Dengue Fever***

There has been a lot of talk recently With the vast amounts of mosquitoes in this area, illness caused by mosquitoes is taken very seriously. The city of Tulum,in conjunction with the Governor's office and ministry of Health, has implemented a vast number policies to help fight the massive spreading of Dengue Fever.

Dengue is spread via mosquitoes and is a terrible illness. Often referred to as backbone or back breaker fever because of the severe pain that is caused throughout the body. In addition to joint and body pain, high fever, muscle pain and in many cases a rash that usually starts at the lower limbs of the body and spreads upwards.

Dengue can be fatal and so it is important to know the symptoms. It can seem to be the common flu but lasts for several more days and almost completely incapacitates a person for many days.

There is no current treatment or vaccination for Dengue Fever so prevention is key.

The city of Tulum has sent brigades of volunteers and health officials to all areas of Tulum to search for any standing water.

Mosquitoes breed in clean water. The city has been going around looking in people's backyards for anything that could catch water and breed mosquitoes. I had a visit just the other day and he kindly came into the back yard and made some adjustments to help me prevent and mosquitoes.

I am very happy to see the city taking such an active role in curbing the outbreak. Below is the document sent to me by the city.

One of the things they are doing is to spray the streets. They have been spraying the streets every few days.

There is no reason for tourists to fear the illness or not visit Tulum for fear- but it is important the people know to use biodegradable repellent while visiting Tulum and be aware of the symptoms. If you fear you might have caught Dengue then you can go to one of the clinics in town and they can help you.


Sorry about the translation-


The Municipal Government in coordination with the Ministry of Health gave the starting signal to more than 180 units of mega-deals as part of Rapid Response for the Control of Dengue, launched on the instructions of Governor Felix Gonzalez Canto state to step up measures against the condition.

The mega-deals started at 8 am at the Expo fair grounds after the checkered flag that gave the municipal authorities and the health secretary in charge of Chemical Azueta Juan Carlos Cardenas, the state health secretary, the mayor Marciano Dzul Caamal, aldermen of this city administration, volunteers and leaders of various public transport organizations.

A total of 400 people including volunteers and brigade started preventive activities in 439 blocks of the municipal capital featuring 12 fogging machines, 12 entomologists, 36 motomochilas and more than 10 trucks junk collectors.

In taking the floor to the state health secretary, made the recommendations to the residents to cooperate with the staff of the Ministry of Health, who travel the nuclei brigades housing. They are accredited, in addition, the substance used in fumigation is not toxic.

Stressed that tanks, water tanks and warehouses storing liquid must be covered, the mosquitoes breed in clean water and the same may be in caps, a leaf or shell that contains it.

In the event the mayor Dzul Caamal, acknowledged the support of the state governor and the state health secretary Juan Carlos Azueta and said that the three actions that will run concurrently to eliminate potential mosquito breeding sites will be abatizando, raising awareness for population and motomochilas spraying, irrigation in areas where you can not access with heavy equipment.

Dutzi Event a Success

Well- The holidays are over and oh my god to I have some serious catching up to do. The first thing that I want to say is how wonderful the event for Dutzi Design went. We spent the day at the new In Spirit Store and had a great time bringing awareness to this great project. These bags made by women in the Yucatan are beautiful and it was a real treat spending this day supporting this cause. These bags are being sold at boutiques all over Paris and New York and most recently Mexico and Italy. It is great.


The whole day was spent focusing on the various talents of the women in the area with a highlight on the Dutzi Design project. We had a morning Yoga class, massages available, organic spa treatments available, card readings all the bags on display, authentic Yucatecan food for purchase. It was really great. In the evening we were treated to some wonderful AcroYoga which is truly great.


The whole day could not have been possible with out the wonderful assistance and talents of Jackie and the In Spirit store, Crystal and the card readings, Land and the wonderful food, and of Course Ariane Dutzi for having the inspiration and determination to continue the project.

I would also like to give a very special thanks to the Gerardo Miranda from Yes...I Do! for donating the chairs and tables. They were beautiful and really completed the look for our event. We look forward to working with you again when we do our wedding ceremony next year. To contact Gerardo Miranda for any event needs please contact us and we would be happy to pass the information along.

