5th Annual CEA Festival - Treat Our Water Well

Akumal Direct will once again be sponsoring the "Wine and Cheese Table" at this year's CEA Festival in Akumal, February 17th & 18th. Please stop by and say hello!

For more information visit Centro Ecologico Akumal or contact Paula Cook or Alma Boada via email at info@ceakumal.org

This year’s theme, “Treat Our Water Well” is the top priority for 2010. Here are some ways everyone can help.

CEA's Tips to Treat Our Water Well:

• Please don't waste water; make sure faucets are turned off.
• Protect trees, forests and jungles to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation.
• Don’t pollute ground water with cleaning solvents, chemicals, cigarettes, or sanitary napkins.
• Connect your house to adequate drainage systems, septic tanks or wetlands.
• Separate organics and grease.
• Use biodegradable sunblock.
• Don't leave any trash on the beach.
• Capture rainwater for use in the garden.


We are proud to continue to be a part of this annual event. Hope to see you there!
Akumal Direct Reservations

Water World Day 2009

As part of our celebration to commemorate World Water Day, The CEA, in coordination with CAPA (Comision de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado) and the children of Akumal, painted a mural on the new pumping station on 19 March. The painting depicts the hydrological cycle of water.

Over the last three years, CEA’s Water Quality Program carried out an evaluation of the sewage treatment in Akumal to understand the kind of treatment being used in the area, for both the coastal and town sections of Akumal. We found that 49% of the treatment being used in North Akumal is done using artificial wetlands, 27% with just septic tanks and 5% using treatment plants. We did not have access to the rest of the houses. In Akumal Pueblo, we found that in Phase 1, people have sewage, but not all of the houses are connected to the system, and in Phase 2 the people do not have sewage lines. This year, we want to extend the area of research to South Akumal, and conduct a census from Akumal Beach Resort to Bahia Principe, to determine how wastewater is being treated.

With the results of the diagnosis we will be able to determine the activities that we need to promote with the community and the government in order to ensure that all of the sewage is being treated, thus not reaching the underground rivers and eventually the reef.

Now, CEA and CAPA (the state water commission) are doing a census in Akumal Pueblo to find out which houses are not connected to the existing system and we are looking for money to help these people pay for connecting their house. We are working with the Friends of Yal Ku Lagoon and the Yucatan Environmental Foundation to set up a trust fund that will offer micro-credits to low-income households. These funds will be matched by the Mexican state and federal government water agencies. The local program has been named "Hook a House."

4th Annual CEA Wine & Cheese Festival - FEb 25, 2009

FEBRUARY 25, 2009 - CEA CENTER IN AKUMAL, MEXICO

Akumal Direct is proud to continue to be a part of this event which hopes to raise awareness and the many CEA programs that are so important to the continued well being and enjoyment of this little corner of paradise.

Tours, Games, Workshops, Environmental Products, a Silent Auction and much more! - To learn more about the festival please visit the CEA online at www.ceakumal.org To volunteer or donate to the Silent Auction please contact the CEA via email at info@ceakumal.org

Akumal Direct will again be hosting the "Cheese Table" at this years festival. Please stop by and visit with the Akumal Direct staff. We love the CEA and we love cheese!

CEA Annual Save our Seas Gala

Akumal Direct is very proud to have been a sponsor of the third annual, CEA, Save our Seas Festival. Please read below for more information on the gala event. Akumal's Ecological Center has proven to be a valuable resource to our community providing leadership as we work to be the best community we can be and set ever high standards for our selves and other communities around the world. For more information on the CEA, please visit, www.ceakumal.org.

Please read below for more information on the Gala Event (reprinted courtesy of the Centro Ecologico de Akumal website). We hope to see you there next year!

http://ceakumal.org/third_annual_cea_festival__sum.html

Third Annual CEA Festival – Save Our Seas
February 20 & 21, 2008

All of us at CEA would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every person who helped so generously with their time and support to make this 2008 festival such a special event. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and thank you all for participating. CEA’s success depends on its ability to raise funds for its conservation activities, and the annual festivals are an important source of funding. This year we were able to raise just over $10,000 USD from our Silent Auction, Gala Dinner and Online Auction. These funds will be used to focus on implementing our Akumal Bay Management Program, on employing a strategy to improve water quality in the Akumal region, and on beginning this year’s turtle nesting season with everything in place to make sure as many hatchlings as possible safely make their way to the sea, among other goals for 2008. We started the festival with a beach clean-up, puppet show, sand sculptures and a performance by Veinte Varos. In the evening, a wine and cheese hour began with the Silent Auction opening and a reef slide show. We then moved onto the beach in front of CEA for a Mayan blessing to honor our planet and our place within Nature. A fire dance prepared us for the lunar eclipse—a wonderful way to begin a celebration of the sea. The Silent Auction continued into the second day of the festival and ended at Happy Hour at Lol-Ha Snack Bar, just before the Gala Dinner and show. The performance troupe Veinte Varos (sponsored by Hotel Akumal Caribe and Akumal Beach Resort) helped us shift from Happy Hour to the CEA Center, where tables for 120 people were set up. The Gala Dinner was sponsored by Diane Mahan and Akumal Villas, and catered by Turtle Bay Café & Bakery, who not only provided a marvelous menu but transformed the Center into a truly wondrous place, magical and the perfect setting for the evening’s events. The wine, beer and margaritas were sponsored by Akumal Direct Reservations. Karen Mercer opened the Gala Dinner with her acoustic guitar and folk and bluegrass songs; her charming personality set the stage for the evening’s entertainment, including a Live Auction. Several donations were auctioned off, helping us to reach our $10,000 goal. Then Karin ten Cate presented a repertoire of songs, from opera to Mexican favorites like Bésame Mucho. Her angelic voice made the evening absolutely surreal. Gerardo Dominguez was our Master of Ceremonies and auctioneer, and thoroughly entertained us, keeping the evening moving in a wonderfully humorous way. George Parker did a magnificent job working with Gerardo to run the slide presentation and sound. CEA volunteers and supporters worked tirelessly throughout the two days to ensure that everyone had a great time and that things ran smoothly. Our Auctions were a huge success, thanks to both enthusiastic donors and bidders. Mark your calendars for next year’s Fourth Annual CEA Festival, February 18 and 19, 2009. We thank the many local businesses who sponsored the events: Diane Mahan and Akumal Villas, Hotel Akumal Caribe, Akumal Beach Resort, Akumal Direct Reservations, Turtle Bay Café & Bakery, Au Cacao Chocolate Café, La Cueva del Pescador, and South Carolina Aquarium. Thanks to entertainment: Gerardo Dominguez, Master of Ceremonies; Veinte Varos; Karin ten Cate; Karen Mercer; Julio and Nicol, fire dancers; and Aniseto Of course, we thank everyone who donated items for the Silent and Online Auctions. We could not have had such success without the following volunteers who made this year’s event possible: Lydia Pontius, Festival Director Myrna Sparks, Auction Chair Sharon Goby and Jody Allen, Decoration Committee June Sloan, Treasurer Mike Cook and Bob Anders, Bar Committee Ed Blume, Online Auction Organizer Alexandra Bradley, Editor Volunteers: Cathy Cook, Alan Cunningham, Marcy and Memo Essy, Mary Beth Jones, Janie Linke, Joy Lippincott, Shami McCormick, George Parker, Charlene Powell, Paula Preston, Mike Sheperd, Natalie Novak, Connie Smith, Alex van Kuilenburg, and Judy Withington. CEA Volunteers: Rowan Abel, Natalie Biafori, Jeroen Biemans, David Breeze, Claudia Cheng, Alice Cheucle, Ewan Doswell, Becky Harris, Bob Klotz, Misael Lanche, Gregory Gueble, Lisa Kunegs, Jim Petersen, Argel Rodrigues Arana, Scarlett Rogers, and Hein van Riet. See you next year!

Las Tortugas

Another devastating aspect of hurricanes is the turtles that nest during this season. You can see nests of Loggerhead and Green turtles beginning as early as April and hatch up through October/November. Data presented by CEA (Centro Ecologico Akumal) indicated that almost half of the nests were damaged by the storm surge. Eight nests were able to be rescued with successful releases post hurricane. Of the 141 nests documented before the storm, 73 were able to hatch and get to sea. The great news is, they began nesting again just 2 days after Dean rolled through, they must know there's only a few more months to make up for lost time! As with all of our non-human friends, they are more aware of natural disasters than we are. Visit www.ceakumal.org for info on CEA and the turtles.

I am heading south myself today, to wear my other hat. Along with the Humane Society International and the Humane Soc. of the United States and their Disaster Service team, we are going to Mahahual/Xcalak and Chetumal to assess the damage and the situation with the animals. I will be documenting the trip so stay posted.