News From Puerto Aventuras
Summer 2006
August 29th 2006 - It finally works
The automatic barrier that was installed almost one year ago at the Residents Only Gate, it is finally working on a reliable way.
It was first installed between Emily and Wilma, so when brand new it was seriously damaged. After being repaired, the frecuent power cuts didn't allow it to be very useful.
Now a new system has been installed. It has been working with no issues for over a month now.
As now the Residents gate works, the security staff started to be more inquisitive with the vehicules using the Visitors gate. So don't get surprised if when using it you are stopped and enquiry about your destination inside Puerto.
If you own property in Puerto and want to avoid the questions and the delays, you can buy a residents card at the Colonos Office for 250 pesos.
August 26th 2006 - We changed for the better
Thanks to the people of the Poblado and their demonstration, we have new crossing topes in the highway. Actually there are two of them. One at the beginning of the Poblado and one at the end of it.
There are big "fat" topes, easy on the car wheels and useful for people to cross over them. They have not only helped the people, they also help the cars to get into Puerto when coming from Playa, as now the traffic that comes towars you runs slow.
Yes is true that for some days we had some extra traffic in the highway, but what can you expect when there is some contruction on it. The good thing was that during these days the Federal Police was here to help. They stayed for almost 2 full weeks, making sure that the traffic was as easy as possible.
Here you can see a picture of the construction of the new topes. You can see that they installed small yellow topes, to warn the night drivers of the work being done.
Last week we received news that the crossing topes were only phase 1 of making the highway a safer place. A pedestrian bridge and a blinking yellow light were to follow.
We didn't want to post until we have more evidence that the work will be done, as this was not the first time that a bridge was promised. Today we saw the machines already inplace, building the bridge, so we thought it was time to communicate the good news.
Soon Puerto and its Poblado de Apoyo will be connected in a saver way. We are glad to know that at least, all the lives lost did not die on vain. Now we can think of them as the trigger for the change for a better Puerto.
August 10th 2006 - Our community wants to help, you too can make a difference.
One thing that make us move to Puerto Aventuras, is the nice community that lives here. We count with people with very big hearts that act more than what they talk.
Donna from Tiramisu and Fred from Aqua Exploration are one of the best examples of this.
Only one day after the sad accident, they are already working on a fund, to help the kids whose parents had died in the highway accidents.
The little 5 year old that lost his mother yesterday was the one who inspired the idea, but unfortunatelly he is not the only one in this situation.
Starting today and until August 27th, we will be collecting money that will be used to buy food and basic supplies for these kids.
If you would like to be part of this effort, just pass by (or send your administrator to) Tiramisu. There, on a closed box, money will be collected.
With some little help from everybody we can make the life of these kids a little bit better, even wen they had such a traumatic experience.
Keep in mind that in the poblado, both parents need to work in order to have the minimum to survive. Having only one parent, these childs are in a very difficult, economical and emotional, situation.
We cannot make the cars to drive slower, we cannot install a traffic light, but we can help putting some rice and beans on the table of the little ones.
We count on your good heart. Thank you.
August 9th 2006 - Mexican Citizens requested inmediate solution
Today an other sad event happened. An other woman from the Poblado of Puerto Aventuras was killed in the Highway. The young 25 year old woman was driving a scooter. A taxi driver run her over and killed her.
She left behind a little one, a 5 year old kid that now will need to grow without his mother.
This was too much for the inhabitants of the poblado, who already burried 64 of their own. After being negotiating with government authorities for more than 18 months and only getting fake promises back, today they say enough is enough. We will not allow an other death to happen.
They pick up big stones and they blocked the highway. Even when authorities came and tried to move them from there, they did not moved. They asked for a solution right there and then or they will not allow one more car to go through.
It was amazing to see how united and organized they acted. They did not move, even when the line of cars was backing up in both lanes of the highway. The policemen where there with a very good attitude. They said "we are here to protect the people of the poblado". Later in the afternoon, the policemen addressed the inhabitants of the poblado and asked them to open at least one lane. The people of Puerto Aventuras, orderly did. They open one lane but they remain in the highway.
We are happy to report that finally this cry for help has been listen to. At 9PM a "tope" was being build in the highway. Today they are still working on a second one. It is bad to see that 65 people needed to die and an entire town needed to act in order for the authorities to start thinking that something needs to be done.
The citizens of the poblado are still asking for a better solution. With the new 4 lanes highway being build, a tope does not seams to be the ideal solution. The Poblado of Puerto Aventuras and Puerto Aventuras Turistic Development together, are asking the authorities for a traffic light. Lets hope that this time they listen and act before we need to cry for more lives.
July 25th 2006 - The Day out of Time
The Mayas have a different calendar than the one we follow. Theirs is a 13 moons (months) one.
July 24th was the last day of the last year, the Year of the Yellow Cosmic Seed. The new year, the Year of the Red Magnetic Moon, will start on July 26th 2006.
This leaves the 25th of July as a day that does not belong to any year. That is why it is called The Day out of Time.
The Mayan name for this day is kin 208: Yellow Cosmic Star. Is a day for meditation, to clean your body and mind from all the bad energy from last year, and get yourself ready to start the new one with no bagage.
A day to dedicate to your family and friends, where no business is done.
Different modern organizations are dedicating this day to celebrate the Peace through Culture.
Enjoy your Day Out of Time and have a Happy New Year!.
July 21st 2006
I was away for 6 weeks, and it is impressive the changes I saw when back in the area. There is defenitely a reason why they say that Playa del Carmen is the city with fastest growth in Latin America.
The new 4 lanes highway, is now open all the way from Playa up to 3 kilometers past Calica bridge. Of course, this opening was done the "Mexican way", meaning that there are no lines painted on the road, and you can see the workers still painting the borders of the central division meanwhile cars drive right beside them at full speed. But anyway, it is open, which makes things easier to go to Playa del Carmen.
The other new development is Centro Maya. Centro Maya is a brand new mall on the Federal Highway, right in front of Sam's. Phase one is already open to the public, offering a hugue Supermarket, Soriana store. To give you an idea of the size of the store, I will say that this new spermarket looks bigger than Walmart and Comercial Mexicana.
Several shops are coming soon in the same mall. On today's edition of Por Esto! (local newspaper), I read an advertisement from Woolworth, announcing that they will also open one store within 6 days at Centro Maya.
This is the same mall that in some months will have 18 brand new screens for our enjoyment.
As you can see, our "shopping" life is becoming more interesting every day. Soon, there will be no more shopping trips to Cancun!
