Tsunami simulation next week

Earthquake and Tsunami simulation

Education and preparation the 17th and 18th

The actual simulation is Saturday the 17th

MacroSimulacro

Proteccion Civil Jalisco

Thunder over the muntains

It's been booming for over an hour but it's not likely to produce any rain or weather here on the coast. WU says we might get thunder showers tomorrow and Monday but I think they mean the whole South West of Jalisco. I'm not really sure where this activity comes from but most likely moist air convection from the ocean. You see this most summer afternoons in Hawaii but the mountains there are steep and close to the ocean.

Civil Protection Warnings

With unusually large surf for the last few days and the festivities of Semana Santa -- Civil Protection recommends that people take their precautions before entering into any body of water, watch the children and not swimming after eating food or alcoholic beverages.

Warnings come after a drowning in Arroyo Seco and a rescue in Perula and a rescue in Melaque

Melaque west end beach

Civil Protection Lifeguard

Last day for 15% discount for Tarjeta de Circulacion

Last day for 15% discount for Tarjeta de Circulacion

La SEPAF informa que a partir de 2015, el recibo de pago hará las veces de tarjeta de circulación, la cual llegará posteriormente a su domicilio, según lo dispuesto en el artículo tercero transitorio de la Ley de Ingresos, que aprobó el Congreso de Jalisco.

El plazo para realizar el pago del Refrendo Vehicular 2015 concluye el 31 de marzo próximo, y su costo es de 476 pesos. Los contribuyentes cumplidos se beneficiarán con descuentos escalonados, según la fecha en que realice el pago:

 
MES DE PAGO             BENEFICIO                  PAGO TOTAL
Enero                             15%                         405 pesos
Febrero                          10%                         428 pesos
Marzo                             5%                          452 pesos

Free Spay & Neuter Clinic - Melaque

Our group has been asked to collaborate with the Jalisco State Health Department in hosting a free Spay & Neuter Campaign in Melaque next week. The mobile surgical van will be located at the Melaque Jardín for 5 days. This will be the first time the mobile unit is in Melaque, and our goal is to attend 100 animals. We've been told that if it goes well we might be able to get them back here a couple times each year.

Please help us to promote this campaign. One of the most helpful things you can do is offer to assist your friends or neighbors in bringing their animals in for sterilization.

Bamboo building course

Curso Bambú: Construyendo el Desarrollo Sustentable           Bamboo: Building Sustainability

Aprende de silvicultura, tratamiento, usos y transformacion del bambú. Conoce porque el bambú es una buena opción para el desarrollo sustentable  y como sacarle el mayor provecho. Disfruta de este curso dinámico en La Costalegre de Jalisco, México, un verdadero paraíso tropical.   Learn how to grow, treat, process, use and build with bamboo.  Learn why bamboo is an excellent option for building sustainability and how to benefit from it. Enjoy this dynamic course on the Costalegre, Jalisco, Mexico--a true tropical paradise. This dynamic course covers bamboo cultivation techniques, treatment, processing and construction, in addition to transformation of bamboo into artisanal furniture.  The goal is that participants will be able to design and build with bamboo, as well as cultivate it.  The course balances theory and practice.   The course instructor is Mayolo Hernández, one of the experts on bamboo in Mexico.   The course is designed for students, designers, builders, contractors and anyone interested in learning how to build with bamboo. Costo del Curso /Course Costs:     $4,000 PESOS por persona. Incluye materiales, desayunos, comidas, una cena además de un paseo eco-turistico de observación de aves en el manglar de La Mazanilla.*     $335 USD per person.  Includes: materials, breakfasts, lunches, one dinner and an interpretive mangrove birding tour.*   * Pregúntanos por tus opciones de hospedaje  * Ask about accommodation options   Fechas del Curso / Course Dates: 21-24 de Abril, 2014  / April 21-24, 2014 Mayores Informes / For More Information:   davison.collins@gmail.com   www.tierralegre.org/es/cursos/bambu   www.tierralegre.org/courses/bamboo ¡Insríbete Ahora! Hay cupo limite de 25 personas.  Depósito completo requirido para reservar tu espacio.  Envíanos un correo con tu ficha de depósito.    Sign up Now! The course limit is 25 participants.  Full deposit necessary to reserve your space. Send us an e-mail with your deposit receipt.  For U.S. deposits, request U.S. bank account info.   Titular: Davison Daryl Collins Banco: Banamex Sucursal: 0736 Cuenta: 47398 CLABE: 002385073600473981   MX Cel:  (315) 104-5442 MX Tel:   (315) 351-5305 U.S. Tel: (865) 230-7995 María Asunción No. 49-A, La Manzanilla,  Jalisco, C.P. 48898, MEXICO

