Well as you know the 10th annual Manzanillo beach cleanup happened last Saturday at La Boquita. It went extremely well. This cleanup was sponsered by Underworld Scuba, PADI, and Project AWARE (Aquatic World Awareness, Responsibility, Education). A huge thanks to them and all that helped! We litterally pulled mountains of garbage out of the reef, beach, and lagoon.

The event was staged at a local restaurant in La Boquita called Marildos. The waiter staff there is super friendly, and some speak fluent English. They were so kind as to let us use their restaurant for a staging area. Food was donated by local restaurants and everybody had a part in helping with the project. Some 200 people showed up to help! Including the kids from the local Campos Verde School and the children from the Casa Hogar Orphanage. They all seemed to have a blast helping clean the environment. Thanks so much for all the help guys!

I headed up the kayak portion of the lagoon cleanup. We six intrepid adventurers took our three kayaks and braved cayman infested waters, giant pinching crabs, razor sharp muscles, and unnaturally big spiders. All in the name of the environment. Since the lagoon is more of a tidal estuary lined with mangroves, it acts as a sort of filter for the river and ocean. As a result lots and lots of trash gets piled up inside the branches and roots of the trees on the banks of the lagoon. This is part of what makes Mangrove trees such amazing trees. We six pulled something like 10 full bags of garbage out of the trees and banks.

The Campos Verde kids cleaned up the areas of the lagoon that were reachable by foot. They even rescued a sea turtle that had gotten a little turned around!

After we frontrunners got tired from paddling, the Campos kids were eager to take up the second shift of kayak cleaning. They did an admirable job, leaving no man behind.

Except for him.

After we picked up the garbage, next came the unpleasant task of sorting and cataloging all the items. As you can see from this photo our young environmentalists were ready to help with that as well. The garbage you see pictured is hardly half of what was pulled out in total.

Everybody had a great time. Even Susan, who coordinated much of the event,  ended up getting a brand new water toy out of the deal.

Thank again to everybody who helped make this possible. The repsonse from the community was overwhelming and supportive. These people and their caring hearts are part of what makes Manzanillo so special.

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