June 2004

I took this photo of a Leatherback turtle during the wee small hours of December 11th, 1994.

I recall the date precisely, so beautiful was the sight and so moving the experience of observing this gentle giant for ninety minutes (in the company of a small group of marine biologists from UNAM) on the beach at “Mexiquillo”, Michoacán – considered one of the world’s most important nesting beaches for leatherbacks.

Desperately sad then to hear this week that despite nearly two decades of conservation efforts, the leatherback continues to disappear from Mexican waters through disease, incidental capture in fishing nets, disturbance of nesting areas, and poaching.

I have read slightly conflicting reports in recent years, but the doomsday scenario of leatherbacks sliding toward extinction seemed to be confirmed at an important symposium held in Costa Rica four months ago – the largest ever dedicated to the biology and conservation of sea turtles.

The massacre of hundreds of olive ridley turtles at San Valentin in Guerrero state by armed poachers also made grim reading last January.

On World Wetlands Day, the Government of Mexico designated the beach strand at Mexiquillo as a “Wetland of International Importance”. It had already been re-decreed as a formal protected area in July 2002, and with seasonal fisheries restrictions, these moves present excellent opportunities for site-based coordinated governmental and NGO action towards sea turtle protection.

However, this may be too little, too late. This call to action suggests leatherback arribadas (‘arrivals’) have dwindled to single figures along the 18 km- (11 mile) stretch of sand at Mexiquillo, located some 80 km (50 miles) from Lázaro Cárdenas.

Those caught trafficking turtles can face severe penalties, but the threat of up to nine years in prison has not been enough to deter poachers.

As recent as December last year, a Mexican naval cadet was fatally shot on Mexiquillo by a gang of poachers. The Mexican Navy patrol designated beaches in the area such as Las Peñas, Calabazas, Chuquiapan, Playa Azul, as well as Mexiquillo, in support of SEMARNAT (the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat). The sad reality is there is little these patrols can do to stop the thieves.

The age-old belief in the aphrodisiac power of turtle eggs sustains a thriving black market for the forbidden ovum.

I recall one baking-hot afternoon when a woman strolled up to my house in Lázaro Cárdenas seemingly hawking fresh fish. Seeing that I was intrigued, she peeled back the thin cloth covering her pale turquoise bucket. To my surprise and horror, this revealed a dozen or so perfectly round white eggs the size of ping-pong balls protruding from fine sand.

Depressing as this story is, there are now examples where swords have been turned into plowshares, with some egg-takers becoming tourist guides, proudly showing off “their” turtles to people like me (for further reading, see Planeta’s Turtle Resource Guide).

At the Costa Rica symposium, the International Sea Turtle Society (ISTS) President Roderic Mast commented “We have a small window of opportunity to save the leatherback and other marine turtles but we have to combine our knowledge at every level in order to achieve this.”

He then sounded a stark warning: “These species are still largely a mystery to us – they haven’t been fully studied – but we do know they are excellent indicators of the overall health of the ocean. We also know we’re going to lose them if we don’t act immediately.”

On that December morning nearly a decade ago I was woken at dawn by the pounding of the waves on the shore. I rose excitedly and helped release a clutch of tiny leatherbacks that had hatched overnight from behind the relative safety of the sanctuary wire following their 45-60 day gestation.

Only one or two hatchlings in a 1,000 will survive to adulthood. That’s short enough odds as it is and we are shortening them still further. We must do more to prevent these magnificent reptiles disappearing forever.

The clock is ticking…

The US Border Patrol has worn dark-green uniforms since its creation in 1924. The agency whose job it is to patrol the US – Mexico border and keep Mexicans from entering the country illegally has been receiving delivery of brand new uniforms, ordered in the wake of the agency’s transfer last year to the Department of Homeland Security.

The renamed Bureau of Customs and Border Protection awarded the $30 million contract to VF Solutions of Nashville to supply uniforms for 30,000 border agents and customs inspectors. In one of those deliciously ironic twists, the company then subcontracted to a plant south of the border. Needless to say, some agents are not very happy to see the “Made in Mexico” label sewn into their new apparel. Anyway, just caught up with this story reported in The Washington Times.

All reminds me of some aggressive INS guys who pulled over my Greyhound bus from Interstate-10 outside Van Horn, west Texas thirteen years ago. There I was – middle of the night, 468 miles (753 km) from Fort Worth, still another 119 miles (192 km) to go to El Paso and the border with Mexico… being asked some dumb and unnecessary questions by the men in dark green.

Historic pictures coming out of Mexico City following Sunday’s massive protest at surging violent crime.

Jo Tuckman reports for The Guardian as public outrage spilled over on the streets of the capital. Even from the UK, from where I am following these events at the moment, this feels somehow important – a watershed. Lots moving on this over the coming weeks & months I suspect, with 2006 presidential and congressional campaigns seemingly already underway. Did I hear anyone say, “Rudy”?

Lila Downs brought her rootsy pan-American band to my town last night. Singing in English, Spanish and Mayan, her repertoire includes novel arrangements for Mexican cumbia, son, classic ranchera (ah-ha-hayyyy…), bolero and original compositions which experiment with rap, jazz and reggae influences, among others. Lila’s magnetic vocals formed part of an all-woman triple-bill, which included a disappointing session from the sophisticated, sweet and swaying Afro-Peruvian singer Susanna Baca and 30 eclectic minutes from Cuban Yusa, whom Straight No Chaser describes as “looking and sounding like a female Jimi Hendrix“. Unmissable. More dates. Guardian review.