Melaque Moments

Published on Aug 31, 2012 by Mickey Coughran
Photos taken in and around Melaque, Jalisco, Mexico, between 2007 and 2012.
Music by Lalo. "Artistic effects" via multiple software programs.
My first attempt at loading to YouTube

Current issue with Hotel Melaque

Talking to a local friend about what's up with the hotel and he says that General Marcelino Garcia Barragan, former Secretary of Defense and former Jalisco Governor  was behind the construction along with his Tecuan property and other projects in the area.  He somehow talked a few Ejido Emiliano Zapata (Ranchito) members into "leasing" the land with only a verbal agreement and agreed the property would revert to the Ejido when he died.  Maybe everything was done that way back in the '50's.  Now it's a battle between the Barragan family and the Ejido.   He also said that whole area is fill for elevation since it used to become a river mouth in the summer.   That's the rumor anyway  ...

Melaque 1955

Here's an excerpt from the book The Magic of Careyes which is basically a coffee table foto album but does have some info on the history of Careyes and the Costalegre:

The Jalisco coast had remained pristine until 1944, halfway through the twentieth century, when the state governor, General Marcelino García Barragán, introduced an initiative called Marcha hacia el mar (“March to the Sea”). García Barragán had a road built from Guadalajara to Melaque, to allow ranchers to settle that part of Jalisco. He himself claimed ownership of a beach called El Tecuán. The story of the coastal colonization he initiated would later become the subject of Agustín Yáñez’s novel La tierra pródiga (“The Prodigal Land”), written in the late 1950s, during the years that Yáñez himself served as governor of Jalisco.

In his novel, Yáñez reflected on the natural resources of the state’s coastal regions, which had been monopolized by lumber companies, land usurpers, cattle thieves and horse thieves. He was very skeptical about colonization, after seeing the destruction that the March to the Sea had caused in Melaque: “Heavy equipment kept arriving […] advancing heavily, slowly, inexorably. They tore down trees, broke down mountains, filled abysses. […] Monstrous tractors, gigantic bulldozers, colossal scrapers and enormous dump trucks. They came from the East, the North, the South, marching toward the sea.” Yáñez’s world was peopled with fascinating, crooked caciques (land owners) such as El Amarillo, the novel’s main character, based on Rodolfo Paz Vizcaíno, owner of Tenacatita ranch. Guillermo Gargollo knew him well. “The legend (of his own fabrication) has it that he was a brutal man, who had killed many people. Later, I realized it wasn’t true, but still, we were scared of him.”

On one of Gargollo’s trips to the coast, he discovered that Paz Vizcaíno had stolen their equipment in Cuixmala in order to build access roads to the beaches in Tenacatita. He built a hotel there and named it Los Ángeles Locos . Paz Vizcaíno had always been a fortunate man, but he never had the chance to stay at that hotel, and ended up losing it along with the rest of his properties, which were repossessed after he was charged with fraud involving the Banco Regional de Crédito de Occidente. The story did not end well: he was sent to prison, and then to a mental hospital, or so they say.

 
And then ... a web site I had not seen (hard to tell what is truth or from the book)
Rodolfo Paz - Tenacatita Visionary

In the fifties, Rodolfo Paz Vizcaino had a dream: to found a city in the middle of nowhere which would become the tourist destination that the country needed. This is the tale of his dream, the story of a person who had everything and ended up with nothing.

Rodolfo Paz - Tenacatita Visionary

The Prodigal Land

I was looking for more information on General Marcelino García Barragán who had a great deal to do with the development of the Costalegre when I found mention of the book "The Prodigal Land" (La Tierra Prodiga) in another article from "The Magic of Careyes".   Further searching brought me to Agustin's Blog below.   Sadly he didn't continue with his translation to English.   More later on The Magic of Careyes and other rumors.