Another company we would really like to thank is Flors de Tulum. The fruiteria across the side street from HCBC has always been wonderful to me the whole time I have lived here. It is one of my all time favorite place to buy- well- anything they sell really. They were so kind to donate some produce so that we could offer our guests the amazing food and services that we did. Thank you so much.

If you ever need to buy any fruit or veggies in Tulum--- this is the place to do it.


I look forward to doing more work with all of the people that I got to share the day with. Oh yeah.. And thanks to my work... Yaaj- Ximbal to letting me off for the day so that I could do this event. :)

Ocho Tulum's Yoga Retreat **Ocho is now operating out of Blue Tulum***

I have not been to the new Ocho by Blue Tulum. I have stayed at the Blue Tulum resort and it was very nice. If I do ever have the opportunity to stay at the new hotel I will bring you the report.




The yoga retreats at Ocho Tulum really are an amazing expereince and one that a few lucky people got to expereience this past week on the glistening beaches of Tulum, Mexico. Yoga retreats are renowned the world over as an amazing way to reconnect to your body, mind and spirit while harmonizing with the natural surroundings.

There is no better place to do this the Ocho Tulum. The whole mystic area that is the Rivera Maya envelopes one in a deep sense of history and connection to the Earth. The energy of the people of times long past are still felt in the waters of the cenotes and in the trees that flow calmly in the wind. The whole area of Tulum draws in a mystic and peaceful feeling.

The feeling and energy that this area has lends itself as the ideal place for such relaxing and rejuvinating activities such as the Ocho Tulum Yoga Retreats. Ocho Tulum as a hotel adds its own element with its dedication to the enviroment and haromnizing with the elemnts around them. To read more about the hotel Ocho Tulum, click here.



The Yoga retreats at Ocho Tulum bring focus and connection with mind, body and spirit with many different activities ranging from mantra beach walks, yoga workshops that connect thought and meditation to poses, beach boot camps designed to burn fat and increase your heart rate to day trips to amazing colonial towns like Villdolid to rejuvinating cenotes. An amazing spa on the premisis is the perfect place to pamper your tired feet, enjoy a healing massage or recieve an invigorating facial.

The meals prepared for the guests of the reatreat are prepared with as much love and flare as the rest of the menu the head chef, Eric Fischer, prepares each night. A commitment to vegitarian and vegan dishes is observed year round by this chef but is given special highlight during these beautiful retreats that they host.

The packages include 6 days, 5 nights, 2 yoga classes a day, 3 meals per day, a massage, a spa treatment (including the renowned Mayan Clay treatment) 1 day trip to a Mayan ruins site, and air port transfer. The schedule includes enough time to relax and enjoy the beautiful beach and surrounding jungles and sends guests home with a deeper connection to their bodys as well as their uncounscience, and retored and ready to take on the world that lays outside the Caribbean.

For more information about the amazing yoga retreats at visit the Ocho Tulum website here.

Mexico receives praise for response to Swine Flu

There was an article printed recently by the Associated Press that praised Mexico for its response to the Swine Flu pandemic that erupted in late April. Mexico by all accounts such down an entire country in a matter of a few days.

President Calderon shut down schools, all government buildings and major tourists attractions. This cost, and continues to cost, the country of Mexico billions of dollars. Mexico is being praised for its fast and decisive reaction to the swine flu and its extreme measures to keep the citizens and visitors in Mexico safe.

The massive shut down and massive media explosion caused a major exodus of tourists from the area and thousands of people lost their jobs. Tourism is one of Mexico's larges commodities and the news media, by drastically over reacting and using fear mongering tactics in an effort to sell more papers and air time, directly caused many more people then necessary to loose their jobs.

I was very glad to see that even the media themselves began reporting on the the issue of blowing the issue drastically out of proportion.

Now this is not to say that the whole situation was not, and continues to be, a very scary reality for the entire world. But media needs to understand the drastic effect that they have on local communities when they are not true to facts.

Here is the article that was in the associated press.

