Alma Libre Newsletter - December 2008

We love to keep you up to date with the town, but it's books that pay the bills. Have a look at some of the titles we're most excited about...

	Frommer's Cancun, Cozumel & the Yucatan 2009 - Updated every year, Frommer's always brings you the best of our area. This is the most up to date travel guide we have in the shop and it comes with a free area map. This book covers a wide area, all of the Yucatan and into Chiapas and Tobasco. If you want to to go there, Frommer's will show you the way. Has an excellent section on Puerto Morelos too!
	Traveler's Guide to Mexican Camping - If you are contemplating driving down here with your RV, you need this book. Traveling in Mexico by RV is an excellent option, but to enjoy your trip you need this book. I even recommend it to people who are just driving down here from Canada or the US as the border crossing and big city bypass information alone is worth the price of it. This book and a Gui Roji Road Atlas (2008 version available at Alma Libre) are your best bets for a safe and happy driving holiday in Mexico.
	Cortes and Montezuma - The incredible chain of events that led to the conquest of an entire culture in Mexico by a handful of Spaniards is an amazing story. This retelling by Maurice Collis is well written, factual and very readable. The complex characters and motivations of both central figures are explained in detail. According to Collis, Montezuma was a generous, devout and able ruler, but at the same time he was a tyrannical monster who indulged in endless orgies of ritual murder; Cortes was a civilized and enterprising explorer who brought enlightenment to a oppressed land but he was also the bringer of death and destruction to a complex and fascinating civilization. The author also explains the amazing astrological-magical religion of the Mexicans and how it made the conquest possible. - Amazon.com
	Culũa - Author Samantha Wood describes her personal journey that leads to the discovery of her "Mexicaness", the part of herself that she didn't know was missing, growing up in Melbourne, Australia. Her account of growing to love Mexico, and discovering the beauty of Mexico City in both its beautiful and ugly corners is heart warming and endearing.
	Birds & Fish - We share our beautiful area with some of the world's most interesting creatures. Every day we see wildlife in and around the town, from big birds to slithering reptiles and everything in between. To help you get to know your neighbours better, we offer several guides. For an overall view, you can't beat this book, the Traveller's Wildlife Guide to Southern Mexico by Les Beletsky. A gorgeous book packed with information and pictures. Covers fish, ,mammals, reptiles, birds and a little about the plant life here. For more detail, we offer a choice of bird guides and our popular snorkel guide.
	Spanish Language Learning Software- Now available for the Mac! - Since moving to Mexico, Joanne and I have struggled with our Spanish, especially those nasty verbs. Now our friend Jacky has invented a fun way to learn your verbs. Her Amigos Spanish program has full conjugation for 700 verbs and helps you learn with tests and puzzles. The program is totally customizable, allowing you to focus on the verbs you need to know. Plus it's fun, so you will stick with it and learn those verbs. To expand your vocabulary, try Amigos Spanish Puzzles a program featuring word games with English clues and Spanish answers (or vice versa). The program comes loaded with 2500 words, and you can even add your own words if you like! Both programs are available on CD exclusively at Alma Libre Bookstore.
	Secrets of the Talking Jaguar is the story of the author's physical and spiritual journey from the Southwestern US to the highlands of central America. There he becomes apprenticed to a local shaman who teaches Pretchel much about indigenous Mayan life, and about life in general. We sold out of these last year in hardcover, this year we were lucky enough to get some soft cover editions. If you missed this book last year, don't miss it this time.
	SPECIAL OFFER for Alma Libre Bookstore Customers Cenotes of the Riviera Maya is the best book ever written about the cenotes in our area. Beautifully photographed, it could easily be called a coffee table book, but it is also has all the practical information you need to explore the cenotes whether you are swimming or diving. Many have drooled over this book, but the hefty (500 peso) price tag kept some people away. Now author Steve Gerrard has authorized us to lower the price. At 300 pesos, this book is an incredible bargain and it has been flying off our shelves...in fact we ran out for a while around Christmas, but we're stocked again.
	Maps! If you drive in our area, you need a map! We have excellent and detailed maps of the Yucatan, the country of Mexico, Cancun city, Merida as well as Belize, Guatemala, Cuba and Central America. We also have souvenir-quality maps you can hang on the wall. This year we also have a good supply of "Map Chick" Mayan Riviera maps. These incredibly detailed maps will lead you to the best of the Mayan Riviera including restaurant and accommodation recommendations. This map has the most detailed map of Puerto Morelos ever made, as well as Puerto Adventuras, Akumal and the entire Mayan Riviera corridor. Maps are usually difficult to find in Mexico, but only if you are looking in the wrong place! Plot a course to the bookstore...if you get lost...ask for directions...