The Prodigal Land, refers to the territory that is part of Jalisco in the coastal region of the Mexican Pacific, today this area is called “Costa Alegre (happy coast)” and is an area with great natural beauty and richness.

But the novel takes place about 60 years ago, when the area was totally undeveloped, and here we find how this tale begins:

My grandfather was Governor of the State of Jalisco between 1953 and 1959, I will explain how this happened later on, and while being governor, one of the rich land owners of Jalisco’s Coast invited him to travel with his family to see the beauties of the area, to motivate my Grandfather to build a road that connected Guadalajara with that area. So my grandfather travelled with my grandma, my dad and his sisters and brother in a small cessna plane to the airport this land owner had built in the middle of the coastal jungle.

Agustinyanez's Blog

Progress on El Naranjo II

Manzanillo, Colima. - The director general of Colima National Water Commission (Conagua), Aaron Modesto Mendoza, reported that to date, the construction of the Dam El Naranjo has moved long 25% after hurricane " Jova "(October 2011) destroyed much of what was up. The work is on the border of Colima and Jalisco.

The head of Conagua noted that after the passage of Jova they have practically started from scratch to build the dam El Naranjo, which will irrigate more than 7,000 hectares and will provide water to neighboring municipalities. Its construction began in 2010 when it had projected an investment of $1.058 million pesos.

Elaborating on the issue of dams, announced in 2012 plans to complete construction of the "Hervidero" in Colima and Veladero de Camotlán in Manzanillo.

Another video of the indigenous school in Pinal Villa

La Escuela #3 - Overview of indigenous school, medical, housing, and music event. This school is just outside Melaque Jalisco on the Costalegre.

False Alarm about Presa El Pedregal overflow

I've wanted to see the new dam up highway 80 called Presa El Pedregal (Stone Dam) but have not had the time or really known it's location.  With all the rain the unpaved roads have been bad and I didn't want to try.  I found this short article and fotos on an area website.

False Alarm Overflow Dam El Pedregal

Given the large amount of water that recent rains have left the coast of Jalisco, residents of San Patricio, Melaque were alarmed by the possibility that the Presa El Pedregal might overflow, thereby causing some panic.

In this situation , the Municipal Civil Protection Commander AC David Fregoso, told the media that the water levels of the Dam El Pedregal did not represent any danger to the population, since it's about 80 % capacity, which is about 1 million 300 thousand liters, Added to this, he said the dam is displacing water in a controlled and moderate manner.

La Presa El Pedregal, which recently opened in this rainstorm has gathered a considerable amount of water preventing areas in Melaque from flooding as they have previously .

Photos: David Fregoso

Costa Pródiga Article

Tsunami warning system to be ready by May 31

Tsunami warning system to be ready by May 31
Written by GR Staff
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Guadalajara Reporter

JALISCO - Governor Emilio Gonzalez this week checked out progress on the the first tsunami alert and detection system in Latin America, which is due to be phased in along the Jalisco coastline in time for the tropical cyclone season.

The project is centered in Cihuatlan and aims to alert coastal populations of any threat of a tsunami.

Gonzalez observed the workings of the network and its 27 detection units that will be installed along 290 kilometers of coastline, taking in Puerto Vallarta, Tomatlan and Cabo Corrientes. Each unit is located in a place where a rapid warning can be given to the local population, and especially fishermen.

After detecting an alert, the machines will emit the following recorded message: “This is a message from the State Civil Protection System. A seismic shock has been recorded that may cause a tsunami. We ask you to locate evacuation routes and remain alert to further messages.” The announcements will also be transmitted via radio stations and cell phones.

“The major reason for deaths caused by tsunamis is the lack of knowledge and capacity to respond,” commented German Pinto Aceves, Director of Evaluation and Monitoring for the State Civil Protection Department.

Pinto Aceves indicated that once an alert is sent out, the population and his officers will have a minimum of six minutes and a maximum of 14 minutes to respond.

The 27 warning systems will be installed on May 31, in time for the cyclone season.

High water in the Lagoon

I'd heard the Laguna de Tules was filling up again after about 3 days of steady rain from Tropical Depression Lowell as it passed by. Sure enough, the docks along the Malecon (andador or walkway) are about 6 inches under water. The boat is doing OK so maybe a floating dock next time.