Mexico wins praise for swine flu response

AP – Pan American Health Organization Director Mirta Roses Periag speaks during the 'Lessons Learned and Preparedness … .By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press Writer Olga R. Rodriguez, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jul 3, 9:37 pm ET
CANCUN, Mexico – As swine flu runs rampant in the Southern Hemisphere winter, world health experts are concerned that some hard-hit countries have been reluctant to take forceful measures to protect public health.

Only Friday did Argentina's new health minister, Juan Manzur, raise the country's official death toll to 44. He now estimates that as many as 320,000 people have been stricken with influenza, including about 100,000 with swine flu — a huge jump in what the government acknowledged previously, and an indication that Argentina's hospitals will remain overwhelmed for months.

Britain, for its part, had refused to do widespread testing for swine flu, slowing the World Health Organization's efforts to declare that the viral spread had become a pandemic. Britain's Health Minister Andy Burnham belatedly acknowledged Thursday that Britain needs to revamp its response and could see up to 100,000 new swine flu cases a day by the end of August.

The government was reluctant to implement unpopular measures leading up to last Sunday's midterm elections in Argentina. Now that they're over, it ramped up its response this week — doubling the winter vacation to a month for schools nationwide, sending pregnant women and other vulnerable workers home for 15 days and urging people to avoid crowds whenever possible.

But Argentina still refuses to declare a national public health emergency, despite ranking third in the world for swine flu deaths behind the United States and Mexico.

"An unfortunate situation in Argentina was this mix of elections and a pandemic, which we epidemiologists don't recommend," said Mirta Roses, director of the Pan American Health Organization, which has 25 experts working in Argentina this week.

Mexico, in contrast, deserves the whole world's thanks for its forceful, costly and very public response, which included a near-total shutdown of the nation's public life that cost the country $3.5 billion.

It helped slow the initial spread of the virus and gave other nations more time to prepare, said World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan.
"Mexico gave the world an early warning, and it also gave the world a model of rapid and transparent reporting, aggressive control measures, and generous sharing of data and samples," Chan said Thursday during a two-day summit of health ministers in Cancun.

Just how effective Mexico's draconian response was will take some time to determine, because scientists will have to compare what was done with what might have happened had the country done nothing, said Nancy Cox, who leads the influenza division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"However, they were so courageous to do what they did. It impressed the entire world," Cox said.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon also faced resistance at home — he said some state officials wanted to hide the numbers for fear it would cause panic, but he overruled them. Mexico's toll has since risen to 10,687 cases, including 119 deaths.

"For many people across the world, Mexico was demonized precisely because it was providing truthful information," Calderon said.

The national shutdown in Mexico prompted Cuba and Argentina to cancel flights to Mexico and left a stigma that still hurts Mexico's all-important tourism industry. But Calderon said Mexico's reaction "allowed other countries to take preventive measures or activate their emergency programs."

Mexico's public health system also was overwhelmed initially, as doctors struggled to figure out how to fight the strange new virus.

Now they know that most patients survive if given proper treatment quickly, and that common seasonal influenza kills many more people. Even so, Argentina and Chile have struggled with huge caseloads.

"What's going on in the Southern Hemisphere really has lessons for everybody," said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's top flu expert. "We have learned how important preparedness is."

But no amount of preparation can make up for systemic weaknesses, Cox said.

"If your health care system is already strained prior to the advent of a new disease that is causing a lot of infection in people, you are going to have tremendous problem with cases piling up," she said.

Chile has 7,342 confirmed swine flu cases, compared to 1,587 for Argentina, but only 15 deaths, in part because it had more antiviral drugs stockpiled and was able to respond more proactively. Argentina — already facing a huge caseload of bronchitis and common flu cases — hasn't had enough ventilators to treat everyone, Cox said.

"There are all these unexpected events that occur when you have a new pathogen, and some of these have played in the situation in Argentina," Cox said.

Australia has the most cases in the Asia-Pacific region — more than 4,568, including 10 deaths. Worldwide, the WHO said there were 337 deaths and more than 80,000 confirmed cases in 121 countries this week.

