Qualla: La Ventanilla: Where Twenty-Five Families Guard a Lagoon https://qualla.com/la-ventanilla-oaxaca en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:09 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: La Ventanilla: Where Twenty-Five Families Guard a Lagoon https://qualla.com/la-ventanilla-oaxaca La Ventanilla: Where Twenty-Five Families Guard a Lagoon: Introduction https://qualla.com/la-ventanilla-oaxaca/ In the 1990s, La Ventanilla did not have electricity. Three families lived on a coconut plantation between the Pacific Ocean and a mangrove lagoon, and the village did not appear on most maps. Electricity arrived in 1999. By then, the families had already made a decision that would define the community's future: rather than exploit the lagoon and its wildlife, they would protect it - and invite the world to come see what protection looked like. Today, about twenty-five Zapotec families live at the far east end of a long, unbroken stretch of undeveloped beach in the municipality of Santa Maria Tonameca, Oaxaca. There are no resort hotels. Motorized vehicles are banned from the beach and within 100 yards of the lagoon sanctuary. What there is, instead, is crocodiles.

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/g/3/la-ventanilla-oaxaca-wp/9fg3-la-ventanilla-where-twenty-five-families-guard-a-l-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full La Ventanilla: Where Twenty-Five Families Guard a Lagoon: Red Water, Black Water https://qualla.com/la-ventanilla-oaxaca/ The lagoon is the estuary of the Tonameca River, cut off from the sea by the beach for much of the year and threaded with mangroves whose roots create a labyrinth of narrow channels. Two species dominate: red mangroves, whose root tannins stain the shallows a reddish hue and turn...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/g/3/la-ventanilla-oaxaca-wp/9fg3-la-ventanilla-where-twenty-five-families-guard-a-l-red-water-black-water.mp3 0:06 2 full La Ventanilla: Where Twenty-Five Families Guard a Lagoon: After the Hurricanes https://qualla.com/la-ventanilla-oaxaca/ Before 1997, the main lagoon was surrounded by trees reaching thirty-five meters in height, with mature mangroves filling the waterways beneath their canopy. Hurricanes Pauline and Rick destroyed it all. When the storms passed, nothing remained but red mangrove trunks jutting fro...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/g/3/la-ventanilla-oaxaca-wp/9fg3-la-ventanilla-where-twenty-five-families-guard-a-l-after-the-hurricanes.mp3 0:06 3 full La Ventanilla: Where Twenty-Five Families Guard a Lagoon: Canoes, Crocodiles, and Baby Turtles https://qualla.com/la-ventanilla-oaxaca/ Ecotourism in La Ventanilla grew out of necessity. When Mexico banned the sea turtle and crocodile trade, the communities along this coast lost their primary livelihoods overnight. Organizations like Ecosolar stepped in during the 1990s to help ten local families reimagine their ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/g/3/la-ventanilla-oaxaca-wp/9fg3-la-ventanilla-where-twenty-five-families-guard-a-l-canoes-crocodiles-and-baby-turtles.mp3 0:06 4 full La Ventanilla: Where Twenty-Five Families Guard a Lagoon: A Village That Chose to Stay Small https://qualla.com/la-ventanilla-oaxaca/ La Ventanilla has resisted the gravitational pull of resort development that has transformed other stretches of the Oaxacan coast. There are camping facilities and basic cabins - some with air conditioning - but nothing resembling a tourist hotel. No lifeguards patrol the beach, ...

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]]> Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/9/f/g/3/la-ventanilla-oaxaca-wp/9fg3-la-ventanilla-where-twenty-five-families-guard-a-l-a-village-that-chose-to-stay-small.mp3 0:06 5 full