We the transients, who fell in love with Zihu. (Zihuatanejo, Mexico) the way it was, have created Zihu. the way it is. Now that it is not what we loved we are free to move on, leaving behind the native population to `enjoy’ what we have ruined.

Several years ago, my buddy and I, on our first trip to Mexico, visited Cancun, Isla Mujeres , Shanghai, Sanya, I see the same growth, from idyllic, affordable, escapes to overpopulated, bustling, expensive, hives of humanity.

Though tourists can be blamed for a lot of it, one must also put the blame on the locals.

While the tourists have gone home and extolled the beauties of the jewell they have found, to their friends and family, the locals have been influenced by the travelers who have shown that with a little advertising, more tourists will come, with more tourist dollars.

It is a snowball effect, with; the natural increase in the local population, advertising by local businesses, improved highways by the government, increased flights by the airline companies, more modern accommodations by the hotel industry, and what was once a quite, laid back, oasis is now a bustling commercial entity.

And let’s not overlook the cost. As tourists extolled the virtues of their `paradise found’ thereby increasing the popularity, they also caused prices to increase. That once `affordable’ destination has become `unaffordable’ to the budget traveler.

Could it have been prevented? Doubtful. Impossible to swear everyone to silence. Like trying to stop the Cariboo Gold Rush. It only takes one person to spill the beans.

There used to be a similar jewel in Canada’s Shuswap Lake District. Now, it takes over thirty minutes to get a break in the traffic so that you can cross the main street from one shopping area to the other, in downtown Sorrento.

Is there a cure? No, unfortunately, unless one can turn back the hands of time, these towns will never be `quite little villages’ again.

We the transients, who fell in love with Zihu. (Zihuatanejo, Mexico) the way it was, have created Zihu. the way it is. Now that it is not what we loved we are free to move on, leaving behind the native population to `enjoy’ what we have ruined.

Several years ago, my buddy and I, on our first trip to Mexico, visited Zihuatanejo. We made friends with; Mexican, and expat, locals. We fell in love with; the town, the country, its climate, its people, and their way of life.

Making up for my many years of not traveling I have, since then, visited many other areas of Mexico, and this planet. But I return every other year to visit my friends in Zihu. and each time I notice the growth. It is a culmination of; the immigration of people, such as myself, who fell in love with the life and, the uncontrolled birthrate of a modern world that has prolonged the life span of the human animal.

Zihu. is by no means alone in this regard. As I revisit other places in my travels; Cancun, Isla Mujeres, Shanghai, Sanya, I see the same growth, from idyllic, affordable, escapes to overpopulated, bustling, expensive, hives of humanity.

Though tourists can be blamed for a lot of it, one must realize that the church and the government are as much to blame. With their beliefs in; sex, for procreation only, and raising money by selling building permits even if they don’t have the basics such as water and sewer to support the new buildings, every municipality on the planet is outgrowing their food and water supply.

China had the right idea, one child per family, but unfortunately the rest of the world did not follow her example and now we all face villages becoming towns and towns becoming cities. All with insufficient water supply.

And because many of us grew up in a century of plenty we are not teaching our children how to conserve. And as we all believe in democracy, heaven help the government that tries to curtail our waste of the precious liquid or asks us to limit our right to bear children.

Over the past several centuries the population of humans has been controlled by death; disease, famine, war. If we study other forms of fauna we see populations in smaller areas, over a few years, increase to the rate that the food supply is insufficient and then nature seems to introduce a disease, or a predator, that prevails until the population has been reduced to a sustainable level.

I feel that that is what is happening now, with the human population. I guestimate that within this century we will have overpopulated our supply of food, and water.

Those of us who travel see what is happening in other towns, and countries but the people in power don’t see for themselves and won’t heed the warnings of those who do see.

I predict that by the end of this century the planet Earth will experience; drought, famine, and war, the likes we have never seen.

We talk of; pollution, global warming, and many other ills that have befallen our planet. However, if we look closely at each one of these potential calamites we can see that they all stem from the same source - over population.

The end of life may come about from anyone, or a combination, of all these problems. Is there a way to prevent the forth coming calamity? Is it too late?

Personally I believe it is too late.

Had we all followed China’s example and restricted our birth rate to one offspring to every female for the next fifty years, our population would have dwindled to a point where we could increase our birth rate to two children per couple and then have maintained a sustainable level forever.

However, the time it will take to get everyone on board with this idea so that the governments won’t meet with violent opposition when they try to implement the required laws is more time than we have left on this planet.

Perhaps the Aztecs were not that far out when they designed a calendar that ends in 2011.