Ante el llamado a licitación pública por parte de la operadora YPF y por el incumplimiento de la conciliación obligatoria que acaecía, sumado a este hecho que desde el gremio fue tomado como una provocación -en asamblea- dirimieron iniciar nuevas medidas de fuerza a partir de la hora 0 del día de  hoy.

Santa Cruz y Chubut luego del llamado a licitación pública que publicó YPF por un nuevo contrato petrolero, el gremio Jerárquicos comenzó otro paro total de actividades con cortes a los principales ramales eléctricos de los diversos yacimientos de la operadora, haciendo imposible su normal funcionamiento en las baterías, plantas,  pozos, coordinación, producción, como la extracción del crudo.

Entre las principales problemáticas que nombran desde el gremio, esta la gran cantidad de gente que se quedara en su casa –en carácter de desempleados- sin darle mayor relevancia a esta situación la operadora Repsol YPF.

Por su parte, los hermanos del Sindicato de Petróleo y Gas Privado de Santa Cruz, ya están fijando posición al respecto y aseguran que de no mediar garantías, al igual que en el último paro de jerárquicos, podría existir una pronta adhesión en colaboración.

En este sentido uno de los delegados de Petroleros anoche aseguraba a elsurhoy que –de no mediar solución en breve- no solo será extenso el paro, sino que, o se tendrá que ir YPF o nos vamos todos, asevero.

Fuente: Infoglaciar

Eu sei que havia prometido não falar sobre futebol e não tenho dúvidas de que posso gerar polêmica com este texto, mas não consegui cumprir a promessa, pronto! De qualquer forma, espero que os prezados leitores, mesmo aqueles que não apreciam o esporte, leiam até o final, quem sabe não concordam com as argumentações ou, pelo menos, não encontram algum ponto de desacordo para debate?

Sempre gostei de futebol, embora do lado de cá, da torcida, nunca fui bom com a bola nos pés e minhas únicas chances de entrar no time eram: quando a bola era minha, o que não falhava, ou quando só sobrava eu para ser escolhido, entretanto já houve situações em que o capitão do escrete preferiu jogar com um a menos a me ter como reforço. Enfim, ou eu chegava na quadra do prédio com uma bola “dente de leite” (lembram?) debaixo do braço, ou corria o risco de ficar na arquibancada ou, mais vexatório ainda, ser escalado como juiz, afinal, não há nada mais inútil função do que juiz de pelada, acho que nem mesmo a capa do Batman.

O tempo foi passando e eu aceitei ser diferente: ser brasileiro e não ter habilidade com a bola. Ainda bem que nunca tive nenhum trauma por conta disso. Tentei caminhos alternativos como o totó (ou pebolim) e o futebol de botão. Até jogo, razoavelmente, ambos, mas não é a mesma coisa… Por fim, me resignei e assumi o lado de fora dos gramados como sendo o mais adequado para mim.

No futebol eu tenho uma única paixão: o Santa Cruz Futebol Clube. É o único time para o qual eu torço, independente da divisão do campeonato que esteja disputando (ou não…). Já passei momentos felizes e tristes acompanhando o “Terror do Nordeste” e envergando, com todo o orgulho, o uniforme tricolor – preto, branco e vermelho.

Em todos esses anos como torcedor, já ouvi diversas gozações, como a última de que descobriram uma camada mais profunda do que o pré-sal: a Pré-Santa. Mas tudo bem, eu já tive meus momentos de piadista também, quando outros times, especialmente os rivais, estiveram em situação semelhante. Isso faz parte da alegria do futebol.

Para os que não sabem, meu glorioso Santinha está disputando a final da Copa Pernambuco. Ora, pode não ser um brasileirão, mas é o que temos no momento e temos que valorizar. Quando à disputa pelo título brasileiro, como dizem os baianos quando, finalmente, aceitam que o carnaval acabou: “ano que vem tem mais”.

Falando em campeonato brasileiro, que, mesmo distante, eu tenho acompanhado sempre que posso, vejo o quanto está competitivo. Faltando apenas duas rodadas para o final e ainda há, pelo menos, três times disputando o título, o que nunca aconteceu desde que implantaram a regra dos pontos corridos que, na minha opinião, é a mais justa e premia os clubes mais equilibrados e constantes.  

Este ano, já que o Tricolor do Arruda não estava disputando o título nacional, eu torcia pelo Corinthians, mais especificamente, pelo Ronaldo. Quem quiser que discorde, mas o cara é mesmo um fenômeno. Só o fato de ter passado por tudo o que passou e continuar, mesmo “fora de forma” como insistem em adjetivá-lo, fazendo a diferença, já mostra o nível de craque que ele é.

Como eu disse, estava torcendo, porém não foi dessa vez, quem sabe na próxima? Quem sabe na Copa? Embora eu tenha visto em uma reportagem que o Dunga pedia para não o induzirem ao mesmo erro de 2006, insinuando que não escalaria o Ronaldo por estar fora de forma. Não perco a esperança. Será que ele está mesmo imprestável para a seleção? Queria eu ter um “obeso” como ele jogando no meu time.

Se o cara tá jogando bem, qual seria a razão para tal aversão? Será que ele só quer os sarados em campo, para garantir um “futebol bonito”? Se for, eu vou lembrá-lo de uma frase do grande Dadá Maravilha: “não existe gol feio, feio é não fazer gol”. Ouviu, Dunga? Jogo de futebol não é desfile de moda!

Mas é assim, eu não sou o técnico, se eu fosse, baseado em todo o meu conhecimento futebolístico, olha só o time que eu escalaria: Ronaldo, Romário, Kaká, Robinho, Vagner Love, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Adriano, Iarley, Diego Tardeli e Fred, no gol mais um goleador, Rogério Ceni. A estratégia era simples: se dizem que a melhor defesa é o ataque, isso não vai faltar no meu selecionado canarinho.

Se vai dar certo, eu não sei, mas não custa tentar. Posso garantir que o entrosamento ficou perfeito no meu vídeo game. Porém se ainda assim o time não ganhar eu não tô nem aí, eu quero mesmo é ver GOL!!!!!

Do Timor, com carinho,

Gus

Díli, 27/11/09

P.S.: ainda tem algumas vagas na reserva, alguém se habilita?

Tiempo Sur

“Pozo parado, pozo que se le cobra impuestos”, dijo el gobernador Daniel Peralta en el marco de los actos centrales por el aniversario de Caleta Olivia. Precisamente, el proyecto de ley que contiene esta directiva ingresará hoy o mañana miércoles a la Cámara de Diputados, para que luego sea tratado en las comisiones pertinentes, que serían las de Energía y Medio Ambiente.

“De los más de 19 mil pozos perforados en esta Cuenca, menos del 50 por ciento se encuentran en actividad. Aproximadamente 2.500 se encontrarían abandonados y cerca de 8 mil pozos están en inactividad”, comentó el autor del proyecto, el legislador justicialista Rubén Contreras.

Para el Diputado, los pozos inactivos son los que “revisten mayor riesgo ambiental, más que los abandonados”, cuya gravedad depende de la antigüedad, la integridad de las cañerías, la existencia o no de aislación de los acuíferos de interés.

El proyecto

TiempoSur tuvo acceso a la norma impulsada por Contreras que se fundamente en los trabajos que se vienen desarrollando en materia de control ambiental de la actividad hidrocarburífera, por parte de la Subsecretaría de Medio Ambiente.

En especial “el control de los pozos inyectores, sumideros y los pozos productores a convertir a inyectores”, donde “se detectaron diversas anomalías asociadas tanto a la integridad de casing como a la falta de aislamiento para la protección de los acuíferos”.

Allí se sostiene que el trabajo citado fue normado y establecido mediante Disposición 135 – SMA/07 y que solamente representa un 10 por ciento aproximadamente de la totalidad de pozos existentes en la cuenca del Golfo San Jorge.

“La idea general es crear un marco regulatorio integral para el control de los pozos inactivos, porque permitiría generar más ingresos fiscales a la provincia, aunque en realidad el objetivo principal es buscar la reactivación de los pozos que se pueda, lo que generaría más trabajo de equipos y más contratación de mano de obra, en esta época en que hay mucha gente petrolera en sus hogares; incluso si la operadora decide abandonar definitivamente el pozo esto implicaría otra inversión y más contratos”, comentó Contreras.

Impuesto

El legislador expuso que la Subsecretaría de Medio Ambiente ya ha confeccionado una ecuación para el gravamen posible a las compañías, en el que figuraría elementos a tener en cuenta como “antigüedad del pozo, puesta fuera de servicio, aislación del acuífero con la cañería guía, y antecedentes de roturas y anomalías en las instalaciones”.

El impuesto dejaría de existir cuando la concesionaria “proceda a poner en actividad el pozo, previo a la verificación de la integridad del mismo, o en el caso de proceder al abandono definitivo”.

Uno de los artículos que figuran en el proyecto de Contreras reza que las compañías petroleras “informarán, mediante declaración jurada, la totalidad de los pozos inactivos existentes a la fecha”. (Fuente: TiempoSur, El Patagónico).

Tiempo Sur

Getting cold where you are?  Can’t wait till spring to ride?

Let me help!

Here’s a short video of some trails in The Red Rocks area of

Cottonwood Canyon (Blue Diamond, Nevada).

Click on image to view video

After spending the last 10 winters in Las Vegas and learning the trails I feel the need to share some of my favorite places to ride.

I am now associated with the 2 best guiding outfits in the Las Vegas Area. All Mountain Cyclery and Escape Adventures. Between these 2 bike shops/guiding services, we cover all the best trails the Las Vegas area has to offer. Classic X-C, challenging downhill and road tours to Hoover Dam.

Bike rentals include: Cannondale Rush or a Ellsworth Epiphany.

Just shoot me an email to info@downhillmike.com and I can get you on the right trail, find you the best air fare and hotel package +.

A few pictures taken at Cottonwood Canyon:

A very cool rock on the Black Velvet trail

This video was taken by my good friend Domick Menard of our X-C ride in Cottonwood Canyon.

Enjoy!

Looking for more of a challenge?

All Mountain Cyclery provides the tours in Boulder City, Nevada. Home of Bootleg Canyon.

Bike rentals from Specialized and Santa Cruz.

Stumpjumpers, Demo 8’s, Ultra Light, Blur or a nomad. Not bad huh?

Bootleg Canyon trails are world famous & were hand built and carved into the mountain by the legendary Brent Thomson.

There are specific X-C trails and specific DH trails.

Here are some pictures I took while guiding last winter:

A couple of dh pictures:

All Mountain Cyclery truck unloads. These guys are in for some BIG fun!

Near the top of Snakeback. One of the easier downhill trails. Basically the top half is rough and very technical and the bottom half is super fast. Best of the best!

See Hoover Dam by bike.

Starting at our shop in beautiful Boulder City the tour begins on a paved bike path going downhill towards lake Mead. After a several downhill miles the trail turns to smooth dirt/crushed stone. Our touring bikes are a perfect way to get to the dam.

This is the oldest trail in Southern Nevada, and goes through 5 tunnels the trains used to bring supplies in to build the dam. Very cool, very historic and very fun!

These two had mucho fun!

726 feet straight down!

The bridge should be done soon. This picture was taken on 3-10-08.

After your self guided tour of Hoover Dam your guide escorts you back by bike through the 5 tunnels where the All Mountain Cyclery van is waiting to pick you up and return you to your hotel.

My passion is not only riding but helping others find the beauty and solitude that I have found on these trails. If you are interested please visit my site: www.downhillmike.com for more information or just shoot me an email at: info@downhillmike.com

Not only I can help you find the right trails but please allow me to find the best air fare and hotel deals for you too. From the east coast I am finding flights with a room for 3 days from $250.00.

See ya this winter on the trails.

Your all inclusive mountain biking travel agent.

Downhill Mike

]]> http://boliviasol.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/operadores-de-telefonia-movil-de-latinoamerica-se-reuniran-en-bolivia/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:22:34 +0000 boliviasol http://boliviasol.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/operadores-de-telefonia-movil-de-latinoamerica-se-reuniran-en-bolivia/

La Paz, 27 Nov (Erbol).- Del 1 al 3 de diciembre próximo la ciudad boliviana de Santa Cruz de la Sierra será sede del XXXI Plenario de GSMA Latin America, asociación que representa a todos los operadores de telefonía móvil que utilizan las tecnologías GSM (Global System Mobile) en la región.

En la última reunión de 2009 de esta organización, oficiará de anfitrión Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (ENTEL) de Bolivia, permitiendo así congregar a una gran cantidad de gerentes y ejecutivos provenientes de las compañías latinoamericanas más importantes del rubro.

Durante el encuentro, los asistentes participarán de grupos de trabajo específicos enfocados sobre las áreas técnicas, de terminales y servicios; fraude y seguridad; roaming, billing, legal y regulatorio, con el fin de compartir sus experiencias en los distintos mercados, conocer nuevas aplicaciones, reflexionar sobre temas de interés común y acordar estándares aplicables en América Latina.

“Estamos muy contentos de que Santa Cruz sea sede de este evento, pues Bolivia es un mercado que lleva un sostenido crecimiento y es en donde el resto de los miembros de GSMA puede tomar ejemplo para el desarrollo e implementación de GSM en sus respectivas compañías,” destacó Marcelo Erlich, Chairman de GSMA LA…. Ver:

Los petroleros jerárquicos están en alerta y movilización a la espera de alguna señal por parte de la Operadora YPF y de los estamentos del estado.

La confirmación de esta decisión tomada en reunión de comisión directiva en Comodoro Rivadavia fue dada por el propio Secretario General de Petroleros Jerárquicos José Lludgar quien durante la jornada participó de distintas reuniones; según dijo están en un impasse y que esperarán hasta el lunes.

En un breve contacto telefónico con www.vocesyapuntes.com el dirigente gremial dijo que decidieron mantenerse en alerta y movilización; esta postura la adoptaron a partir del llamado a licitación pública por parte de YPF para empresas de servicios en la zona de la cuenca del Golfo San Jorge.

Este acto se desarrolló en horas de la mañana en Buenos Aires, por lo que reunidos en Comodoro Rivadavia y con el apoyo de  los delegados, votaron por un impasse y mantenerse en estado de alerta y movilización.

vocesyapuntes

A partir de la modificación de la Ley 2727 de Fiscalización de Operación de Yacimientos. “Esto permitirá planificar a largo plazo” y establecer los posibles márgenes de ganancia en regalías, ante la fluctuación del barril de petróleo, indicó el diputado Quiroga, autor de la iniciativa.

Entre los distintos proyectos aprobados en la última sesión, el diputado Eugenio Quiroga se refirió a la sanción de la modificación del artículo 2 de la Ley 2727, sobre la fiscalización de la operación de los yacimientos. “Esta iniciativa tiene que ver con algo que venimos tratando, tanto el bloque oficialista de los diputados como los de la oposición, venimos tratando cuestiones necesarias como las inversiones para mantener el umbral de las reservas de nuestra provincia y también de los controles necesarios para, al mismo tiempo, generar los tan ansiados puestos laborales”.

Más adelante Quiroga agregó que “el hecho de tener nuestra provincia una herramienta que pueda ayudar a exigir a las operadoras la apertura de su estructura de costos, nos va a permitir a nosotros como Estado brindar una herramienta para poder planificar a largo plazo, para que cuando el precio del barril fluctúe, saber cómo estamos parados en cuanto a los posibles márgenes de ganancia en regalías”.

Respecto a la sanción del proyecto de modificación de la Ley de Procedimientos de Impuestos, Tasas y Contribuciones, declaró que “la ley trata de la prescripción liberatoria, en donde también se le da una herramienta al PE a través de la Subsecretaría de Recursos Tributarios, donde se está llevando adelante un plan de reconversión, y por ese motivo nos parece una herramienta importante, mas allá de que todavía quedan modificaciones a realizar al código de procedimiento tributario de la provincia. Se está trabajando puntualmente en poder ampliar los plazos de prescripción y poder adecuarlo al nivel nacional, que es de 5 años para el caso de los contribuyentes que se encuentren inscriptos y de 10 años para aquellos que no se encuentren inscriptos”.

También se sancionó la adhesión a la Ley Nacional 25.872, correspondiente al Programa Nacional de Apoyo al Empresariado Joven, al respecto agregó que “la idea es que esto sea un complemento y que los jóvenes se vean motorizados a hacer algo por sí mismos, y el Estado en este sentido tiene que apoyar esas iniciativas; para ello el Ministerio de la Producción ya cuenta con algunas herramientas tendientes a incentivar la actividad productiva; pero esto adicionaría poder disponer de mayores fondos para que los jóvenes emprendedores puedan tener otras alternativas laborales”.

La Opinión Austral

–For Sandy Lydon

You want a sunrise? asks the poet,
I’ll give you a sunrise. Eggplant cirrus clouds,
pinky smoky blue and gray,
pink, moss pink, pink nether flower
sunrise, sunrise
yellow white silicon chip
foghorn, windchime, no-color haze.

Sunrise sunrise
O City of Mystical Arts and Live Soup,
Antique bathhouse, casino
Riva Fish House,

A bus-load of German tourists
applauding (applaudieren!)
the sunrise.
Clam chowder, O scrubbed blue light
melon balls and watermelon shooters,
arcade, pink neon, roller coaster heart-shaped mirror.

KA-BOOM! House begins to dance,
land moves in waves three and four feet high,
weight machines swaying, mirrors rattling,
a sidewalk of broken glass,
a street filled with jewels.
Loma Prieta, The Earthquake of the Dark Hill,
place, this place, always coming back from a disaster.
Natural beauty and unnatural events,
jazz, blues, canoes, tattoos,
I bow and give thanks to the muse,
Santa Cruz, O Santa Cruz!

Robert Sward

With thanks to Santa Cruz Weekly, where “Ode to Santa Cruz” first appeared.

Tripin les muestra su hermosura y lo importante de su conservación.

El área protegida fue creada como tal en el año 1937. En 1971, mediante la Ley N° 19.292, se establecen los límites actuales y la zonificación de parque nacional y reserva nacional.
Se extiende sobre una superficie de 724.000 hectáreas ubicadas en el sudoeste de la Provincia de Santa Cruz.

Debido a su espectacular belleza, su interés glaciológico y geomorfológico, y las especies de su fauna en peligro de extinción, la UNESCO en 1981 declaró este lugar como Sitio de Patrimonio Mundial de la Humanidad.

Miles de años atrás, gran parte del parque nacional estuvo cubierto por glaciares. En su avance, estos ríos de hielo erosionaron y dieron forma al paisaje, excavando en la montaña amplios valles de laderas abruptas. Al mismo tiempo, como gigantescas topadoras, fueron fragmentando y arrastrando gran cantidad de rocas, que se acumularon en el frente y en los flancos del glaciar, formando montículos denominados morrenas. Pero un posterior cambio climático, que incluía un aumento en la temperatura, causó la reducción de la superficie ocupada por el hielo, hasta alcanzar su estado actual…

Si quieres conocer mas sobre los Glaciares haz click aquí.

Defende los glaciares junto a Greenpeace. Hace click aca

Conoce Tripin
Conoce Argentina
www.tripin.travel

Quedan menos de 80 días para salvar los glaciares…
Tripin les muestra su hermosura y lo importante de su conservación.

El área protegida fue creada como tal en el año 1937. En 1971, mediante la Ley N° 19.292, se establecen los límites actuales y la zonificación de parque nacional y reserva nacional.
Se extiende sobre una superficie de 724.000 hectáreas ubicadas en el sudoeste de la Provincia de Santa Cruz.

Debido a su espectacular belleza, su interés glaciológico y geomorfológico, y las especies de su fauna en peligro de extinción, la UNESCO en 1981 declaró este lugar como Sitio de Patrimonio Mundial de la Humanidad.

Miles de años atrás, gran parte del parque nacional estuvo cubierto por glaciares. En su avance, estos ríos de hielo erosionaron y dieron forma al paisaje, excavando en la montaña amplios valles de laderas abruptas. Al mismo tiempo, como gigantescas topadoras, fueron fragmentando y arrastrando gran cantidad de rocas, que se acumularon en el frente y en los flancos del glaciar, formando montículos denominados morrenas. Pero un posterior cambio climático, que incluía un aumento en la temperatura, causó la reducción de la superficie ocupada por el hielo, hasta alcanzar su estado actual…

Si queres seguir leyendo la nota ingresa ACA: http://www.tripin.com.ar/#/MICROSITE/LOS%20GLACIARES

Defende los glaciares junto a Greenpeace. Hace click aca http://www.greenpeace.org.ar/cyberacciones/index.php?cyberaccion=5049

Conoce Tripin
Conoce Argentina
http://www.tripin.com.ar

Luismi Huarte | Rebelión

Santa Cruz

El aterrizaje en el aeropuerto Viru Viru de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, está plagado de incógnitas, de preguntas, de una inmensa curiosidad sociológica por realizar un breve acercamiento a una región boliviana que ha sido referente de la oposición más dura e intransigente al gobierno de Evo Morales.

Las imágenes de Rubén Costas –prefecto departamental-, Branko Marinkovic –líder del Comité Cívico de Santa Cruz- y de las hordas violentas de la Unión Juvenil Cruceñista –grupo de choque de la derecha más reaccionaria- se suceden en mi cabeza, producto de la relevancia mediática que cobraron en los últimos dos años.

Conocer las particularidades de la realidad política de Santa Cruz y su influencia en el contexto nacional, identificar la correlación de fuerzas actual entre el MAS y la derecha, y pulsar el ambiente de campaña electoral, son algunos de los interrogantes que quisiéramos comenzar a desentrañar, en esta primera visita a la capital del Departamento más rico de Bolivia.

MARTES, 17 DE NOVIEMBRE

Desde primeras horas de la mañana, el calor es pegajoso en el centro de la ciudad. No llega a las insuperables cifras de la capital del Paraguay, pero el sol se deja sentir en toda su plenitud. Cuando uno camina sus calles, se percibe un aire similar al de Asunción, como antes de partir nos habían advertido.

Desde el principio, la “singularidad” cruceña se hace presente a través de varios indicadores. En la “Plaza Principal”, llamada también “Plaza 24 de septiembre”, se encuentra el otrora mítico “Club Cívico” de Santa Cruz, lugar de encuentro de las clases dominantes departamentales, como nos precisa un periodista del lugar. Hoy día, aunque venido a menos, sigue esforzándose por conservar su rancia distinción, mostrando una enorme bandera departamental y cartelería del movimiento “autonomista”.

Limpiabotas de tez morena lustran los zapatos de trajeados individuos de piel más clara, mientras algunos de ellos leen con parsimonia el periódico de mayor tirada local, el antigubernamental y conservador “El Deber”. Mujeres mayores de indudables rasgos indígenas, sentadas sobre el piso, piden monedas a los viandantes, mientras jóvenes estudiantes universitarios, de porte más occidental, se manifiestan frente a la fachada de su facultad exigiendo más inversión. Todos ellos conforman la fotografía móvil del mediodía cruceño…. Ver:

Baby frigatebird (I think?)

I’ve wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands since before I can even remember. And the truth is, it is everything that people say it is. The animals really are quite tame and generally unafraid of people. You really can get so close to them that you could touch them (though it’s a big no-no). And even more so, they are still wild animals, and you can easily stumble upon them doing things like nesting, attracting mates, nursing babies, eating, etc. that you often don’t get to see during an afternoon at the zoo.

Sea lion hanging on the beach at Genovesa Island

Overall my experience in the Galapagos was really amazing (how could it not be?), though sadly some boat problems left the trip with a tinge of disappointment and tainted feeling to it. It’s hard to spend a lot of money and time on a once in a lifetime experience/dream trip and have something big and important go wrong. But I’ll get into that in a bit.

I’m going to talk about each day separately, in its own context, in an attempt to keep later situations from affecting my description of the first half of the trip which really was incredibly amazing and awesome.

As for the details, I was on the Floreana, a tourist or tourist superior (I’m pretty sure it’s not superior) class boat depending on who you ask. There were fourteen of us on the ship (two others joined us for the second half, but ended up only staying a day and then ditching it because of the problems and itinerary changes).

Floreana

Along for the trip with me were two Swedes, three Norwegians (two sisters and an older random guy who jumped on at the last minute), a British couple, an Aussie/Brit couple, three Americans from California, and a girl from Holland, who was my cabin-mate. We were all fairly young, in our 20s and 30s (except the one Norwegian guy), something that seemed to set our boat apart from pretty much every other boat we ran into!

And finally, we were on the Floreana’s 8 day/7 night “northern” itinerary, which was supposed to be like this:
Thursday – Baltra Airport/Santa Cruz Island – Twin Craters/Highlands
Friday – Genovesa Island – Darwin Bay/El Barranco
Saturday – Santiago Island – Sullivan Bay/Bartholomew Island
Sunday – Chinese Hat/Santa Cruz Island – Dragon Hill
Monday – Isabela Island – Breeding Center Arnaldo Tupiza/The Humedales/Tinterones
Tuesday – Fernandina Island – Espinosa Point/Isabela Island – Tagus Cove
Wednesday – Santiago Island – Egas Port/Rabida Island
Thursday – Black Turtle Cove/Baltra Airport

The highlight of the trip was supposed to be Fernandina and Isabela on Tuesday. This was basically the reason I chose this cruise, as I was told these islands are the best, worth missing out on the much-loved southern islands for, and that this was pretty much the only non-luxury cruise that visited them, a truly unique experience. So I was basically pumped up and most excited for this part of the cruise. Of course, this is the one day of the cruise that we missed and was changed to a crap alternative itinerary. But again, I’ll get into that in due time.

DAY 1

I shared a cab with another guy in my hostel going to the Galapagos and we arrived at the airport two hours early, as we were advised to. In less than ten minutes we were through all the security and stuck sitting in the small domestic airport, where there is only one little over-priced cafe to get food and drink and absolutely no other options, not even a small shop to buy a snack or drink.

Finally I boarded the plane, which departed around 9:50am. I was pleasantly surprised with the flight (TAME). The plan was huge, six seats across. I thought we would have to stop in Guayaquil and spend an hour waiting for more passengers to board, but we were lucky and our flight went directly to Balta airport. There our group slowly gathered together and boarded a bus to a port. There we got on a boat that took us to Puerto Ayora, where we sat and waited for quite a long while for another boat to finally take us to our boat.

Already spotting pelicans and sea lions right off the ferry!

Before we’d even gotten off the first boat in Pt. Ayora, we’d already spotted our first sea lion playing in the water next to the boat. Sitting and waiting for our next ride, I sat and watched the sea lion play in the water while a Galapagos pelican hung out below me, entertaining me with his funny habits. Already I could feel I was in the Galapagos!

We settled onto the Floreana (into our super tiny cabin!) and had lunch, then we were off on our first excursion. We first visited the Twin Craters, two craters that are really old, that’s basically what I got from it! It wasn’t exactly the most interesting or exciting start to our trip.

Giant tortoise

But then we visited a reserve with a bunch of tortoises, which was cool. There were a lot of giant tortoises just hanging around, laying in the pond or walking around. Getting so close to them, I realized what funny creatures they are.

They really are like dinosaurs, so prehistoric looking—their big, thick, wrinkly legs and dino-like feet, and the funny way they move—and they make this funny raspy-breathing/hiss kind of noise when they want you to go away, that’s very Jurassic Park-esque.

We finished the excursion off by visiting some underground lava caves. Mostly they just seemed like any other cave, but there were some cool parts. Then we sat at a bar/restaurant for a while, where no one really wanted to get anything, probably because we’d all just dropped so much cash on this trip. It was a bit of an uninspiring first day, but we were in the Galapagos, we knew better things were to come.

Even that night after dinner things picked up. Nature gave us a show right from the safety of our boat’s sundeck. Under the boat’s lights we could see tons of flying fish, sea lions, sharks (huge ones!), and pelicans, hunting or playing, flying/zipping around. It was a really incredible thing to watch.

DAY 2

Wildlife everywhere!

After breakfast we went for a dry landing on Genovesa/Tower Island, where we the only boat (it is a much less-visited island). Immediately on the beach we saw tons of sea lions sleeping and relaxing. But overall Genovesa is definitely a bird island. Once we got walking into the island, we saw tons and tons of birds. Red-footed boobies, Nazca/masked boobies, great frigate birds, nocturnal herons, the list goes on and on. Though since I was a kid I always kind of had this weird thing for blue-footed boobies, which we didn’t see on Genovesa (I had these National Geographic pamphlets for different endangered animals, and for some reason I only remember the blue-footed booby one and that I was obsessed with it), I normally don’t really care that much about birds. But these were cool birds. Big ones that acted and looked interesting.

Red-footed boobies

The red-footed boobies made this crazy loud noise. They almost sounded like elephants or something. Some of them were white, some were gray, but they were all beautiful, with bright red feet and lovely pink and blue multicolored beaks.

The Nazca boobies were just black and white, but they made this funny whistling noise, that sounded almost like someone blowing into a cheap plastic whistle or trying to whistle with their fingers. (In fact, I often thought someone was trying to imitate the boobies, but I’d look around and realize that no, it was in fact the boobies themselves.)

Nazca boobies

There were also tons of baby chicks everywhere, all looking and sounding cute and funny. And of course there were also lots of nesting birds, from parents sitting on eggs to newly formed couples flying in with branches and building their nest together – all right in front of our eyes!

The scenery itself was also great – beautiful cliffs and water (especially when the sun came out). Then we went snorkeling right off the beach, which wasn’t bad. There were some interesting fish, and I also saw two small rays, buried in the sand.

Snorkeling from the beach with sea lions nearby

We returned to the boat for lunch (spotting sea turtles in the sea right out the dining room windows!) then went for some more snorkeling. We took the zodiac boats out to a deeper area, where we saw a lot more fish, and I also saw a gigantic ray (like the kind you see at the aquarium and think “Whoaaa!”). I didn’t realize at the time how special it was, but throughout the rest of the trip everyone was always talking about how they wanted to see a big manta ray, and I had already seen it on the very first day of snorkeling!

Baby bird

After that we went to another part of the island and climbed some steps (guarded by a sea lion!) to an area with a ton more birds. Colonies, it seemed, of great frigate birds, Nazca boobies, and red-footed boobies. When we were finished and sitting and waiting for the zodiacs to retrieve us, there was a local fishing boat nearby and we watched as tons of birds circled around, waiting for the fishermen to throw out some guts or fish.

DAY 3

Docking by Santiago Island, there were a few more boats around. First we visited Sullivan Bay, where we walked on a ton of black lava flows, which was pretty awesome. There were a ton of different kind of formations/flows, so it was cool to see all the different patterns. We saw a lot of crabs and some herons, and even a couple penguins swimming around in the bay!

Crab by the beach

Then we went snorkeling. We saw a shark! Like a proper, Jaws-theme-inducing kind of shark. It was really cool, but then it turned and started heading back in our direction, and I got a bit freaked out and hurried away. I had finally taken my camera with me for this snorkel (I had been a bit paranoid about trying out my supposedly watertight camera bag-thing I’d bought in Quito, but decided that I bought it so I needed to try it) but it must have turned off without my realizing it and when I thought I’d been taking pictures of the shark, I ended up with none. I did see lots of fish and starfish, though.

Sea lion swimming by!

After lunch we went snorkeling again, seeing a lot more fish and starfish. I also had a sea lion swim by me, which I did manage to snap a quick picture of!

Then we walked up to the mirador at the top of Bartolome, looking out over the infamous Pinnacle Rock and some overall great views of the surrounding area.

Pinnacle Rock at sunset

On the way up we could see tons (and I mean TONS) of manta rays in the distance in the ocean, jumping up out of the water, flipping all around, apparently trying to get parasites off their backs. It was a really incredible sight! Then coming back through the bay we saw more penguins and sea lions.

By day three I was definitely starting to feel like, “This is the life.” Our typical day was just like this one: breakfast at 7, excursion to an island a small walk at 8, then some snorkeling off the beach, back to the boat to relax (nap, reading, tanning, whatever), lunch at noon, more relaxing, off for some snorkeling at 2, sometimes back to the boat for a little bit, then another excursion/walk, then back to relax, dinner at 7, then more relaxing, maybe watching the animals in the lights around the boat, then bedtime. What a life!

DAY 4

Cuddly sea lions

This was definitely one of the best days of the trip. We first went for a walk on the small island Chinese Hat. We saw so many sea lions, and tons of baby pups. They were so unbelievably cute! They reminded me a bit of my own pups at home (mostly Morgan). They were playing all around us, and we were sitting so close to them we could have easily touched them.

Cute sea lion pup

One was hiding under a bush, but kept making noises and coming out toward us, then waddling back under the bush. One girl had an SLR with a big lens on it and he came right up and stuck his nose in it, checking it out! The others were playing around with each other, and one was running in out of the water after his mom, trying to keep up with her. It was so adorable. And they make these funny sounds, that sound almost like they’re trying to throw up, while the adults make this sound that sounds almost like burping. It’s really funny, all the crazy noises sea lions make!

We also saw tons and tons of marine iguanas everywhere. Our guide, Victor, told us that if we were lucky we might get to see some of the marine iguanas feeding under water when we went snorkeling later. Supposedly it’s a kind of rare thing to get to see, but it was a possibility.

Well, we definitely got to see it!I’d say we saw at least five marine iguanas feeding underwater when we went snorkeling at Chinese Hat later. There were tons!

Iguana feeding underwater

I got some decent pictures of it as well, although unfortunately while trying to fuss with my camera in the stupid underwater bag I have, I a) accidentally zoomed a ton for a while and so got some totally useless pictures and b) accidentally changed the picture size to small, which is like 640xwhatever and I didn’t realize this until the end of the next day, so a ton of my beloved photos are only that small and can’t be enlarged and look nice at all – very, very sad indeed!

While snorkeling we also some some rays, some nice fish, and another shark! Again it was a big one, and unfortunately I did take a pic of it, but when I was looking through my pictures on my camera later I accidentally deleted it – grr!

Later we walked on Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz. There we saw more marine iguanas, as well as some land iguanas (which are huge and yellow), but they were harder to see because they were all hiding in the shade under bushes to keep cool (the sun was blazing and it was ridiculously hot…this is the equator after all!)

Then we were back at the boat for dinner. Our guide has been filming parts of our trip, so he showed us the first half of the DVD he’d made after dinner (which we could, of course, buy for $30 – like I haven’t spent enough on this trip!). But it was waaayyy too long, especially considering it was only half of our trip so far, and I was falling asleep by the first half of it (cheesy music and too much repetitive, pointless footage!) We were also joined earlier in the afternoon by a Finnish couple, who were supposed to be on the cruise for the next four days. (The Scandinavians had officially taken over!)

DAY 5

This was where things started to go bad. We were told the boat would be navigating from one until six in the morning to get to the southeastern port of Puerto Villamil on Isabela. At around four in the morning I woke up and realized we weren’t moving. I though it was weird, but fell back asleep. The next morning my roommate and I discussed it, as she’d heard loud noises on the boat, possibly by the engine she though.

At breakfast we were all talking about it, “Didn’t it seem like the ride was a lot shorter last night than it should have been?” And rumors were flying. After breakfast they told us the news: some water had gotten in the main engine, and they weren’t sure how long it would take to fix. (It later turned out to be that basically a huge part of the engine was broken.)

So we had to pack everything we’d need for the day and take a speed boat for about two hours to get to Isabela. There they made us pay a $5 tax (which was supposed to be included in our trip cost) and we hopped on a bus. We stopped at a lagoon where there were three flamingos. While it was interesting to see them feeding up close, they kind of trawl their beaks through the water making this funny noise, it got old pretty quickly and we stayed there for what seemed like forever just watching them eat. Maybe it was because I saw so many flamingos back in in Bolivia, but I just didn’t really care that much.

Then we went to a giant tortoise breeding center. It was pretty interesting. The giant tortoises were in different areas according to age and sub-species. First we watched a bunch of younger ones (I think around 5-7 year-olds) crawl all over each other in a rush to eat when they dropped food in their enclosure. It was funny.

It was amazing to see how they grow over the years. We were able to see little baby ones, which are so small it’s incredible to think that they grow so big. But then you see how they’re still so small until their teens, and even how they’re still not so big in their 20s and 30s. They don’t even start mating until they’re 35-40 years old! Then the really huge ones are those that are 70-80 and older. They can live up to around 150 years!

We also got to see the little-known subspecies that only appears at one volcano on Isabela, the flat-shelled tortoise. It literally looks like someone stepped on the shell and pushed it in. Each volcano on Isabela has a different subspecies, so it was interesting to see them all in one place and how they differ.

Then we walked down to the beach, which was practically deserted and quite pretty. (This part of Isabela is the only part that is inhabited.) We saw some huge marine iguanas hanging out all over the beach.

Then we went into town, where we were to have lunch. It was a really tiny town, with maybe four restaurants, a store or two, a travel agency, and that’s about it. The first thing we all did in the short free time we had before lunch was go to the store and buy sodas! I thought that was funny. After days on the boat without any soda (you can buy it but it’s really expensive), it was amazing how much I was craving a Pepsi or Coke! And apparently everyone else felt exactly the same. Although I, being the clever and thrifty person that I am, didn’t have to pay any kind of outrageous price for mine. The secret is to buy Pepsi here, the caps always have something on them, and every time I’ve gotten one it has been a free drink (except this time where I got 10 puntos – for what, I don’t know!) and so I’ve never had to pay for a Pepsi since!

After lunch we took the boat out to another place where we walked along Tinterones Trail. Basically it’s a rocky trail along this little channel of water where sharks all hang out. There were just tons of these white-tipped reef sharks swimming around or laying at the bottom hanging out. I liked the sign nearby, which said basically, “No swimming, this is a rest place for sharks.” Haha!

Also the trail was totally overtaken by iguanas. It was always one big, somewhat colorful (green, sometimes with some pinkish-red) one, I guess the male, and a ton of smaller black ones. And they were all always spitting!
Then we went and watched tons (and I mean TONS!) of blue-footed boobies flying together, then dive-bombing (sometimes all at once) into the water to catch fish. I knew there was a reason I liked them so much, they totally lived up to their awesomeness! It was really an amazing sight to see. And before someone told me that they were blue-footed boobies, I couldn’t have believed it. So many birds flying like that, I though they’d be some boring little ugly bird. Not the totally-cool-already boobies! I got some cool video of it which I will have to link to when I am able to upload it. Seriously, you couldn’t believe how many of them there were, all together in this giant swarm. Nor the way they dive, straight beak-first fast as you can imagine, into the water. You’d think they’d all be running into each other, but they don’t!

There were also a bunch of penguins swimming around, though to my dismay they swam right up to the other boat with half our group on it, but not to ours! Boo!

We also did some snorkeling in the afternoon, but it was terrible. The water was murky and algae and crap floating, terrible visibility. There was all this really high sea grass everywhere, that no matter where I swam I couldn’t seem to avoid. I started to feel claustrophobic and panicky and had to get out of the water, but it’s not like I missed much with such terrible visibility.

Then it was back on the speedboat for a long, cold ride back to our boat – sitting in the water near Baltra, the airport we’d flown into the first day! Lame, lame, lame.

After dinner (which, annoyingly, was fish and chips just like we’d just had for lunch), we were informed that the engine was not fixed and that the next day’s trip, the highlight of the cruise and what most of us were there for, was going to be changed. The alternate itinerary? North Seymour Island.

There were varying degrees of anger/disappointment/etc. I think what made me even more annoyed was how maybe half the passengers didn’t care much because in reality they didn’t know anything about the Galapagos and didn’t know the difference. Plus North Seymour is a blah island you could easily do as a daytrip on your own (if you for some reason wanted to). In fact, the Finnish couple, who’d joined this cruise solely to go to Fernandina and Isabela, had already been there and said it was pretty boring. They ended up leaving the boat the next day and getting a 50% refund.

I was also mad because I was basically sold this cruise because of this part of the itinerary as well, and the fact that they were replacing it with some crap daytrip made it even more frustrating. They also told us basically the only thing we could do about it would be to go back to the agency we’d bought the trip from (back in Quito for me) and see if they would offer any kind of compensation. This angered me even more, because even if I did get money back, I would be back in Quito so it’s not like I could use the money to do some more sightseeing or daytrips in the Galapagos.

Even now, with the trip over and still being absolutely amazing and seeing just about everything I could have wanted to see (wildlife-wise), I’m still somewhat upset and a bit bitter about this. It is people’s once-in-a-lifetime trip that we’re dealing with. And all they would talk about is what this was costing the company for repairs, etc., and so little concern with what it meant to us. But I digress.

DAY 6

The Replacement Day. It only merited less than a page in my journal and well less than half the amount of photos of every other day. Definitely no spotting orca, dolphins, and whales or seeing hundreds of penguins, swimming with them as they darted around us in the water, or getting to see newly evolving species – all things we might have seen if we’d had the original itinerary.

Instead we visited North Seymour Island. There was basically only one cool thing we saw there: the magnificent frigatebird. This was cool because the males have this red pouch they puff out when they’re trying to attract a mate. We got to see a few of them with the red out, including one which had his thing chest puffed, was waving around his wings really showing off. And one female finally did fly toward him, but he rejected her and she flew off!

We also got to get a better view of some land iguanas, and got to see some nesting blue-footed boobies and some frigate birds nesting, where we could actually see the tiny ugly chicks in the nest underneath the parents.

Then we went snorkeling. This was probably the most redeeming part of the day because we had some sea lions come swim around us, which was pretty awesome. One of them was quite a little poser, making all kinds of funny poses and flinging his body in all kind of contortions in the water. They were very friendly and playful, happy to swim with us.

We took the speedboat back to the Floreana for lunch, then got back on the speedboat and went out to Las Bachas beach on Santa Cruz. All we did really was walking along the beach. It was a nice white sand beach, and the sand was really soft in a couple parts, but it wasn’t incredibly interesting. I did have one of those “Yes, I’m in the Galapagos” moments (usually there’s at least one every day – the day before it had been floating past an abandoned boat with sea lions sleeping inside and a pelican chilling on the edge, with penguins swimming around below), while watching sea turtles swimming out in the water around us (waiting for night so they could come in and lay eggs), with blue-footed boobies just chilling on the rocks by the shore, and penguins swimming in the water as well. Just another day in the Galapagos. A less interesting one, at that!

Then we just hung out on the beach. Some people went snorkeling, but I was a bit cold and tired, and there was nothing to see really anyways. But again, the sand was nice and soft and powdery, and you can’t really complain about that.

DAY 7

This was another pretty good day, as I tried to put the previous day’s disappointment behind me. First we went to Puerto Egas on Santiago. (Really we barely left the central island area, which is what really pisses me off about taking an 8 day cruise and then ending up basically doing 7 days of easy day trips I could have done on my own for cheaper!) We did a dry landing onto a black sand beach where there were some sea lions.

Walking along the beach and into the island we saw pods of dolphins swimming out the water. We also saw a lot of seat turtles bobbing around. On the rocky shores we saw some fur sea lions (aka fur seals) hanging out sleeping. (They’re nocturnal and hunt at night.) Some of them were sleeping in these lower caves in the rocks – there were tons of these holes/caves that would fill up all the way with water as the waves came in, then completely drain really low. Back and forth, up and down, again and again. Some people in our group were totally mesmerized by this for some reason!

Then we went snorkeling! This was a real highlight. The whole trip I had been really bent on seeing a sea turtle. I have seen one once before – in the warm crystal clear waters of Pulau Perhentian in Malaysia, after years of wishing to see one, I finally was able to see one there on my last day before I left the island – but I was keen to see one again, and especially now that I had my camera with me!

Well, that dream came true times a thousand! There were TONS of sea turtles feeding out in the water off the beach. We were all super excited when we spotted the first two, feeding by a rock not far from the beach. But the more we snorkeled, the more we saw, the more it became, “Oh, just another sea turtle.” There were so many! I couldn’t even keep count.

Everywhere I turned there were more and more. It was a bit different than my Malaysia experience – the waters not as clear, the colors of the turtle and surroundings not as bright and tropical feeling – but it was still probably more awesome because of the huge numbers, and the fact that they were so close, sometimes I had to quickly swim away because they were directly under me and almost running into me as they made their way up to the surface for some air!

We also had a bit of a scary experience. I heard a loud splash not far from me and looked to see what it was. I saw a sea lion had come into the water. Excited, I started to swim toward it. Then I saw that it looked really, really big. Then I heard our guide yell to us all to get out of the area! It was a bull male, and they can get a bit aggressive. It’s a good idea not to try to swim near them!

After some lunch and relaxing, we went to Isla Rabida. There was a nice red beach, again littered with sea lions (made for some nice pictures!). There was right away a really loud young pup, making all kinds of noise. He kept waddling up to us and sniffing around curiously at our stuff. So cute!

We walked along the beach and saw tons more sea lions all the way along, including a pup Victor told us had probably only been born the day before! We saw a big pregnant sea lion as well.

Then we walked to a lagoon and then up to a nice viewpoint, then back down to do some more snorkeling. I didn’t take my camera this time, which was too bad because there were some really cool fish I hadn’t seen anywhere else before. There were also some sea lions swimming around us, and I spotted a marine iguana up on the land coming down toward the water, and I got to watch him jump in, swim around, and then begin feeding. It would have made for some really great pictures.

After dinner we had a kind of strange ceremony. They had certificates for us declaring that we’d crossed the Equator (a couple times) on our cruise. The weird part was that in order to receive our certificate, we had to say our favorite animal from the Galapagos, which would be our new name, and then we had to act like the animal in the middle of the dining cabin! I chose the blue-footed booby, so I had to fake dive and waddle in front of everyone. Other people were sharks, frigatebirds, sea lions, spotted eagle rays, iguanas, etc. Very random.

Then it was time to start thinking about things like tips and packing. None of us could believe that the week was already over. It really flew by!

DAY 8

The last day. Hard to believe! We had an earlier breakfast at 6:30, and then boarded the zodiacs. We went out to a place called Black Turtle Cove. It was lots of calm water in mangroves; it reminded me a lot of the flooded forest I visited in Cambodia.

Once we were into the main area we killed the engines and paddled around. There were tons and tons of sea turtles in the water everywhere, attracted by the calm water. Again, it was unbelievable how many there were, everywhere we turned. The cove was really peaceful and silent, with only the sounds of the insects and birds buzzing around us, along with the occasional quiet slap of water and sound of the turtles breathing as they came up for air.

After spending some time floating around the cove, we headed back out to the open water. Fitting in with our luck, the other zodiac’s engine had died and wouldn’t restart! I take this as a sign as it was someone on that boat that had brought the bad engine luck, so we narrowed down who to blame! Haha. So we had to tow that zodiac behind us until we got to the boat.

Back on the boat we had very little time left to do last minute packing and take a last glimpse around the boat. The week really felt so short, I felt like I’d barely even spent time on the boat (of course, the two days spent mostly on speedboats might have had something to do with it). I definitely could have spent a few more days living that dream-life of a cruise on the Galapagos!

Next thing we knew we were hopping onto another boat and arriving at the mainland, where a bus was waiting to take us to the airport. I had been deep in conversation with Evelina, the Swedish girl, as we were switching boats, and didn’t realize until we were getting off the ferry onto the mainland that I had forgotten my shoes in the crates on the boat, where we’d had to dump them after each excursion. I’d been so used to walking around barefoot, I hadn’t even noticed!

So I had to wait at the pier for them to bring my shoes, and unfortunately this meant I didn’t get to say goodbye to the Swedes, who I had most enjoyed spending time with on the cruise. I had been hoping to get a group photo of our whole crew, but sadly we arrived at the airport and scattered and it never got to happen. Oh well.

We had about three hours to wait around at the airport. Luckily it was all outside, so we could at least walk around and peruse the touristy souvenir stalls in the small area outside the waiting room. And of course there was still only one food place in the airport, with more options than in Quito but even more expensive. But we couldn’t resist getting some soda and chocolate!

After some delays we finally boarded the plane, and that’s where I sit now, writing this.

Once in Quito I will be go, go, go. In just a few hours I will have to visit an agency to book my a jungle tour starting the next day, buy my bus tickets for the night bus tonight, go to the agency where I bought my cruise and see if I can get anything back, and get online to send e-mails, get in touch with people, and let them know I’ll be gone again without any contact.

Then I’ve been invited to a Thanksgiving dinner thrown by the friend of a friend of my cabin-mate from the cruise, so I’ll be celebrating our holiday after all! (I hadn’t even realized it was today!)

Then tonight I will be off on an eight hour bus ride to Lago Agrio, then a boat ride into the jungle to a lodge in the Cuyabena reserve, where I will spend the next five days! Busy busy. But then I’m sure there will be another big update, then I’ll be down to the wire on the last days of my big trip, with a couple short trips to visit the cloudforest in Mindo and the Otavalo markets, then I’ll be ready to come home. Crazy!

UPDATE: I will get a bit of a refund when I get back to Quito on Wednesday, not sure how much yet. I didn’t have time to put up all the pics, so I will finish the blog and add the rest of the pics on the 2nd when I get back. Adios!

EVO MORALES:  “There are only two ways: moving forward in support of change or going back to the past, going back to neoliberalism”

Arleen Rodríguez Derivet

• LA PAZ.—Evo Morales Ayma, the man who, four years ago, changed the history of Bolivia and shook the racist protocol of Western diplomacy, is virtually not sleeping in La Paz at the moment.

Despite huge distances and appreciable differences in height and climate among the country’s nine departments, the president is touring them without a break, and with more intensity as December 6 approaches. This is the day that could guarantee the progress of changing or re-founding the nation, for centuries one of the most impoverished of the hemisphere but today, one that has been able to confront the impact of the world economic crisis with the most success.

Evo’s reelection is a fact not even contested by the right. Surveys give him a 34-point advantage over the closest of the other aspirants. In line with this figure, the most conservative result, the president will be returned with 52% and his nearest rival will barely reach 18%.

Even so, Evo appears at a different point of Bolivia’s complex geography every day. The last time he was seen driving a heavy tractor at the front of an enthusiastic and large convoy of supporters, no less than in Santa Cruz, considered up until the day before a right-wing bastion.

“After hearing and seeing the huge concentrations of people all over the country, I feel that we have already been elected for another five years,” affirmed the president in an exclusive interview for Cuban Television’s “Roundtable” program.

What Evo is seeking on those tiring tours to the heart of the country is to take the brakes of the changes imposed by the right in the Senate over the last four years, a period throughout which he had to govern hard by decree in order to overcome the criminal opposition of the opponents of change.

Now Evo is taking the time to talk with the majorities, to explain why not to post a “crossed” vote (voting for him but not for MAS candidates to the Plurinational Assembly. The battle of the charismatic 50-year-old leader is currently focused on winning two thirds of the seats; “Over the last four years, what was most damaging to us was the Senate. The people do not have the majority there,” he says and explains to us that that mal comes from the 1980s when, for once, the left won and the right did not allow it to undertake its program. Hernán Siles Suazo had to cut short his mandate.

But traveling into deepest Bolivia is also an opportunity to approach and hear directly from the people what they do from day to day in this country. “We are obliged to visit, to listen to the campesinos who have given us their vote.”

Impressed by the atmosphere of peace and prosperity, of joy, that can now be felt in La Paz and other regions, where barely 12 months ago, confrontations provoked by USAID and the U.S. ambassador made people fear for the process, we asked if that fact that one is not longer there and the other has been checked has had an influence, but his response is more profound:

“Whether it is the expulsion of the ambassador, reining in USAID and thus reining in the right, the most important thing is the people’s awareness. I am impressed by many sectors. I think that, in the first year, many people thought: the Indian isn’t going to make it, so: ‘We have to do something against the Indian; they tried to revoke me, they tried everything… That’s where the strength of the CONALCAM (National Coordinating Committee for Change), of intellectuals, students, comes in… Some people said, ‘I don’t like the president’s face, but I do like his politics. This Indian is giving us dignity.”

“When I see luxury cars on my campaign convoys, I ask myself what’s going on, but reviewing the candidates’ programs for December 6, ours is the most realistic. You can see clearly that there are two ways: moving forward in support of change or going back to the past, going back to neoliberalism. So many people are joining it. The people aren’t stupid, people can see. That is the program of the people, the one that is only opposed to criminals – those who have lived off robbing the people – and the fraudsters…

“You still can’t decolonize the minds of all Bolivians. There are still opposition groups. And there is a right to an opposition, but there are violent groups, terrorists, who are trying to destroy the homeland, to destroy life.”

In this interview, during which the president also talked about the economic crisis and the challenges that climate change is imposing on nations like Bolivia, he affirmed that the installation of military bases in Colombia “is not an aggression toward Colombia, it is an invasion of South America,” and predicted that that imperialist policy will be short-lived. •

Translated by Granma International

Redação ABC

O artilheiro do Santa Cruz na Copa Pernambuco, Gaúcho, foi tirado de campo nesta quarta-feira (25), após dez minutos de treino técnico-tático. O responsável por incomodar o jogador foi um desconforto na virilha. Hoje, o atleta será reavaliado pelo Departamento Médico (DM).

Esse desconforto não é de hoje. Gaúcho foi substituído na metade do segundo tempo do último jogo, domingo passado. Na segunda-feira, o atacante foi submetido a um exame de imagem e nada foi constatado.

Contudo, o problema voltou na mesma perna. Apesar de ser um pouco acima do desconforto anterior, a lesão preocupa e pode tirar o homem-gol da final de domingo (29).

Com informações do loucospelosanta.com.br

Redação ABC

Jogo decisivo é sinal de casa cheia. A torcida do Santa Cruz já demonstrou não abandonar o time. Independente da competição, o Mundão do Arruda sempre tem um público digno de uma equipe de tradição.

Confiando no amor e na provável presença de sua torcida, a diretoria Coral colocou a disposição 26,2 mil ingressos. A final da Copa Pernambuco 2009 está marcada para o sábado (28), às 16h, no Arruda. Santa Cruz e Central empataram no primeiro confronto por 2×2.

A diretoria decidiu que os valores dos ingressos não serão alterados, ou seja, R$ 10 (arquibancada) e R$ 5 (sócio e estudante). As entradas já estão sendo vendidas nas bilheterias do Arruda. 

I woke up this morning with a deep sense of well-being. In my bones I felt like something had changed. Maybe it was that for the first time since October, I woke up warm, easy, and unconcerned, having gone out last night to Ross’s on River St and purchased a beige-colored faux down second comforter with my now-expendable income. I didn’t wear a sweatshirt to bed. I woke up all wrapped up in a plethora of fabric.

Maybe it was just that it reminded me of home, that when I opened my eyes I expected to see the original pale blue walls of my old room in Connecticut. It would be winter now and the heat would be on low to save on gas bills, the frost which grows on the tree branches outside would have crawled halfway up my window in the night. My nose would be cold in the dim morning but my body warm under the covers. I peak at the clock: 7:05. I peak at the dresser: 6 feet away. I pull the covers over my head instead. I may seem to be making only incremental progress but beneath my sleepy visage there raged a shifting, fierce battle in which I was slowly gaining the upper hand.

As always, a glass of chocolate milk and a peanut butter cookie greets me on the kitchen table. The spoils of war.

No one is born with a love of science. I’ve met folks who take to science like fish take to water, but even so, they weren’t born knowing it. There are formative years, when we morph like clay to any external stimulus, when we really lay the wires for the decisions to come that will motivate us to live and resolve us to our endeavors, that many will attribute to an innate love of science. But even this is untapped potential without exposure. My friend once joked that half our graduating class at MIT are here because of Bill Nye the Science Guy. I used to watch Bill Nye the Science Guy and the Magic School Bus back-to-back after school. I discovered science as something I loved about the same time I discovered chocolate cake.

There’s much distrust and fear of science. There’s much detraction and misunderstanding of its goals. Sometimes I stand up for the institution which I think is noble and good but sometimes I think they’re not entirely wrong.

My housemate once said something I found egregious. We had been talking about the events of 9/11 and I was commenting on the importance of skepticism at the time. I had asked him if he had done any fact-checking on the validity of the evidence which has convinced him of his particular views. “It’s impossible to check all the facts,” he replied. “that’s why we rely on ‘expert testimony’.” As I was thinking about how to respond to that comment, he added, “You like physics, right? Well, have you gone through and fact-checked every piece of information your professors have given you?” For a second, I was stunned, then, I was horrified. “No, but I should,” it started making sense to me. “And I will. Eventually, I have to.” Why all these people are so skeptical of “science” when “science” is just the name given to a pursuit of knowledge.

Truth. Truth with a capital T is not a matter of definition. It’s independent of the instruments which discover it, the methods by which it’s disseminated. I tried to explain. Science lives by its fact checkers. If we didn’t question established rules there would never be any progress toward the truth. We’d be as ignorant today as the day we first walked the Earth. Yes, I’m guilty of taking some unconfirmed assertions as fact, but that’s a mere coincidence of my inexperience– what you’re alluding to is the fault of a person, not the decree of a science.

But the damage has already been done. For as long as science has existed, pseudoscience has been right by its side. But something alarming has happened in this so-called scientific age. Most people no longer perceive a difference between the two. In part, science journalism is to blame. The business of “selling science” has left the public in a doozy. First, coffee is good for you; then, coffee will give you a heart attack; coffee will make you smarter, stupider, live forever. Readers are left to hang on a few percentage points without ever being educated about the margin of error. They’re sent into a panic about the possibility of disaster without being informed of the insignificant odds. Mothers are refusing vaccinations for their kids while sweating over the ill-effects of drinking tap water. And journalists are only feeding the frenzy, breaking big interesting stories with magazine sales through the roof and fact-checking and source credibility all but out the window.

No wonder the public backlash against science. Listen to us, we seem to be saying, we’re experts, our opinions are as good as fact. Then what of actual facts? Are our journalists are not discriminating enough to sort them out, our public too uneducated to put it together? Is this why we present the conclusions first and the evidence rarely if at all? We lie by omission. We appeal to authority. And when experts disagree with each other we’re left to conclude there must be no objective fact, the truth is our invention, what’s real and what’s imaginary is simply a matter of opinion. Presented in this form, science is no better than just another form of indoctrination. Propaganda. No wonder.

Good science teachers encourage us to see for ourselves. When I was 10 or 11 I came home one day to Bill Nye the Science Guy on my TV chattering about different wavelengths of light. It is selective absorption of light which gives things color, he announced, to great fanfare. Light carries energy. This is why black things are warmer than white things. See for yourself!

So I went around touching things. For days I did. I started noticing how much warmer black cars were than white cars, how my hair seemed to catch fire in the direct sun. I even conducted an experiment with my mom’s collection of fabrics. I cut little swatches out of each material and lined them all up under the kitchen light. I let them sit for an appropriate amount of time and then with my eyes closed tried to separate the dark ones from the light ones (this experiment was only marginally conclusive). But there really was a difference! And so I was convinced of this particular fact.

How easy it is for me to put my faith in science when I’ve felt like a participant for most of my life, when I’ve been specifically educated of its fact and its power. How is anyone to be expected to know that science is about not knowing? It’s not inconceivable but it’s a very special type of communication which must occur. Those who appear to know would need to unveil just how little they know, and those who care to learn would first learn how to be wrong. A friend and classmate used to say that the only result of his scientific education was that he was not sure of anything any more. If we are to be a scientific society we must not pretend to be certain. By affecting the pretense of “expertise”, we’re only drawing parallels to rigid dogmatism. By providing the evidence and encouraging an elevated discussion, we’ll only empower the masses toward independent thought, to raise their own questions, engage in dialog, to dig deeper, to unravel.

In some ways, scientists are to blame. The scientific community is a community of people, and as such is not free of human quarrels, intrigue, pride, short-sightedness. It’s not unusual for even great scientists to make it their objective to “thin the herd”. The herd is, of course, referring to interested non-professionals, prospective students of their discipline, even peers. The objective? Ostensibly an improved level of dialogue, a higher mean quality of work, and undeniably, exclusivity.

3rd year students at MIT majoring in physics take a year-long lab sequence which introduces them to some landmark physics experiments of the 20th century. “Junior Lab”, as it’s termed, is, for most students, their very first exposure to what it takes (at least from the experiment portion onwards) to conduct a truly independent investigation in science. Each of the 10 experiments culminates in a scientific paper and a 15-minute oral presentation. Most students who go on to be physicists find this experience invaluable. But there is much dread, as well. Junior Lab is high pressure, fast-paced, and generally unsympathetic. In every way a weeder course for the physics major except that it occurs way too late into our studies.

Certain professors of the course have accumulated over the years particularly frightful reputations. One professor, a pioneer in the field of quantum computing, was legendary among the student for his offensively direct, sometimes unduly harsh, criticisms. His evaluations, instead of comments on the quality of the students’ work, often strayed into an assessment of a student’s abilities. Sometimes they were humorous. On a graded paper, I once saw the following annotation, “Much better than last time, but still terrible.”

Other times, they seemed to border on malicious. He took the opportunity of the public oral oftentimes to really drive home some of his earlier critiques. The public oral (held at the end of the first semester), was an opportunity for students to practice speaking to a large audience. Students, friends, and professors are all invited to attend. There are snacks and projectors and everybody’s dressed up. It can be a nerve-wracking experience. There would be follow-up questions on the apparatus, the data gathered, the analysis, then, “You’re an awful physicist,” he would spit out, during the question-answer session following a presentation. “You’re embarrassing yourself. You should drop this class.” I’m not sure if anybody ever attempted to defend the kids at the front of the room. Even as they stood there crying.

Scientists have a reputation for heartlessness. They have a stigma for being only tenuously human, curious and stubborn creatures with a fuzzy moral code. They do little to disabuse the public of this impression. In fact, it’s not out of the question that it’s even a source of pride, this “otherness”.

Sure, there’s no doubt remaining that we’re looking at an elite crowd. But then who can blame the public for their distrust of scientists, and in turn, suspicion toward scientific evidence and the basic tenets which guide the scientific endeavor? Exclusivity and exclusion are one in the same. But this raises several questions, does the public really deserve to be ostracized? Is this ultimately beneficial to our cause?

Who among my generation of scientists has not heard of Carl Sagan? In his series, “Cosmos”, Carl Sagan said, “Cosmos is a Greek word for the order of the universe. In a way, it’s the opposite of chaos. It implies a deep interconnectedness of all things. The intricate and subtle way that the universe is put together.” Ultimately, he devoted his public life to addressing just one question, “why science?” His answer was two decades long and his strategy was to have a conversation with the people. He presupposed their capacity to understand. He impressed them with his humanness. And the people responded en masse.

But ironically, Sagan was least popular with those for whom he advocated the most. In 1992 Carl Sagan came before the National Academy of Sciences as a nominee for membership in the most prestigious of science organizations in the world and was rejected despite the thumbs-up vote from the astronomy sub-community of members. His public persona was to blame. By that time he had written over 20 books, directed several movies and TV shows. (Not to mention he had also published some 600 scientific papers and made significant contributions to the study of planetary astronomy) But that was enough. As it turns out, his popularity discredited him. He was an egomaniac, they said, not a real scientist.

This is not an unfamiliar tune. When I mentioned to a professor once an interest in science journalism, his kindly response was that he thought I might be capable of a lot “more”. When I made the decision to put off graduate school until I’ve better defined my interests, I was warned against the implication this would have on my chances of being taken seriously later on. That there are precious few real ambassadors of science is no doubt a testament to the great command of the purist view point over the scientific minds of today. Our nostalgia for the past great eras of discovery and innovation have driven us to, at times, act against our best interests. It’s a sickness in the scientific community that goes to show just how human we really are. But while we judge and quarrel and blame and bicker, the next generation of scientists have just opened their eyes and are glimpsing our world for the first time. If science is to live on, it cannot lose its advocates.

ABI | FM Bolivia
Santa Cruz – Bolivia.- “Pedimos disculpas a todos aquellos que en algún momento se sintieron agredidos o fueron víctimas de la violencia o de algún enfrentamiento. Pedimos disculpas por todo aquello” manifestó Chichi Pérez, un ex alto dirigente de la Juvenil Cruceñista (UJC) durante el acto de proclamación de binomio Evo Morales Ayma-Alvaro García Linera.

A ese encuentro con la juventud asistió el vicepresidente García Linera, quien reflexionó a los jóvenes cruceños sobre los retos que encarará Bolivia los próximos años y que requieren del apoyo de la juventud.

Las confesiones y disculpas formuladas por el ex jefe de las denominadas “Barras Bravas” del club Oriente Petrolero conmovió a los presentes y mostró la nueva actitud que han asumido los jóvenes de este departamento.

Similar demostración la vivió este miércoles el presidente Evo Morales Ayma durante un encuentro con los estudiantes de las Universidades San Francisco Xabier (USFX) y Pedagógica de Sucre.

La proclamación de la juventud de Santa Cruz al binomio se produjo la noche del martes en el coliseo Don Bosco.

Miles de jóvenes con pancartas en mano, con las poleras de colores que los identifican, con gigantografías colgadas en los alrededores de las graderías del Coliseo, hicieron conocer su respaldo a la reelección…. Ver:

Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo

La compañía Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederi G.m.b.H. (OPDR), fundada en octubre de 1882 por August Schultze, un fabricante de botellas de Oldenburg y Hermann Burmester, un bodeguero de Oporto, desarrolló en sus comienzos un tráfico de cabotaje de altura entre los puertos de Bremen y Hamburgo, en Alemania y Oporto y Lisboa, en Portugal, atendido con los vapores Oldenburg y Portugal.

En 1885 se creó una nueva línea que unía Bremen y Bilbao, y cinco años después se amplió la red desde Hamburgo con escalas en Rotterdam, Amberes, Vigo, Cádiz y Gibraltar. En 1895 el servicio alcanzaba los puertos de Casablanca y Tánger y en 1900, Riga y San Petersburgo, en el Mar Báltico, para lo que se precisó de la incorporación de nuevos buques. En 1901 se estableció una línea desde Hamburgo y Rotterdam a los puertos españoles de Sevilla, Cádiz, Cartagena y Valencia.

OPDR bautizó a sus barcos con los nombres de las ciudades de su itinerario y en su contraseña exhibe los colores del viejo puerto hanseático de Oldenburg, es decir, amarillo con franja roja y azul. La contraseña era la propia bandera de la ciudad báltica -azul con una cruz roja- y en los cantones figuran las cuatro iniciales blancas de la firma social Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederi con las siglas OPDR.

Desde el inicio de sus operaciones con Canarias, la compañía alemana tuvo como representante al cónsul alemán en Tenerife, Jacob Ahlers. En 1910, OPDR inauguró un servicio regular de carga y frutero que enlazaba Hamburgo, Rotterdam y Amberes con Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife y Funchal. En ese mismo año se amplió la red marítima desde los citados puertos alemanes hasta Ceuta y Melilla. Para atender debidamente los nuevos itinerarios, la compañía compró en 1911 los buques Larache, Lisboa, Las Palmas y Lübeck; otros tres en 1912, Melilla, Ceuta y Rabat; igual número en 1913, Mehedya, Tetuán y Teneriffa y, en 1914, antes del comienzo de la I Guerra, los buques Orotava, Arucas y Telde.

Así iban y venían los barcos de OPDR cuando Alemania entró en la Guerra en 1914. La compañía tenía repartidos sus buques por todos los puertos de su itinerario y algunos quedaron internados en las aguas neutrales de la jurisdicción española y portuguesa. Entre ellos se encontraban los vapores Teneriffa y Arucas, que permanecieron en el puerto de La Luz desde agosto de 1914 hasta el final de la contienda. Ambos fueron entregados en 1919 al Gobierno de Francia en compensación de daños de la posguerra. Por su parte, el vapor Telde fue apresado en mayo de 1916 por el crucero británico Essex e incorporado al Almirantazgo con el nuevo nombre de Huntsholm.

Durante la guerra, la Marina Mercante española sufrió numerosas pérdidas humanas y materiales como consecuencia de la campaña indiscriminada de los submarinos alemanes a partir de 1917. Presionado por los navieros y la opinión pública, el Gobierno español inició en agosto de 1918 conversaciones con las autoridades germanas para compensar el tonelaje perdido por la flota nacional. En octubre se aprobó la toma de posesión efectiva de varios buques alemanes refugiados en puertos españoles, equivalente en tonelaje a las pérdidas registradas, dejando pendiente el arbitraje y la resolución definitiva en lo que se mantenía desacuerdo con Alemania.

Para la gestión de los buques en el tráfico marítimo nacional se autorizó la creación, mediante real orden, de la Gerencia de Buques Incautados por el Estado, que procedió a hacerse cargo de los seis vapores sobre los que se había llegado a un principio de acuerdo con el Gobierno alemán.

Tres de los seis buques se entregaron a compañías navieras privadas, en concepto de compensación de pérdidas sufridas durante la contienda: España nº1, ex Eriphia, pasó en 1924 a la contraseña de la Compañía Vasco-Cantábrica de Navegación con el nombre de Sardinero; España nº2, ex Javorina, se cedió a Compañía Trasmediterránea en 1924 y navegó con el nombre de Generalife; y España nº4, ex Crefeld, que primero navegó por cuenta de Compañía Trasatlántica y después pasó definitivamente a Compañía Trasmediterránea, siendo rebautizado Teide. Este último embarrancó el 8 de junio de 1932 en aguas de Guinea Española y se perdió definitivamente.

Los buques España nº 3, ex Roma y España nº5, ex Riga -que había pertenecido a OPDR-, permanecieron al servicio del Estado, adscritos durante muchos años como unidades de transporte de los Ministerios de Marina y de la Guerra, respectivamente. El vapor España nº 6, ex Neuenfels, fue entregado a la Marina de Guerra en octubre de 1921 para su reconversión en el portahidros Dédalo.

Dos años después de concluida la contienda, OPDR restableció primero la línea de Canarias, por la importancia que tenía para el suministro frutero de Alemania, seguida de la línea de Portugal en 1921 y del Levante español y Marruecos en 1922.

En 1926 entró en servicio el vapor Las Palmas, segundo de su nombre y al año siguiente la flota experimentó un notable incremento, con la incorporación de seis nuevos buques. Entre ellos se encontraba el vapor Tenerife, que al igual que sus compañeros de contraseña, hasta el comienzo de la II Guerra Mundial navegó en el tráfico frutero entre Canarias y Alemania.

Como la gran mayoría de los barcos de su época, era de casco de cajas, proa recta y popa de bovedilla, con palos y chimenea en candela y en los pozos llevaba un buen número de manguerotes de ventilación, aquellas antiguas “cachimbas” del argot portuario, como bien los describía Juan Antonio Padrón Albornoz.

A mediados de la década de los años treinta, OPDR estudiaba la renovación de la flota que atendía el servicio frutero de Canarias, para dotarla de buques más avanzados y más veloces, que garantizasen el transporte de la fruta en óptimas condiciones de ventilación mecánica. A partir de entonces, la compañía operó una interesante flota de vapores de cascos claros y chimeneas altísimas, que más tarde evolucionaron a rápidas motonaves, varias de los cuales lucieron en sus amuras y popas los nombres de nuestra toponimia, en homenaje de gratitud de sus armadores.

En 1938 entraron en servicio tres buques, dos de ellos de nueva construcción y el tercero adquirido de segunda mano, que ganaron justa y merecida fama en el tráfico frutero, siendo todos ellos bautizados con nombres genuinamente canarios: Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz y Telde. Sin embargo, el entusiasmo duró poco, pues apenas unos meses después, en septiembre de 1939, Alemania declaró la guerra y el mundo entró de nuevo en una grave convulsión que habría de acarrear importantes consecuencias.

La II Guerra Mundial
De la nueva flota “canaria” de OPDR, el buque Gran Canaria apenas navegó unos meses en su tráfico, pues en noviembre de 1938 lo compró la Kriegsmarine para su transformación como buque nodriza de la flota de submarinos.

El comienzo de las hostilidades sorprendió en aguas españolas a otros tres buques de OPDR, que acabaron siendo internados y posteriormente pasaron a engrosar la Marina Mercante nacional. Los vapores Sevilla y Porto se encontraban en Huelva, siendo ambos después trasladados a Sevilla, mientras que el vapor Larache estaba atracado en Cádiz. En 1942 enarbolaron pabellón español con los nuevos nombres de Ría de Ares, Ría de El Ferrol y Ría de Camariñas, dependiendo primero de la Gerencia de Buques Mercantes para Servicios Oficiales, y siendo transferidos en julio de 1943 a la Empresa Nacional Elcano de la Marina Mercante.

La motonave Telde y los vapores Las Palmas y Tenerife fueron requisados en 1940 por la Kriegsmarine y actuaron como transportes de la Seelöwe con los numerales A-26, R-41 y RO-26, respectivamente. El primero se encontraba en Las Palmas en vísperas de la declaración de la guerra, recibiendo órdenes de hacerse a la mar, consiguiendo entrar en Hamburgo el 10 de septiembre después de una larga derrota por el Atlántico bordeando las Islas Faröe y Aalesund.

En 1945, cuando acabó la guerra, los dos primeros fueron entregados al Ministerio de Transportes británico en concepto de reparación de daños, siendo abanderados con los nombres de Empire Kennet y Empire Halmsdale, respectivamente.

La historia bélica del buque Santa Cruz alcanzó unos tintes espectaculares. En septiembre de 1939 se encontraba descargando en Hamburgo. Por sus excelentes condiciones marineras, similares a las de su gemelo Gran Canaria, la Kriegsmarine lo requisó para su transformación en crucero auxiliar destinado a interferir el tráfico comercial aliado.

Artillado con seis cañones de 152 mm. cada uno y otras piezas de menor calibre, así como tubos lanzatorpedos y un hidro de reconocimiento, el 5 de junio de 1940 -comandante, capitán de navío Otto Kahler- salió de Kiel en su primer “raid”. Hasta su hundimiento el 29 de noviembre de 1942 cuando se encontraba en la posición 35º 27′ N y 139º 38′ W, dejó un historial de 22 buques hundidos que sumaban 151.134 TRB.

La vuelta de la paz
Cuando acabó la guerra, OPDR comenzó de nuevo la reconstrucción de su flota, que había sufrido importantes bajas. Durante unos meses cubrió el servicio con buques fletados, mientras los astilleros Deutsche Werft A.G., de Hamburgo, trabajaban en la construcción de nuevas unidades. A partir de 1950 restableció las líneas de Portugal, Levante español y Marruecos, con la puesta en servicio de los buques Oldenburg, Las Palmas, Rabat y Tenerife.

En 1951 reanudó el servicio frutero de Canarias con los buques Tánger y Lisboa y en 1952 reforzó su presencia en el tráfico marítimo con la entrega de los nuevos buques Ruhrort, Duisburg, Melilla y Tazacorte, estos dos últimos destinados también a las líneas del archipiélago canario.

El 28 de abril del citado año arribó el frutero Tazacorte en su primera escala al puerto de Santa Cruz de La Palma, procedente de Hamburgo y Las Palmas. En el muelle palmero compartió atraque con el vapor Ciudad de Salamanca y a bordo se celebró un emotivo acto en presencia del gobernador civil de la provincia, Carlos Arias Navarro, así como el presidente del Cabildo, Fernando del Castillo Olivares y el consignatario Jacob Ahlers.

Esa misma noche el flamante buque continuó su viaje a Santa Cruz de Tenerife, llevando a bordo al gobernador civil, a quien acompañaba su secretario particular, José Duque Alonso; el inspector provincial de Falange, Julio Guigou; el secretario general del Gobierno Civil, Lázaro Sánchez-Pinto Suárez, y el ingeniero de Obras Públicas, Juan Amigó de Lara. Esta representación se encontraba en La Palma desde el día 21, en que había llegado a la Isla a bordo del buque Ciudad de Melilla. Durante su estancia visitaron varias localidades, reuniéndose con los alcaldes y el presidente del Cabildo para abordar la red de abastecimiento de agua.

En el muelle Sur del puerto tinerfeño cargó mil toneladas de plátanos y 40.000 cestos de tomates y cuando terminó sus operaciones fue despachado por Ahlers. El periódico tinerfeño La Tarde saludó en su primera página la primera escala del Tazacorte con un artículo del escritor y periodista Felipe Lorenzo. Posteriormente, el pueblo de Tazacorte rindió un emotivo homenaje a la compañía OPDR y le hizo entrega de un artístico cuadro, donde aparece el proyecto de un puerto en el mismo emplazamiento donde acabaría siendo construido medio siglo después.

El frutero "Tazacorte", navegando por el Canal de la Mancha

Proa del buque "Tazacorte" en el puerto palmero

Homenaje de Tazacorte a la naviera alemana OPDR

Construcción nº 636 del astillero de Hamburgo, era un buque de 3.079 toneladas brutas, 1.619 netas y 4.630 de peso muerto, siendo sus principales dimensiones 98,70 metros de eslora total, 14,53 de manga, 8,21 de puntal y 6,73 de calado máximo. Estaba propulsado por dos motores diesel MAN, con una potencia de 3.600 caballos y 14,5 nudos de velocidad. En cuatro bodegas tenía capacidad para el transporte de 205.084 pies cúbicos de carga en grano -189.940 pies cúbicos en balas- y para las operaciones en puerto disponía de diez plumas de dos toneladas de potencia de izada cada una. Tenía, además, camarotes para diez pasajeros y llevaba una tripulación de 29 hombres.

Durante casi veinte años, el frutero Tazacorte, en unión de sus gemelos y otros buques de su misma contraseña, así como las modernas motonaves Lichtenstein y Liebenstein, del Norddeustcher Lloyd, hizo la línea entre Canarias y los puertos alemanes. Su estampa marinera se hizo muy popular y querida en los puertos de su itinerario de Canarias -especialmente en Santa Cruz de La Palma- donde cargaba las piñas de plátanos envueltas y rellenas de pinillo [pinocha] y los cestos de tomates, que se amontonaban en los entrepuentes y las bodegas asistidas por ventilación eléctrica.

En 1965 entró en servicio el buque Gran Canaria, que fue una de las últimas unidades convencionales de la compañía alemana, así como los cuatro costeros de la serie Cádiz en 1967. A comienzos de la década de los setenta, OPDR dio un giro radical en su estrategia y en 1971 vendió 14 unidades, con una antigüedad de casi veinte años, entre los que se encontraban los buques Las Palmas, Tenerife, Gran Canaria y Tazacorte.

La evolución del tráfico marítimo, con la progresiva implantación del contenedor, los había desplazado por nuevas y más modernas unidades, que atendían el servicio en mejores condiciones. El comprador del frutero Tazacorte fue la compañía Guam Guam Shipping Co., de Singapore, siendo rebautizado Golden Sea, nombre con el que navegó en aguas de Extremo Oriente hasta 1973, en que se vendió para desguace en Kaohsiung (Taiwán).

Publicado en DIARIO DE AVISOS, 28 de noviembre de 2004

Fotos: “Tazacorte” (FotoFlite). Restantes: Archivo Díaz Lorenzo

Hallo ihr Lieben,

endlich gibt es mal wieder ein update von uns aus San Francisco! Es ist ja nicht so, dass wir euch vergessen hätten oder hier drüben nichts geschehen wäre Natürlich gibt es Neuigkeiten! und neue Fotos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisaundlars

Wir haben unseren ersten Wochenendtrip hinter uns, in den Süden. Allerdings nicht weiter als Monterey, denn dafür reichte die Zeit nicht, wenn man auf eine gewisse WE-Erholung noch Wert legen wollte : ) Haben uns einen Teil des marinen Forschungsbereichs in Santa Cruz angesehen, da ich durch die nicht enden wollende Jobsucherei mal wieder mit dem Gedanken, eine Promotion zu beginnen, gespielt habe.
Bei strahlendem Sonnenschein haben wir auf Treasure Island das zwei Tage lange Musik-Festival genossen und mit ein bißchen Arbeit für´s Umweltamt sogar freien Eintritt bekommen.

Lars hat nach seiner Trainings-und Eingewöhnungszeit in der Uni, “nach seinen Worten” nun auch begonnen richtig zu arbeiten und genießt die Möglichkeit, neue Dinge im Labor und in der Medizin zu lernen. Er hat eine ziemlich sympathische, europäisch angehauchte Arbeitsgruppe erwischt, mit der wir immer wieder sehr viel Spaß haben wenn wir uns in Palo Alto treffen.

Nach langem Warten und ziemlicher Unruhe habe ich endlich meine Arbeitserlaubnis und meine Social Security Number von den amerikanischen Behörden bekommen! Es war schon fast zu schön, um wahr zu sein ; )
Da sich die Jobsituation leider auch in Amerika noch kein Stück verbessert hat, habe ich noch keinen Job in meinem Forschungsbereich gefunden. Dafür mache ich bereits seit September zwei Praktika parallel, in der Hoffnung dass irgendwo eine Stelle frei wird. Die meiste Zeit verbringe ich in der Abteilung für Umwelt in Stadt San Francisco, sozusagen das Umweltamt. Für mein zweites Praktikum muss ich ein Stück in den Süden fahren, um das Boot des Marine Science Institutes zu erreichen, auf dem ich große und kleine Fische (von Anchovies bis Haien) aus der San Francisco Bucht bestimme, messe und zähle.
Natürlich hab ich mich auch schon nach ner Tanzschule umgesehen, und mich nach einigem Hin und Her Proben nun auch zwischen zwei Schulen entschieden. Und der Contemporary Unterricht ist fantastisch : )

So, jetzt macht´s mal alle gut! Ich muss los und wünsch euch was!

Liebste Grüße
von der Lisi

Das Update vom Update: ich dachte ich steure hier auch noch meine drei Lieblingsbilder bei…

L.

Redação ABC

Com problemas musculares, o zagueiro Alex Xavier ficará de fora da final da Copa Pernambuco 2009. O jogador foi vetado pelo departamento médio para o jogo que será realizado no próximo domingo, no Mundão do Arruda.

Segundo o treinador Coral, Dado Cavalcanti, não existirá mistério quanto ao substituto. O garoto Everton Sena entra na vaga do capitão.

Outro problema que preocupa o Santa Cruz é a lesão muscular do atacante Gaúcho. Porém, o artilheiro da equipe, que sente dores na virilha esquerda, deve treinar nesta quinta-feira (25) e enfrentar o Central no domingo.

Com informações do Blog do Torcedor

This is the second part of the “Earthquake Wedding” story. Read the first part here, covering October 16 through 18.

Thursday, October 19th

We reached the Los Gatos reception hall by phone.  It is definitely out because of severe water damage to the floor.  We begin calling other places and the Campbell Community Center has a large room available. We promise to be there early afternoon,  CASH IN HAND, because we are talking about tomorrow night!  Bob calls Megan about where the kids will stay Friday night after the wedding.  We all agree that coming to Santa Cruz is not going to be easy.  Megan takes care of it, making new arrangements.  The Babbling Brook in Santa Cruz is open but kindly agrees to hold the reservations for a later date.  Bad news about the refrigerator.  The power is on but the vertical jolts jammed the compressor.  It is stuck on defrost!  We returned our neighbors’ food, threw most of ours out and added the refrigerator to the long list of things to be repaired or replaced.

About noon, Bob and I and Annie, the matron of honor, go to Los Gatos (via Hecker Pass) to reserve the place for the reception.  It is wonderful!  Even the walls and carpet are the wedding colors!  Now we go to meet the grandparents who have arrived from Texas.  We show up at their motel, towels in hand pleading for hot shower.  We confirm new arrangements with Greenlees Bakery and all the friends who are helping with the food and decorations.  Besides Greenlees, who initiated calls and checked with us, I should mention by name the Flower Ladies of Scotts Valley who went way beyond the necessary in delivering the flowers, beautiful and in time for photographs.  I think they had to drive north to Half Moon Bay and come over Highway 84 or 92.

The Texas grandparents, bride and groom, parents and matron of honor go out to dinner to relax and get acquainted.  The conversation is evenly divided between wedding and earthquake.  Annie is staying with Juli so Bob and I drive home, Highway 9, I think.

Friday, October 20th

The grandparents make a decision to return to Texas on Sunday.  They will come back later for an extended visit.  Too many aftershocks.  The hotel in Aptos is delighted to have the room released for displaced people.

Each of us from the Santa Cruz side of the hill drive separately on Highway 9 with our list of errands, (dog to kennel, pick up balloons, pick up arch, pick up ice cream, pick up, etc. etc.).  Only George Bush (41) slowed us down.  He was flying by helicopter from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz and the highway through Scotts Valley was closed for awhile.  Wish I’d had a helicopter and crew.  It would have been a big help.

So many friends helped with food – a delicious desert buffet – and decorations – lace and balloons and twinkly lights.  We were prepared with flashlights in case of power failure but the wedding came off beautifully – a lovely “Cinderella” type of affair.  Afterward there was good food, good music, good friends and good feelings.  The women were right to go ahead in spite of the earthquake.  Even now friends thank us for having that happy time to relax and rejoice between repairs and rebuilding.

Saturday, October 21st

We each came home via our “favorite” path – highway 152 or 129.  We were a few days behind our neighbors in earthquake emotions but we were ready to catch up, pick up and help out.  As I walked in the door carrying the cake top in a tin box along with a lot of other stuff, somehow things became unbalanced and the cake tin landed upside down on the floor.  Everything else in the house was still upside down so it seemed a fitting end for the “Earthquake Wedding” of 1989.

In 2009, we remembered the earthquake as we celebrated the 20th Wedding Anniversary of Juli and Eric.

By Kathleen Vallerga