During the Oregon Bamboo Association meeting at Tradewinds Bamboo Nursery in Gold Beach host Gib Cooper announced there is room for six patron-travelers to join a video production tour of Veracruz State in Mexico between the dates of January 10-19, 2006. The tour is to be documented by Tony and Terri-Lynn Kalhagen of Makai Ohana, a local production team for television programming and is designed to produce a half-hour travel program for broadcast.
The itinerary follows last years tour by founding patrons of Bamboo of the Americas (BOTA) a conservation project administered under the American Bamboo Society, a non-profit scientific and literary charitable corporation. Gib Cooper, BOTA's Gold Beach based director explained the tour will begin in Veracruz City, a major port on the Gulf of Mexico known for its music, history and Mardi Gras, then travel in a circuitous route to Xalapa, Huatusco, Cofre de Perote National Park, and Catemaco. The sights include the fort of San Juan de Ulua, the famous Zocalo, The Archeological Museum in Xalapa, Clavijero Botanical Garden, the Ecology Institute, Monte Blanco, BAMBUVER, las Caadas Cloud Forest Reserve, bamboo projects in Catemaco and the beach at Monte Pio. These areas represent history, endangered bamboo species conservation, the national bamboo collection, research in bamboo utilization, sustainable living, green architecture and bamboo products made by local people.
The six travelers participating in the tour are funding the production with a tax-deductible donation of $2500 each to the BOTA treasurer. Individual airfare, in country travel, lodging, food and fees are additional costs ranging from $2000 to $2500 in total. Inclusion in the tour is on a first come, first served basis with the timely receipt of a $2500 donation to BOTA by November 15, 2005.