Lila was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 last week.

A welcome email today from Barbara MacKinnon, coordinator of the 3rd annual Festival de las Aves de Yucatán (Yucatán Bird Festival). She reminds me that this year the BirdFest will take place between 13-21 November.

The festival is promoted locally as the ‘Toh’ – Maya for Turquoise-browed Motmot – one of more than 400 colourful bird species in the region.

I was captivated by half a dozen of these lordly blue, green and rust-coloured birds during a visit to the diminutive and seldom-visited Maya site at Xlapak, 113 km (70 miles) south of Mérida in the gently rolling Puuc hills. A reminder that birdwatching in Yucatán opens the way to visiting restored Maya ruins, as well as cenotes (natural sinkholes) and majestic and mysterious caves.

The appropriately named pajaro reloj (‘Pendulum Bird’ in Spanish) swings its long racket-tipped tail feathers in a tic-toc motion while the rest of its body remains statuesque. The Maya consider the Toh a symbol of nobility.

The Festival has quickly established itself as a fixture in the ornithologists calendar, but has something for everyone; a week full of fascinating field trips, exhibits and workshops – whether you are a beginner or advanced birdwatcher, bird photographer or student of Maya culture.

Local guides will teach you Maya bird names in exchange for your friendship during the two-day xoc ch’ich’ (‘bird count’ in Maya) and your participation directly benefits bird conservation efforts in the region.

For reservations, contact: toh@ecoyuc.com or visit www.ecoyuc.com/toh.html.

Photo credit: Turquoise-browed Motmot, courtesy © David Massie

Astrid Hadad, the queen of Mexican cabaret returns to London this week. Viva la Diva, says Elizabeth Mistry.

Fresh from packing them out at the Barcelona Forum of Culture, Astrid Hadad, aka the rebel nun, the soldadera and the ‘Statue of Libertad’ is back in London this week.

Hadad, who last performed in the UK in 1997, brings her cutting, satirical show, aptly named La Cuchilla (the knife) back to London for five nights at the Lyric, Hammersmith.

Mexicanwave has a pair of tickets for Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th June. The first to email editor@mexicanwave.com will win a pair. Please include a daytime and evening contact number.

Her act, a confection of technicolour kitsch infused with a liberal dose of satire, is something of a national institution in Mexico where her deliciously scornful ranchero numbers – updated versions of popular old Mexican songs – mock the country’s establishment figures. Corrupt politicians are among her favourite subjects and her ability to twist the blade where it hurts is one of the reasons her hapless targets frequently attempt to ban performances at home.

During her last visit to the UK, when her concert coincided with the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, she wasted no time in reducing the audience to tears – of laughter – while she, dressed alternately as a cactus, a drinks tray and the Virgin of Guadalupe, fired a volley of tequila-flavoured shots at the tontos y poderosos - the crazy and powerful ones.

Not surprisingly, she is also regarded with considerable distrust by the country’s religious hierarchy. “It is probably the main reason I have never been invited to breakfast with the archbishop”, she jokes, referring to the church leaders who maintain close ties to the Mexican politicians she loves to ridicule.

It can be hard work keeping up with some of her wittier songs but luckily for non-Spanish speakers this time around, Hadad has been carefully practising her “Spanglish”. And while an elementary knowledge of Mexican history and politics will certainly help you get the jokes sooner, Hadad’s endearing style – she is perhaps best described as a cross between the Kit and the Widow and a mirror ball – means that no one is left out in the cold.

There’s a universality to her songs, and while she unashamedly makes use of all the obvious stereotypes – the drunk, the whore and that old standby, the mustachio-ed bandito, to reel the audience in, she always slips in an artful payoff line.

Born into a deeply conservative family from Chetumal on the Yucatan Peninsula, she places the blame for her love of mischief-making on the fact that she was the middle child of 11 siblings.

“I am el club-sandwich,” she says cheerfully. On her father’s side, the family is of Lebanese descent and “the women were expected to know their place and their duties.”

These included an interminable Sunday ritual of visiting other families. “In some ways we share many similarities, the Mexicans and the Middle Eastern peoples,” she observes. “But I left because it was a very restricting life.”

Hadad escaped to Veracruz where she studied music, before joining the prestigious university drama school in Mexico City. For a while she worked with a pioneering group, (including Sabina Berman and Jesusa Rodriguez who together helped shape modern Mexican theatre) and then came her big break, taking over a role made famous by Ofelia Medina, the country’s best-known actress.

In London she will be supported by her regular backing group, Los Tarzanes, a lively group of musicians whose name is taken from the slang word given to Mexican dandies in the 1940s. They add a suitable foppish flavour although it is always Hadad’s outlandish costumes or “wearable sets” that steal the show. “I design them all myself and a friend makes them up for me. We’ve only ever had a problem with one of them when I almost electrocuted myself trying to make the eyes on my dress light up and squirt tears into the audience at the same time.

While audiences in London should avoid a soaking, they will instead be treated to what Hadad promises will be an “aesthetic orgasm”.

“I come to give pleasure” she says, modestly omitting to add that after her last visit to London, the government she lampooned lost the elections for the first time in seventy years. No wonder they tried to stop her – she’s dangerously funny and not to be missed.

Tickets for La Cuchilla can also be booked by calling the Lyric Box Office on 08700 500511.

Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, King Street, London.