalpa, Honduras Central America; Phone: (504) 36-9103.
Borderlands Waste
The National Law Center and the Centro Juridco para el Comercio
Interamericano (JURICI) are finalizing "Disparities between Law and Practice
in the Management of Hazardous Waste in the US and Mexico." For info, call
520-522-1200 or email natlaw@natlaw.com. Web: http://www.natlaw.com/
Interhemispheric Resource Center
A favorite clearinghouse for information on Central America and Mexico has
moved!. The new address is Box 2178, Silver City, New Mexico 88062; Phone:
505-388-0208. Request their 1996 Catalogue of publications, including
Cross-Border Links and the Inside series to Central America.
Honduras Media
A recent trip to Honduras found some very interesting sources of information:
Honduras This Week - a weekly, English-language newspaper published in
beautiful Tegucigalpa. Politically independent - it analyzes the weeks events
and provides a good cross section of cultural and environmental affairs that
transcend usual "lifestyle" coverage. Subscriptions are $48/year in the United
States, $85 in Europe and 150 Limpiras in Honduras. Send check or
international money order to Honduras This Week, PO Box 1312, Tegucigalpa,
Honduras. Fax: 504 32-2300. Email: hontweek@hondutel.hn; Web:
http://www.marrder.com/htw/
Honduras Tips - published by John DuPuis in beautiful Copan Ruinas, is a
quarterly newsletter, well worth the $6 (or $20/year). The new April-June
issue includes new maps of San Pedro Sula, La Ceiba, Tela, Gracias and Copan.
By the way, this newsletter is also produced on a Mac.
Also -
Coconut Telegraph
Cooper Building, Suite 301
Coxen Hole
Roatan, Honduras 34101
Phone: (504) 45-1660
Fax: (504) 45-1659
- subscriptions to the US are $35 per year; $40 to Canada and $45 elsewhere.
Flora y Fauna (Periodico ecologico mensual)
3 Calle, 5 y 6 ave., NO
Barrio Guamilito
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
57-2089
59-0603
Contact: Juan de Dios Fajarado
Mexico and Central America
Cited here before, Vientos Tropicales has just released its June 1996 review
of current literature in El Salvador and Honduras. The company also has
information from Northern Mexico. Geared to academic librarians and
specialists, this is the source for hard to find info. Vientos Tropicales, PO
Box 16176, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-6176; Phone: 919-361-0997; Email:
vientos@vnet.net
Round Up for the Rainforest
Round Up released its Spring 1996 newsletter with info on the Association for
the Development of Rural Amazonia and the Southern Rainforest Conservation
Association, both in Peru. For info, contact Ian Todreas, PO Box 1092,
Brookline, MA 02146; Email: itodreas@igc.apc.org
Turtle Island
The First Bioregional Gathering of the Americas takes place in Tepoztlan,
Morelos November 17-24. For more info, contact Beatrice Briggs, Turtle Island
Office, 4035 Ryan Road, Blue Mounds, WI 53517. Phone: 608-767-3931; Email:
beabriggs@aol.com. The "Voice of the Turtle" newsletter published by Briggs
heralds a newsletter in Mexico titled ArcoRedes, a bi-monthly in its third
year of publication. For info, email arcoredes@laneta.apc.org.
1996 Copyright Ron Mader (ron@txinfinet.com); Contact individual authors for
permission to reprint articles.
--Ron E. Mader, Publisher El Planeta Platica: Eco Travels in Latin America WWW http://www.planeta.com Ron@txinfinet.com ------------------------------------------------------------ InfiNet - an online community for progressive information BBS 512.462.0633 Telnet: shakti.txinfinet.com:3000 WWW http://www.greenbuilder.com