Postcards! We've added a lot of new postcards to our collection, including more underwater shots by "Dive Diva." We have the largest selection of Puerto Morelos postcards, and they are all exclusive to Alma Libre. We know because we make 'em! We also have blank greeting cards to cover any occasion you may wish to celebrate while you are in paradise. We even have some Christmas cards this year!

Gift Certificates! A nice gift idea for someone who lives here is an Alma Libre Gift certificate. Available in any amount and can be used for new or used merchandise. We can accept payments from up north via Paypal.

We're never afraid to put some miles on, and this summer was no different. Driving north for us was a little different this year as we were not pulling our trusty trailer. Regular Beach Reads readers may remember that our trailer got "whacked" by a pole hanging off the end of a truck on our last trip south back in November 2007. The insurance company ended up buying the trailer, so it was just us and the truck for the trip north.

Not having the trailer allowed us more maneuverability, so we took advantage by going to some places that we usually miss or gloss over. Our first stop was historic Campeche. The old walled centro is a living museum with beautiful architecture, squares and music.

Next we stopped in Villahermosa, site of the famous Omec heads and terrible flooding in fall of 2007. Most everything has been rebuilt, but you could see evidence of the flooding and giant sandbag walls remain in place. La Venta is an outdoor museum where the Omec heads are presented. These giant faces are truly wonders and should not be missed.

Veracruz was next. We have spent a little time here before, but were never able to stay in the historic downtown. It's a modern port city with loads of history.

We could never get to Xalapa with our trailer. It's straight up into the mountains near Veracruz. The higher elevations mean it is much more temperate than Veracruz. We immediately fell in love with this beautiful city. It's narrow colonial streets are fun to explore on foot. (It was not so fun with the truck as I had to drive on more than one sidewalk to navigate the narrow streets.) Many historic buildings and public art. Xalapa is also home to an excellent museum with more Omec heads. The citizens of this city are very friendly and kept asking us if we liked their town. Nearby is Coatepec, the coffee capital of Mexico.

After that we made a run for the border and picked up a new trailer in Texas. We dawdled a little in Texas and then made a beeline for Calgary. We imported the trailer into Canada and got it licensed, which is a surprisingly easy process.

The trip south was one of contrasts. We started from Calgary in September pulling our new trailer and paying more than $4 a gallon for gas. We parked the unit in Austin, Texas where we caught a flight to Puerto Morelos to check on some renovations we are doing to our house. After that we flew to Montreal, where we spent a few days enjoying the city before boarding a cruise ship. The ship sailed through Atlantic Canada and New England, where we took in the sights and watched the leaves change. Stops included Quebec City, Sydney Nova Scotia, Halifax, Charlottetown PEI and Bar Harbor Maine.

After that the ship sailed for Fort Lauderdale at the Caribbean. Stops included Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique and the British Virgin Islands. Then we flew back to Austin and continued our drive south. Somehow, between the time we left our truck in Texas and we returned to it, the price of gas dropped below $2.

We took our usual coastal route into Mexico. Road quality was poor south of Tampico as usual, but otherwise it was a pretty typical trip.

I hesitate to add up all the miles we covered, zig-zagging over North America this summer by truck, plane and ship...but suffice to say, it was a lot!