Loreto Baja Caifornia Sur 11/15/2003
Back in 1997, Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo created a Marine Preserve on the waters right off the coast of Loreto in Sourth Baja California. Studies at the center include all marine life, though the center specializes in turtles and whales. Many types of whale -- including the blue whale, the gray whale, and finbacks -- have been spotted spending time in the Sea of Cortez. Sea turtles are also a main focus and priority of the conservation area. Several different types of sea turtles are hunted for their delicious meat, which has traditionally been an important part of the indigeous diet in many parts of Baja. Lately, the turtle populations have been declining due to over-hunting, as well as by turtles becoming accidentally trapped in fishing nets and traps.
Scientists and activists are trying to address this problem by spreading the news -- village by village -- about the declining populations, and encouraging people to integrate other types of meat into their diet. Although the sea turtles are protected through legislation, indigenous populations are not always motivated to stop hunting or eating the turtles. Hunters know that they can make good money selling turtle meat, and the needs of the moment often outweigh the needs of the future. If a turtle hunter was to give up turtle-hunting, how would he obtain the same income? Also, native populations have depended on the turtles for many years, and find it difficult to believe the turtle populations are really declining. It is often difficult for small and isolated populations to conceive how the global population is growing, or how the growing population is putting pressure on animal populations. Without understanding the increased global demand on the turtles, it is very difficult to convince local people to make sacrifices in the interest the turtle population.
Fernando Arcas Siaz, the director of Grupo Ecologista Antares A.C., is encouraged by the fact that scientists have successfully raised and released baby sea turtles. He told us that local people are excited to see these young turtles swimming around. He hopes that increased awareness of the turtles will help save their populations in the future. Fernando is also encouraged by the educational and awareness progress, and how it benefits the turtles. Although the center only has enough money to hire one wildlife inspector, he has heard of police checkpoints seizing turtle meat. Fernando recounted the story of a local boy turning in his parents for serving turtle meat at a family gathering. Now that family has chosen to eat alternate meats.
For many people in Mexico, eating turtle meat is as natural as Americans eating hamburgers. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to convince Americans to give up eating hamburgers? Fernando continues his efforts to increase awareness of turtle and marine populations, and he hopes he'll see the day when the turtle populations begin to increase.
What would you do to help preserve marine life and the turtle poplulations?
Can you find Loreto, Baja California on a map of Mexico?
Why does wildlife suffer when more people move to and live in a region?
Would you give up your favorite food if it helped conserve wildlife populations?
Would you be willing to make less money if it helped conserve wildlife populations?
Vocabulary: marine; priority; indigneous; legislation; motivated; depend; decline; isolated; pressure; awareness; benefit; recounted; sacrifice; alternate; convince
For more information about the marine preserve and conservation efforts conctact:
Grupo Ecologista Antares A.C.
Ing. Fernando Arcas Siaz
antaresgea@prodigy.net.mx
Today the Team's destination was Tequila, Mexico. Tequila, is located in the state of Jalisco, and is home of the world-renowned beverage Tequila. According to the rules of appellation of origin Tequila can only be produced in the state of Jalisco, and the blue agave, which provides the basic ingredient for tequila can only be grown in Jalisco and a handful of surrounding states, if its products are to be called Tequila.
The phrase origin of appellation has recently become a hotly debated topic. Origin of appellation refers to products which have taken the name of where they are produced, Champagne, Tequila, Dijon mustard, etc. Now, since it so easy to move around the world people have begun to produce these same products all over the world and refer to them by their original name. The question is whether those products, which are not produced in their native regions, should be allowed to carry the same name as the ones that are produced in the their native regions. For instance, Tequila is produced from the blue agave plant which is grown in the Jalisco and surrounded regions of Mexico. If someone grew blue agaves in United States and processed them the same way as in Tequila, should the product be called Tequila? Should there be a distinction between these products?
The Process;
The blue agave grows naturally and is cultivated throughout the state of Jalisco and the surrounding areas. It is either grown by seed or by transplanting pups from the mother plant (pups are little plants that are found just below the mother plant). The blue agave reaches maturity after eight to ten years in the ground. Large fields are planted with plants of the same age, therefore samples can be taken and it can be determined if the field is ready for harvest, based on sugar content of the test plants.
During harvest plants are cut from the root, by hand and the spiney leaves are cut from the heart of the plant. After it has been stripped of its leaves it appears like a pineapple, and that is how it is referred. These pineapples are then loaded onto trucks and brought to the tequila factory. After they arrive at the factory they are placed into large ovens and baked for 36 hours. The baking process softens the plant so the juicing process can take place. Once removed from the ovens the pineapples are cooled for 8 hours, split and sent to the juicer. Also, once the agave is soft enough it becomes edible for eating it has a sweet taste with a ropelike fibrous texture. We all had samples.