____

AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London and Vicente Panetta in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.

Swine flu Free Guarantee in Mayan Rivera

The post below was written by a friend of mine in Playa del Carmen. Check out Life's a Beach for more information in the Playa del Carmen area. For those of you who read this as well as my other blog- Rosas Clan in Tulum- you get to see it twice!

Whether you already have a trip planned to visit the beautiful Riviera Maya or are considering taking advantage of the fabulous deals now available in the wake of the Swine Flu scare, this article in today's "Por Esto" newspaper will be of great interest to you. A link to the online article is above and I have taken the liberty of utilizing Google Translator for your reading convenience. The translation is not 100% grammatically correct, but it is reasonable enough to follow.

With the emblem "guarantee free of influenza" (Flu Free guarantee), assures the traveler three years travel free if they have symptoms of human influenza eight days after they return from their trip by Olivia Vázquez Hotel chains in the Mexican Caribbean began a more aggressive campaigns that have been internationally to revive international tourism. With the emblem "guarantee free of influenza (Flu Free guarantee) that assures the traveler three years travel free if they have symptoms of human influenza eight days after he returns from his trip, which seeks to demonstrate the confidence that exists by destino.Dentro of health promotion strategies, the hotel sector in coordination with the Resort, this week will be sending a personalized letter to U.S. President Barack Obama or Hilary Clinton Secretary of State, to be published in the U.S. newspaper circulation where it is requested adjournment of the alert (warning) indicates that travel to Mexico only if absolutely necessary because it inhibits the influx of tourism. Zalvidea Fernando Garcia, director of the Grand Resort Hotel and the Best Day tour operator, said that at least five thousand hotel rooms as Secrets, Royal Resort, Charisma and others who joined the campaign, but it is estimated as we go on to join other hotel chains to strengthen advocacy in Mexico. This promotion started yesterday and will run through the main cities of United States and Canada in order to revive the tourist markets, since it is in promoting the confidence of the Mexican Caribbean operates to the highest standards of hygiene and safety and ensures the health of the destination. Additional to this promotion, special packages are added to the hotel is offering value-added as a free night, tickets to recreational parks, archeological sites, free dinners, spa services, etc. The hotel considered a leader who is now the best time Mexican travel to the Caribbean, and that excellence in service is reflected directly in the personal and the atmosphere of trust that is generated. Hence also be sought this week to lift the warnings issued to the passenger who was referred to visit Mexico, and that still prevails announcement issued two weeks ago, and that conditions be changed. In fact it as well as shipping and airlines already provide for the revitalization and have started to sell the destination. The letter is prepared in the state's Tourism Council is expected to be released this week to further accelerate the process of recovery and moving on reservations, which for now remain at the minimum levels, although it began to flow.
By May 25, with the celebration of Memorial Week which is held in United States, you could earn points in hotel occupancy, which is still at levels 20 to 24% in most developments.
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Services

Massages and Body Treatment:

Margo in Mexico Massage: Margo, one of Tulum's very own celebrities, is known for giving one of the best and well priced massages on Tulum beach. Get your Margo in Mexico massage from the ease and comfort of your own room or in any number of beautiful locations around Tulum.

Massages by Gina: A combination of reiki- reflexology and holistic massage- this Tulum healer has created her own amazing technique and her own beautiful studio featuring art from her huband and talented artist, Alfredo Hinojosa.



Hair and Body Care:
Fashion Look Spa: This beautiful beauty salon and spa right in the center of town is a great place to get all dolled up before a romatic night on the beach.

Tattooluum: Fine Art and tattoo Studio: tulum's premier tattoo studio complete with stunning works of art and Shankari jewlery.

Russian Gypsy Cards: Special readings from the Princess of the Runes, Crystal. Come for your magical interaction with this Tulum gem.



Babysitting:
Babysitting: Enjoy a romantic dinner for 2 on the beach or beautiful cenote tour. Our quality, English speaking babysiters in the Tulum area, many of them mothers themselves, offer peace of mind.


Travel Help:

Amael Travel Agency:

Savana Travel Center:

Household Help: