Blog - Playa Viva Luxury Eco Resort, Mexico

Farming Life Long Relationships

Contribution by Rose Winters, WWOOFer/Volunteer, Playa Viva Oct-Dec 2013.

Playa Viva really made me realize how fast two months could pass. My sense of time which I was accustomed to most of my life was based on being in a classroom and not in in the setting of a place like Playa Viva.

Looking for a change of scenery and a different perspective than the town I’d lived in my whole life, I looked for a way to travel to Mexico in an affordable way. I discovered the organization called WWOOF (World Wide Organization of Organic Farms), which led me to the Playa Viva website, and after convincing the owner of Playa Viva that I was a viable WWOOFing candidate, I was off to Playa Viva.

Upon arriving at Playa Viva I met, unknowingly at the time, people that I know I will stay in contact with for years to come, people that would become my best friends and nearly constant companions for the next two months. I spoke very little Spanish when I arrived. The songs about wolves and sheep that I had learned in my high school Spanish class did surprisingly little to help me through a conversation with anyone in Mexico. I found it frustrating in my first few weeks in Playa Viva; I wanted to talk with people, to laugh with them, but instead I found myself desperately trying to translate what was being said, while awkwardly staring into the distance.

Needless to say, many conversations were lost. And jokes, that were funny at the time they were told, had lost most of their humor after five minutes of explanation. Despite the minor challenges that I had learning Spanish, the notorious “language barrier” did little to affect the relationships that I grew to have with the Playa Viva staff. The patience of the people at Playa Viva with my repeated attempts to understand and speak their language, along with an abundance of jokes inspired by my mispronunciations and Spanish mishaps, led to a drastic improvement in my Spanish.

My time at Playa Viva has really proven to be life changing, not only because it was my first real time traveling away from home, let alone another country, but mostly because of the connections I have made, and the people that have helped me out and befriended me along the way. Whether it was being invited to go to soccer games in the nearby town of Petatlan, to go swimming in the mountains, to go to the few parties in the small towns of Juluchuca and Rancho Nuevo, to go to the church for December 12th where the young girls were fascinated by my long, curly, light colored hair, I felt accepted and welcomed by everyone I met.

I feel so lucky and grateful to have made this “second family” of mine that is mostly made up by the staff at Playa Viva. Instead of leaving with a bag of souveniers that I have bought from Mexico, I have a notebook filled with names, email addressees, personal notes, and phone numbers. Leaving the place and people of Playa Viva was sad; my time at Playa Viva was very temporary, but the memories and experience I have from this place will stay with me my whole life.

Season 4 Photo Contest – Winner Announced

Season 4 Photo Contest is finally complete. The book has gone to the press. The judges all got their votes in and while we had way too many great images all three judges only had 4 images that they all three agreed upon. When the book went to press, this image by Anna Hennings won our grand prize, a free stay at Playa Viva. So many great photos didn’t even make it into “the book.” We thank you all for your submissions and thank our three photographer/editor judges: Jay Premack, Amanda Holmes and Bryce Lankard for their time and energies as judges. Thank you and come visit us in Season 5.

So, how did we decide on which photos to include, first a photography had to have at least two votes to be included in the book. with over 500 photos submitted many had just one vote, but only a total of 37 images had two votes and 8 had three votes. The final selection of the winning photograph out of the top 8 photos came down to a very simple editorial process. Which of these photos looked best on the cover of the book and which embodied the themes of this years entries. The themes that permeated the winning photos were fun/whimsy/sense of humor along with nature/peace/joy. The cover photo by Anna Hennings contained all these great qualities of the simple joy that we all share in heading out to the shore with a bucket full of baby turtles to release. Congratulations to Anna and thank you to all of you who submitted so many great photographs.

El Taller Eco Vegana en Playa Viva mezcla Tradiciones, Recetas … y Bebidas

Contributed by Nick Wolf and Evan Silberstein Traducido en Español por María Luisa Quintero

ESPAÑOL primero – English version after Spanish

El Taller Eco Vegana en Playa Viva mezcla Tradiciones, Recetas … y Bebidas

Por Nick Wolf

¿Qué tal te parece un poco de canalones de berenjena, otro tanto ceviche de coliflor o un arroz de jícama? Sabroso, ¿verdad? Si hubieras estado en Playa Viva la semana pasada hubieras podido probar estos deliciosos platillos y otros más, en un taller de cocina saludable impartido por la Cooperativa Eco Vegana de Zihuatanejo.

El domingo pasado más de 30 personas llegaron al hotel eco turístico Playa Viva e inmediatamente comenzaron el día con un desayuno vegano directo de la cocina de Playa Viva. Después los invitados recorrieron las casitas, el jardín y el campamento tortuguero, donde aprendieron más acerca de la energía solar, la construcción verde y los programas de conservación que hacen de Playa Viva un lugar sustentable.

Por la tarde, los participantes tomaron una clase para aprender novedosas recetas que tienen un impacto benéfico tanto en las cinturas de los que las consumen como para el medio ambiente. Desde agua-chile a las verduras a la talla, los expertos instructores de la Cooperativa dieron un giro vegano a algunos exquisitos platillos típicos mexicanos. Incluso, la famosa margarita de albahaca de Playa Viva se transformó al sustituir el tequila por la bebida fermentada de kombucha, una mezcla perfecta que da por resultado un ligero sabor agridulce, característico del coctel emblemático del hotel. Para el final del día el barman Johnny había añadido otra deliciosa bebida a su repertorio. Por su parte, el Chef Abraham y el resto del personal de la cocina de Playa Viva complementaron los platillos elaborados durante el taller con más recetas veganas para redondear un abundante almuerzo y menguar el día.

Una segunda oportunidad de liberar bebés tortuguitas sorprendió los asistentes y cerró el día con broche de oro; mientras tanto los invitados charlaban acerca de las recetas, bebían sus margaritas de albahaca y kombucha y descansaban en ese paraíso eco-lujoso y sustentable. Fue una relajante jornada caracterizada por ricas fusiones: mezclando platos clásicos con novedosas recetas saludables y sustentables, mientras los visitantes citadinos de la ciudad de Zihuatanejo se escaparon a ese paraíso de playas vírgenes y conocieron algunos de sus vecinos con quienes comparten la misma costa.

Este no fue el primer taller de cocina vegana de la Cooperativa, ya que el grupo organiza una clase mensual en Zihuatanejo y participa en el mercado local y artesanal Eco-Tianguis Sanka todos los sábados. Pero, sí fue la primera visita del grupo a Playa Viva, donde los participantes dijeron que les pareció un lugar que compartía los mismos principios que ellos valoraban y les ayudó a estar en un contacto más cercano con la naturaleza, mientras minimizaban el impacto ambiental. Las ganancias del taller beneficiarán al centro de salud de Juluchuca. Ese alineamiento natural que se dio entre el hotel Playa Viva y la Cooperativa Eco Vegana de Zihuatanejo significa una buena oportunidad para desarrollar futuros talleres. Invitamos a los lectores se unan a la Cooperativa Eco Vegana y visiten su página de Facebook. Y si estás de visita en la zona, haz una parada en el hotel Playa Viva, participa en los talleres de la Cooperativa Eco Vegana y visita el Eco-Tianguis Sanka en Zihuatanejo.

Por Evan Silberstein – El domingo pasado Playa Viva fue el anfitrión de la Cooperativa Eco Vegana compuesto por un grupo de más de 30 participantes. El evento se prolongó todo el día y los invitados aprendieron acerca de una alimentación saludable y una vida natural. Pudimos mostrar al grupo muchos de los maravillosos atractivos de Playa Viva. También disfrutaron de no una sino de dos liberaciones de tortuguitas recién nacidas, así como un tour muy especial a nuestras instalaciones, incluyendo las casitas, el delicioso jardín orgánico, nuestra estación solar que genera energía y La Tortuga Viva – el santuario de anidación y desove de las tortugas en el borde de nuestra propiedad.

La Cooperativa enseñó acerca de la alimentación saludable; un montón de consejos increíbles y ofrecieron recetas a sus estudiantes de todas las edades, géneros y clases sociales. También se llevaron a cabo discusiones interactivas acompañadas con deliciosa comida durante un día emocionante de grandes descubrimientos y nuevos puntos de vista para todos los involucrados. Puedes tener la seguridad de que todos aprendimos a hacer cambios en nosotros mismos – ¿cómo te suena la experiencia de haber probado un ceviche de coco o una margarita con kombucha?

En el futuro esperamos tener un mayor y emocionante trabajo comunitario con la Cooperativa. Playa Viva se enorgullece de apoyar sus esfuerzos para aumentar la conciencia local sobre las opciones de alimentación y estilo de vida saludables.

Tú puedes comprobar su sabroso menú y encontrar sus caras sonrientes en el Eco Tianguis, un nuevo mercado ecológico que se celebra cada sábado por la mañana en Zihuatanejo. También Playa Viva tiene un local, donde vendemos nuestras verduras de la huerta, jabones artesanales y sales de Juluchuca. Asegúrate de comprobar nuestros productos en tu próxima visita, ¡vale la pena el viaje!

Echa un vistazo a la Cooperativa Eco Vegana de Zihuatanejo en Internet para obtener más información, hacer preguntas o ver algunos emocionantes videos de este evento tan especial.

———— English—————

by Nick Wolf – How does some eggplant cannelloni, cauliflower ceviche or jicama ‘rice’ sound? Good? If you’d been at Playa Viva last weekend you would have been able to try these delicious dishes and a few more at a healthy cooking workshop taught by the Eco Vegan Cooperative of Zihuatanejo.

More than 30 people arrived at Playa Viva last Sunday and began their day with a vegan breakfast straight from the Playa Viva kitchen. After breakfast, the guests toured the casitas, garden and turtle sanctuary, learning more about the solar energy, green construction and conservation programs that make Playa Viva sustainable.

In the afternoon, participants sat down to learn new recipes that have a lighter impact on both their waistlines and the environment. From aguachile to vegetables a la talla, the Cooperative’s expert instructors added a vegan twist to a number of typical Mexican dishes. Even Playa Viva’s classic basil margarita got a makeover; trading out tequila for locally fermented kombucha that mixed perfectly with the light, sweet-sour taste of the signature cocktail. By the end of the day Johnny had added one more delicious drink to his repertoire. Chef Abraham and the rest of Playa Viva’s kitchen staff complemented the dishes prepared during the workshop with more vegan recipes to round out a filling lunch to wind down the day.

A surprise second batch of baby turtles ready to be released wrapped up the day as the guests chatted about the recipes, sipped on their kombucha basil margaritas and lounged in sustainable eco-luxury. Evidenced by the meals and margaritas, the day was one of fusion: blending classic dishes with healthier and more sustainable recipes, while city slickers from Zihua escaped to an untouched beach paradise and got to know some of their neighbors just down the coast.

This wasn’t the Cooperative’s first vegan cooking workshop. In fact, the group hosts a monthly class in Zihuatanejo (with proceeds supporting local non-profits) and participates in the Eco-Tianguis Sanka local farm and craft market every Saturday. But, it was the group’s first visit to Playa Viva, a place participants said they felt like shared their values and helped them come in closer contact with nature while minimizing their environmental impact and benefitting the local community. Proceeds from last weekend’s workshop will support the Juluchuca clinic. The natural alignment between Playa Viva and the Eco Vegan Cooperative of Zihuatanejo means future workshops are a good bet. We hope you can join us for one over the coming months, but in the meantime be sure to visit the Cooperative’s Facebook group. Or, if you’re in the area, stop by and see both Playa Viva and the Cooperativa Eco Vegana at Eco-Tianguis Sanka in Zihuatanejo.

by Evan Silberstein – Playa Viva hosted the Cooperativa Eco Vegana this past Sunday. A large group of over 30 participants visited Playa Viva for an all-day event to learn about healthy eating and natural living. We were able to showcase many of the amazing things about Playa Viva. The guests enjoyed not 1 but 2 baby tortugita releases along with a very special tour of our property including trips to all the casitas, the delectable organic garden, our solar energy generating station and La Tortuga Viva – the turtle nesting and hatching sanctuary at the edge of our property.

The Cooperativa taught about healthy eating and shared lots of amazing tips and recipes to their students who came from all ages, genders and walks of life. Interactive discussions along with delicious food highlighted an exciting day of discovery and new insights for all involved. Rest assured, we learned a few twists ourselves – how does some coconut ceviche with a kombucha margarita sound to you?

We look forward to more exciting community work from the Cooperativa in the future. Playa Viva is proud to support their efforts to raise local awareness about healthy eating and lifestyle choices.

You can look out for their tasty menu and find their smiling faces at the Eco Tianguis – a new green market held every Saturday morning in Zihuatanejo. Playa Viva has a booth too; where we showcase greens from the garden, handmade soaps and local salts from Juluchuca. Be sure to check it out on your next visit, it’s worth the trip!

Check out the Cooperativa Eco Vegana de Zihuatanejo on the internet to find out more, ask questions or see some exciting video footage from this very special event.

Que dia!

Contributed by Martin Goebel – As a fisherman you are usually prepared for anything, mostly disappointment. Not on this day in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Organized by “Johnny,” one of the guides at Playa Viva, a wonderful, close-to-nature eco-resort, I went deep-sea fishing over Thanksgiving week. It was magical. The dolphins and turtles graced the deep blue water. They were everywhere. Then, at six miles out and about 11AM we started getting hit by sailfish streaking every which way like fine lances through the water. At one point we had “four on.” That was wild. In the end, I think we counted eight landed (six released) and many more hooked. “Capitan Jaime” annointed my largest a trophy of 80lbs! It felt bigger. Promise.

What a day!

NOTE: See video of dolphins click here – https://vimeo.com/82021769

About the author – Martin Goebel is one of the pioneers of the sustainability movement was a recent recipient of the prestigious Earle A. Chiles Award for his contribution to the movement. His desire to find solutions that work for communities, businesses, and the environment during the timber and salmon wars of the 90’s led him to create Sustainable Northwest in 1994. Born and raised in Mexico, Martin’s conservation career includes leadership positions in The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, and World Wildlife Fund. He has helped found several organizations including the Mexico Nature Conservation Fund, Wallowa Resources, and Lake County Resources Initiative, and was a founding member of the Oregon Sustainability Board. Currently, Martin recently serves as founding principal of Moebius Partners LLC, a firm dedicated to assisting social entrepreneurs and enterprises to secure human knowledge and financial capital to grow and succeed. Martin is an avid scuba diver and fly fisherman, and enjoys exploring new cultures, rivers and reefs any chance he gets.

Eco Vegan at Playa Viva Workshop Blends Traditions, Recipes…and Drinks

Contributed by Nick Wolfe and Evan Silberstein

by Nick Wolfe – How does some eggplant cannelloni, cauliflower ceviche or jicama ‘rice’ sound? Good? If you’d been at Playa Viva last weekend you would have been able to try these delicious dishes and a few more at a healthy cooking workshop taught by the Eco Vegan Cooperative of Zihuatanejo.

This wasn’t the Cooperative’s first vegan cooking workshop. In fact, the group hosts a monthly class in Zihuatanejo and participates in the Eco-Tianguis Sanka local farm and craft market every Saturday. But, it was the group’s first visit to Playa Viva, a place participants said they felt like shared their values and helped them come in closer contact with nature while minimizing their environmental impact. That natural alignment between Playa Viva and the Eco Vegan Cooperative of Zihuatanejo means future workshops are a good bet. We hope you can join us for one over the coming months, but in the meantime be sure to visit the Cooperative’s Facebook group. Or, if you’re in the area, stop by and see both Playa Viva and the Cooperativa Eco Vegana at Eco-Tianguis Sanka in Zihuatanejo.

by Evan Silberstein – Playa Viva hosted the ecoVegana Cooperativa this past Sunday. A large group of over 30 participants visited Playa Viva for an all day event to learn about healthy eating and natural living. We were able to showcase many of the amazing things about Playa Viva. The guests enjoyed not 1 but 2 baby tortugita releases along with a very special tour of our property including trips to all the casitas, the delectable organic garden, our solar energy generating station and La Tortuga Viva – the turtle nesting and hatching sanctuary at the edge of our property.

We look forward to more exciting community work from the Cooperativa in the future. Playa Viva is proud to support their efforts to raise local awareness about healthy eating and lifestyle choices.

You can look out for their tasty menu and find their smiling faces at the Eco Tienges – a new green market held every Saturday morning in Zihuatanejo. Playa Viva has a booth too; where we showcase greens from the garden, handmade soaps and local salts from Julichuca. Be sure to check it out on your next visit, it’s worth the trip!

Check out the Cooperativas Eco Vegana on the internet to find out more, ask questions or see some exciting video footage from this very special event.

Giving Back

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas our mailboxes, both real and virtual, are filled with holiday cards that remind us how much younger we are not getting, catalogs that remind us to be good consumers and solicitations that remind us to donate to deserving causes. Playa Viva did its part when we recently sent an email requesting support for the local community of Juluchuca and the turtle sanctuary “La Tortuga Viva” – “Buy a Baby Turtle” for the holidays.

Related to the holidays, I just got a list from our accountants of all the donations we made of free stays at Playa Viva in support of deserving causes. Primarily we support groups that promote environmental conservation/restoration and social impact. In social impact, we focus our support education, health and economic development especially for the Hispanic community. If you have a group that promotes these goals, let us know how we can help.

Here is a short list of some of the groups that received donations of free stays at Playa Viva (auctioned off to raise money for their cause): KCRW – Public Radio in Los Angeles, the Oceanic Society, A Home Away From Homelessness, Liberty Hill Foundation, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, Pacific Community Ventures, Tibetan Aid Project, Baywood Elementary School, Hillsborough Schools Foundation, Sidewell Friends School, Westside Waldorf School, Services Immigrant Rights & Education Network, La Casa Del Las Madres and many more. Several of these donations were done in conjunction with our flight partner Aeromexico.

We encourage you to give the gift of charity this year to help those in need and to protect that which needs our stewardship and care. Thank you.

Full Scorpion Disclosure

*Scorpion on cactus as seen using a blacklight. Notice how brilliant and florescent green the scorpion appears under blacklight. Photo Courtesy of Julie Formosa*

So what’s all this I’m reading about Scorpion’s at Playa Viva?

There are some blog posts you are reluctant to write but know that you must post someday. So here it is. Scorpions. Yes, Playa Viva has scorpions as do most all tropical and even desert locations throughout the world. The question isn’t do we have them, but what are we doing to minimize the risk that you might be stung by one.

First, while PV does everything possible to provide our guests with a chemical and poison free environment, we draw the line when it comes to scorpions. We have eliminated chlorine from the pool and use salt (sodium chloride). We use natural pesticides like Neem Oil to reduce sand flees and other pests. But when it comes to rats and scorpions, we have found that poison is the only way to safely eliminate these pests for the greater health and well being of our guests. If any of our readers know of or can recommend a source for safe yet effective means that do not use poison to help eliminate or reduce the populations of these two pests please let us know. We will not use cats as they do more damage to bird and lizards than to the mice and rats — always trade offs. So pesticides is the first line of defense. We do our best to reduce your exposure to these harmful chemicals.

How real is the threat that you might be stung? Risk of sting – since Playa Viva opened in November of 2009 to date (December of 2013), we have had a total of 3 stings. One sting left the guest’s finger numb for at least a month, but she felt secure enough to send her daughter the next year to complete an internship on “Cooking and Tourism” at Playa Viva. The result of that internship was the discovery of our most popular excursion to the sierra. The second sting was so benign that the guest said it “hurt less than a bee sting.” The most recent sting was to a woman who was at PV with small children. As a result of that sting, the two families decided to leave and then wrote the ONLY 1 and 2 star review that PV currently have on TripAdvisor. Their review were probably more a result of their not being provided a refund (against our strict policy but yet they did not accept a generous credit towards future stay). While we prefer not to get bad reviews, these two listing have raised the attention of the potential of a scorpion sting at Playa Viva. While their negative reviews are more visible, the fact remains that ONLY 3 stings in 5 years of operations means that you have a very low chance of being stung.

That said, NOBODY wants to be the next person stung. I have not been stung yet and certainly don’t want to nor do I want my children stung. So what are we doing to further reduce the risk. First, we purchased blacklights not just for the rooms for guest use, but we also purchased lights for every member of our team for their use at home and at Playa Viva. Our security team is now incentivized to hunt, gather and eliminate from the property (near the hotel) any scorpions they find during their night watch. As a result of this incentive program, the security team has significantly reduced the number of scorpions near the hotel. Additionally, they are learning where scorpions nest and are more likely to be found. This has changed the nature of spraying from spraying in and around the rooms to spraying in and around areas the locations where scorpions are more likely to be found, stopping them from every reaching the rooms, paths or common area.

So what can you do to reduce the risk of being stung by a scorpion while at Playa Viva? Here is what I do. 1) I shake out my towels or clothes before using them. Scorpions like to burrow so this is the best way to “shake them out.” This especially includes shoes. 2) Use the blacklight to do a quick check around your room. Scropions will shine florescent green under blacklight. You can’t miss them under the blacklights. We have provided fairly strong blacklights in the room for this use. I also take my blacklight to bed and do a cursory check of the pillows and sheets. Since our team does turndown service and beds are protected by mosquito nets, you are highly, highly unlikely to find one in your bed, but it is best to check. 3) Wear shoes or flip-flops around the property, especially at night and early morning. We find that scorpions generally come out at night after about 10 and are back to their nests before dawn. If they are found in the rooms it is ONLY that they got stuck there after the sun came up and didn’t have time to crawl back into their woody nest. 4) Go on patrol with the security guys at night looking for scorpions. Once you see how brilliant they stand out in the blacklight, that will provide some understand of their visibility and vulnerability; also, once you see how few are located near the rooms (that is, if the security team is doing their job) then that too should make you feel better.

Why aren’t we more aggressively warning our potential guests about scorpions? Now that we have the two reviews from disgruntled guests about scorpions, we probably don’t need to say any more other than what is in this blog post. Requiring us to write on our homepage “Danger Scorpions” is like requiring a ski resort to write “Skiing Can Cause Broken Bones.” We do clearly state that you are in nature and you will experience all kinds of bugs and animals. Some are cute such as the baby turtles or the coatis and others are not so cute like scorpions and snakes (the team saw a nice size Boa wrapped around the pool pump). Overall, our goal is to provide you with a relaxing vacation and the threat of a potential scorpion sting is NOT RELAXING. So we will continue to do our best to reduce the risk of scorpions while telling you how you can take precautions to reduce your risks so that you can relax and enjoy your vacation and stay at Playa Viva. Thousands of guests have come and stayed with us without incident, we will do our best so that you have an equally relaxing and enjoyable stay.

Please let us know if you have any further question about this issue.

Quinoa Salad Recipe

Many of you asked the Quinoa salad recipe, so here it is (see below), but first the health benefits:

From Wikipedia – Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%-18%). Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.

Recommended types of quinoa to purchase:
– Quinoa in the bin at your favorite grocer
– Bob’s Red Mill Quinoa
– Also try AlterEco’s red or black quinoa

Sandra’s Quinoa Salad Recipe

2 cups of Quinoa
1 bunch of radishes
1 bunch of scallions
1 cucumber
1 bunch of parsley
3 sprigs of celery
1-2 cups of currants
4 lemons
½ cup of olive oil
4 Cups of Water

Put 4 cups of water to boil. Add salt. When water starts to boil, add the Quinoa, then reduce heat to simmer and cook until all the water dissipates. Quinoa will “sprout”. Put aside to reach room temperature. Then dice all the vegetables (as small as you want), put all veggies into a large bowl, then add Quinoa and mix well. Then add currants. Add olive oil and lemon. Finally add salt and pepper to season to taste.

Other items that can be added:
– Lentils – ½ cup of lentils – same process as above, use 1.5 cups of water, add salt, bring to boil, add lentils, lower to simmer till water dissipates, set aside to room temperature and then add to salad.
– Sprigs of Spearmint or garden mint
– Tomato – diced

– Other items of your choice – let us know what you add.

Nutritional value: Quinoa, uncooked
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz), Energy – 1,539 kJ (368 kcal), Carbohydrates – 64 g, Starch – 52 g, Dietary fiber – 7 g, Fat – 6 g, polyunsaturated – 3.3 g, Protein – 14 g, Water – 13 g, Thiamine (Vit. B1) – 0.36 mg (28%), Riboflavin (Vit. B2) – 0.32 mg (21%), Vitamin B6 – 0.5 mg (38%), Folate (Vit. B9) – 184 μg (46%), Vitamin E – 2.4 mg (16%), Iron – 4.6 mg (37%), Magnesium – 197 mg (53%), Phosphorus – 457 mg (65%), Zinc – 3.1 mg (31%). Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database.

Turismo Sustentable – Playa Viva

Los invitamos a ver este vídeo producido por Oliver Velazquez sobre el tema de Turismo Sustentable y como Playa Viva esta haciendo su parte en promover biodiversidad, la comunidad local, energía y agua renovable y limpia y turismo “deluxe” que atrae la gente local y extranjera para el beneficio de la comunidad y el medio ambiente.

Disfruta. De lo poco que publicamos en español, me da gusto tener programas como este.

Supply Chain 2.0 – Impact on Local Community

What does GIIRS certification mean to you? Don’t mean to be glib, but click on the link and do the research if you are not familiar with this social and environmental impact assessment system. For Playa Viva, part of going through GIIRS certification was taking our “game up a notch” when it comes to measuring our impact on the local community, especially when it comes to our supply chain.

[slideshare id=16521528&w=427&h=356&sc=no]

Community supplychain from David Leventhal

Last summer, Monica Oyarzun, lead a project that involved tracking our suppliers and documenting how our own supply chain meets the demands of the social impact investment community. See the slideshow below including photos of various partners in our supply chain including vendors of fruits and vegetables, meats and poultry, cheese and milk as well as various excursion providers.

In addition to the GIIRS process, we are now more closely tracking our impact on suppliers, starting with changes to our accounting system to more closely track expenditures by each vendor. While this adds overhead to our already hard working hospitality team, we hope to plug this data into methodology developed by the Overseas Development Institute to study our impact in our local community and be able to compare to other similar projects globally. The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is the UK’s leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.