Once the plants are juiced, the juice is collected and sent to tanks to ferment. Fermentation is the process where sugar is converted to alcohol. The fermentation process lasts for about 18hours at a stabilized temperature. Once the juice is fermented it is sent to the distillation process. The distillation process is where water is extracted from the juice and the alcohol content becomes much stronger. During the distillation process the juice is heated until the point where the alcohol evaporates (the temperature where alcohol evaporates is lower that the temperature in which water and other impurities evaporate). After it is distilled from the water the concentrated mixture (about 65% alcohol) is collected. At this point the mixture is too strong and needs to be diluted with distilled water. At the end of the day Tequila should be about 70 proof, or about 35% alcohol.
At this point it is important to distinguish between two major types of Tequila, Tequila made with 100% agave and tequila made with 51% agave. Bottles should clearly state whether they are one or the other. The remaining 49%, of the latter type is made from fermented sugarcane.
Once the solution has been diluted properly you may call it Tequila, at this point it is ready for bottling. Now the tequila can become one of four types. If it placed straight into the bottle, at this point, it will be sold as silver tequila. Gold Tequila is bottled after a wood flavoring is added to it. The next type is called rested; this type must be stored in French or American Oak barrels for up to two months before it is bottled. This type appears darker than the first two. The barrels give the tequila its darker color and richer flavor. The aged tequila can spend up to 5 years in these barrels before it is bottled.
Jose Cuervo produces an average of 70,000 liters a week, working 7 days a week. 30% of this produtions goes to domestic consumption and the remaining 70% is exported.
Culturally Tequilla is part of almost every Mexican household. It will be on hand for nearly every Mexican celebration. Although the drinking age in Mexico is 18 years, children are gradually introduced to this drink and are taught to respect it's power and place in Mexican culture.
Questions:
1) Can you locate Tequilla on a map?
2) How many products can you list that are named after the area in which they are produced?
3) Do you think that products produced outside of their native regions should be given the
same name as the original products within its native regioin? How would your decision effect
companies around the world?
4) How many other products do you know that come from Mexico?
We arrived at Teotihuacan and giant piles of rocks were everywhere. Not just random piles of rocks, but huge and ancient structures that had been eroded away by the wind, sun and the rain. It was an amazing playground! Although it didn’t look like an inhabitable city to modern eyes, it was easy to imagine that it was a big city a long time ago. It must have been quite a place! I wondered what the people who lived there were like -- what they ate and what they did. And why were there two huge pyramids here?
Walking from the parking lot toward the pyramids, you must go through a museum and a line of shops selling souvenirs. Stepping out into the sunshine you soon reach a road that runs for about 2km toward the massive Pyramid of the Moon. As you walk on the road, you see foundations of structures that were once houses, markets, and religious places. Much of the site remains unexcavated, lending an air of mystery to the ruins. Interspersed with the rocky remains of the city, you see cactus, dry grass and other examples of an arid landscape.
There are no guardrails, and people are free to crawl around and explore all of the ruins. The road that runs down the center of town is called the Avenue of the Dead, since it is thought the tombs might be incorporated into some of the structures and pyramids. This road is the central axis of the city, and all of the other structures are aligned along its length. There is a lot of speculation as to what the road points to, but most are fairly certain this has to do with the rising and the setting of the sun. The setting sun lines up perfectly with the east-west lines of the city on the days of May 18 and Aug 12. The significance of these days is still a mystery.
Furthermore, no one knows much about the people who built Teotihuacan, or why they later abandoned the city. Most of what is known about the city is conjecture -- theories developed based on the structures and artifacts that scientist and researchers have found at the site. Still now, there is much to be explored and uncovered. Maybe today’s mysteries will soon be solved.
Research has determined that the city of Teotihuacan was founded sometime around 100 B.C. and grew until 700 A.D., when it was abandoned by its founders for unknown reasons. Over the course of these 800 years, however, a magnificent city was constructed around the third largest pyramid in the world, spanning area of over 8 sq miles. The ancient people relied on farming and herding in order to feed the growing population of the city. Some say that at one time over 200,000 people lived in the city.
You might wonder how we know so much about Teotihuacan if it was abandoned so long ago. Scientists have to reconstruct a story of what happened based on what they found as they excavated the site.
At the site they have uncovered buildings they speculate were used as residences. They believe this because of the artifacts they find in these buildings, such as plates, lamps, and other household tools and overall layout. Once they excavate an entire site they can count the number of houses and speculate how many people would live in one of these houses. After doing some math they can come up with a number that seems logical.
Scientists also have to take into consideration how this population was fed and if there is enough water in the area to support the amount of people. Water is any city's most valuable asset. This city was no different. The importance of water to this city is seen in the fact that two of their most important gods were Tlaloc, a rain god and Chaliutlicue a water goddess. Farmers and herders not only depended on water for their crops and livestock – they were also in danger from fire if the area became too dry. The rainy season lasts from July to September. The ancients knew that if the rain failed to come many people would die due to lack of food. Therefore it is believed that they built these pyramids to honor and sacrifice to the gods. They believed that if they satisfied the gods, the gods would once again send the rains; however, if the gods became angry with them they would not send the rains.