On another note, I just read that the Laguna de Tules walkway project failed to get proper environmental permission from the Federal Government. Thats the reason it's closed and not because it's starting to fall apart - which it is.

Dock under water

Looking back towards more rain clouds

Melaque, Costalegre, Jalisco, Mexico

Morning clouds

Morning clouds over the Bay - Melaque, Jalisco Mexico

Primaria Juan Escutia has a new stove

Here's the story

There are actually two schools on the campus (common for Mexico schools). Virginia Torres is the morning section and Juan Escutia is afternoon. Each section has a coopertiva of the parents and separate kitchens. Kind of strange but that's the way it is.

The Juan Escutia section does not have enough support to get a new (or good used) stove. Each kitchen is rented out by the school to someone but there is not enough money in it without a varied menu which requires a stove.

So we took up a collection even using PayPal and got a great response to buy our $3100 peso stove. It will be delivered later today. The kitchen is not quite ready so it will sit in the directors office for maybe a week.

Muebles Hogar in Melaque has good prices

The MABE brand stove with quality burners
Melaque, Jalisco Mexico

Tropical storm Douglas

Tropical storm Douglas formed off Mexico on Wednesday, threatening to strengthen and dump heavy rain to a large swathe of its Pacific coastline. Packing maximum sustained winds of near 40 mph (65 kph) and higher gusts, Douglas was centered 245 miles (395 km) west southwest of the resort of Manzanillo in Colima state, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.

Douglas was moving northwesterly at 8 mph (13 kph) and headed generally toward the Baja California peninsula, where the Los Cabos resort is located, but was not expected to make landfall on its current track.

"Heavy rains associated with Douglas could affect portions of the southwestern coast of Mexico between Lazaro Cardenas and Puerto Vallarta," the center said.

Three days of rain in Melaque but the ground was not saturated so there was no flooding. They did open the lagoon to the ocean (first time this year) so the bay was full of debris and lirio

West end beach restaurants and panagas


West end beach where the canal opens

Melaque, Costalegre, Jalisco, Mexico

Celebration of San Patricio - Saint Patrick's

The Saint Patrick's day celebration here is always on the the 17th but Easter moves around. This year they run together making more or less a 3 week holiday in Melaque. Below are a few fotos of the fireworks and the carnival that I took the kids to on the 15th. Really a fancier display this year than ever before with the 'sky-rockets' and 10 toritos. We left before the toritos (guys running thru the crowd covered with fireworks going off) because we were cold and the little kids were afraid of them. Keeping your distance is really a smart idea

Just one of the many ways to spend a lot of money


What a relief to have the kids calm down and sit for a half hour


Part of the castillo fireworks on the plaza


Some real fireworks this year - above a 'corona' and the moon


Some Castillo fireworks from last year


San Patricio, Melaque, Saint Patrick, Costalegre, Jalisco

The Melaque Cave

If anyone has wanted to check out the cave - now is the time to do it. They have the whole area in front cleared. Not sure if this is a once a year thing to keep the brush down or if something is planned.

Oddly enough I noticed a small sign on the lateral street saying Rapel and an arrow pointing in that direction. The cliff is pretty shear so it might be the next Melaque attaction.

The Cave entrance just off the highway

The rock face they'll use to rapel

"Some fellows, I think from Guadalajara, came by our store over Semana Santa and asked if they could put up a poster about Rapeling in Melaque, they also had a poster up at Christmas. Don't know much about it apart from that but the poster is still up in the office with a contact number from the 333 exchange if anyone feels like jumping off a cliff."


Besides clearing the land they won't have to do much except maybe build a palapa to work out of.

Baseball in Melaque

Baseball in Melaque and Barra de Navidad has been a long time coming. The collecting of equipment started almost 2 years ago and it seems we are finally seeing the results. Pedro of Seamaster in Barra has been the collector, organizer and promoter of kids baseball in our area.

Foto and info from Jim Dobson

"These pics were taken at the soccer field in Melaque , the man in the middle is a school teacher and I have forgot his name but he is a coach . Pedro and I are on the end, these kids are sure excited about the chance to play ball and it shows. As soon as Pedro sends me the pictures of the first game and the kids in uniform I will send them."