Scientists can also gather a lot of information about a civilization with the types of tools that are found at a site. The types of tools reveal how things were built: how many people it would have taken to build these structures, and how much food one farmer could produce.
It is very difficult to determine exactly what went on at Teotihuacan in the past, what games they played, what kind of music they had, and what they did in their free time, but it is fun to speculate.
After building this huge city and living in it for over 800 years why did the Teotihaucans leave? No one really knows what happened. There is evidence that there was a great fire, however, it is unclear if that occurred before or after the city was abandoned. It could have been abandoned due to disease, lack of food, foreign invasion, or infighting, but no one really knows.
The city was re-inhabited by the Aztecs after it was abandoned by the people of Teotihuacan. According to legend the Aztecs were a wandering tribe for many years. According to their religion they were supposed to have wandered until they saw an eagle with a serpent in its month perched on a cactus. Well the day finally came when they saw this and their city was located where Mexico City now sits. I would imagine that it would not take the Aztecs too long to find a pyramid that stood 64 meters high (over 200ft about equal to a 20 story building).
Research is continuing at this city. However, it is known that parts of the ancient city are covered up under the modern cities that have been built around these ancient ruins. It is hard to know what future excavations will find.
1) What other civilizations had cities with more than 200,000 people in them before 500 AD?
2) Can you think of a city in the United States with about 200,000 residents?
3) How many Indian tribes can you name from North America, Central America, South America?
4) Are there other cities that are as mysterious as these?
5) Where else in the world have ancient peoples built pyramids?
6) Where does the water you drink come from? (It’s not just from the faucet!)
7) If your faucet stopped working, where would you get water?
8) Can you think of any American cities that have been occupied for 800 years?
9) Have you ever seen a “ghost town”? Why do you think some cities are abandoned?
10) Do you have any other questions?
Vocabulary:
random
eroded
inhabitable
pyramids
foundations
interspersed
incorporated
axis
aligned
theories
reconstruct
excavate
logical.
asset
civilization
speculate
abandoned
serpent
excavations
The team had the opportunity to learn about coffee today. Everyone in the group loves the stuff, but we all came away with a whole new respect for café. Our friends at Land Rover San Jose, Costa Rica, Oscar and Rodolfo Echeverria (cousins), were able to hook us up with a lesson in coffee. We found out that Land Rover has had a long tradition with the coffee growers in Costa Rica. As you can see in the pictures, old Land Rovers are right at home in the coffee plantations.
The highlands of Costa Rica are perfect for growing coffee plants, which love light rain and an altitude of between 1200 and 1700 meters. The conditions in which the coffee is grown dramatically affect the taste of the coffee. The taste is more dramatically affected by the growing conditions than that type of roasting used after the coffee has been processed. Anyway, back to the tour.
We drove out of the valley of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, and drove up into the western slopes outside the city. Land Rovers were everywhere, as they used to be made here. We wound our way through the hills and into coffee Mecca. A sharp right turn put us on a narrow dirt corridor lined with broad-leafed plants. The convoy slowed to a stop right behind an old ‘59 Series Land Rover with a trailer hitched to it.
We were directed between the walls of plants and saw a sea of coffee growing on green branches. Our instructors for this portion of the lesson were Bilba and Jose. Jose saddled Chanda and me with baskets and belts, and we got to pickin’. This is hard work! It takes a laborer about 40 minutes to fill a basket. At the end of the day, all the workers collect the coffee beans they have picked, and they are measured out. The going rate is 350 Colones (Costa Rican money) per basket, or about 85 cents US. They receive a token for each measuring bucket of beans they pick, and those tokens are later turned in for cash. Their hands and backs are strong as well as their souls. You can’t find more genuine smiles; they seem to smile from their toes.
As each worker measures out his or her daily pick, the beans are emptied into a trailer that will be towed to the coffee mill down the road. After a windy drive we arrived at the mill.
Upon arrival at the mill, the beans are sorted, first by color and then by weight. After they are sorted, the pulp is removed from the seed and the seeds are fermented. Following the fermenting process, the seeds are placed in cylindrical dryers and dried for about 17 hours at no more than 60 C to prevent them from burning.
After the beans have been dried, their outer shell is removed by a special corkscrew-like machine. The mill conserves energy by using the collected shells as fuel for the seed dryers.
At this point, the coffee beans must be quality tested. Small samples of each batch are roasted and tasted for body and acidity. Five cups of coffee are brewed and the sampler takes several spoonfuls of each cup and swishes them in his or her mouth. Once approved, the beans are cleared for packing and shipping. At this point different companies buy them to roast and sell.
After seeing this process, there is no such thing as a simple cup o’ Joe.
Land Rover Coffee
Land Rover coffee is a business venture that brings Land Rover and coffee farmers together creating a mutually beneficial opportunity for everyone. Land Rover pays top dollar for premium coffee, local growers maximize their profits and in return growers maintain their Land Rover loyalty, buying vehicles, parts and service to continue the Land Rover coffee growing tradition.
