30 MAR 98

It is another nice day at the beach, so this will be short.

My last trip ended in Mexico City with a dinner on the roof of a hotel overlooking the main square.

The next day all eleven women for my new trip and the two Australian guys were no where to be found. We headed out to the pyramids at Teotehuacan for the morning and drove all afternoon to San Miguel de Allende.

The women started playing Allanis Morrisette tapes and I was afraid that they were going to shave my face and put me in a dress to make me one of the girls. Luckily, one of the Australian blokes showed up at the campsite that night. I call him Bush Tucker Man and is about the finest example of an outback Aussie as you are ever likely to find. He is a great guy and full of nice country sayings like "I am hungry enough to eat a brown cow."

The next day we went to Gunajuato and saw the worlds smallest mummy and I got to drive under the city in the very confusing tunnels. This activity was followed by a relaxing dip in some hot springs.

On Tuesday, we explored San Miguel in the morning and drove to Patzcuaro in the afternoon. After a boat trip out to Isla Juanitzio and an afternoon in Patzuaro we went to Paricutin. Eleven of the passengers rode horses to the top of the 55 year old volcano and I walked up with the remaining passenger.

As always, it was a fast paced hike over jagged lava and through occasional hot spots. The best part of the hike is still running down the ash cone at full speed, almost completely out of control.

From Paricutin, we went to Guadalajara for a night out on the town and then, after a stop in the town of Tequila, continued on to Saylita. We have rented the penthouse of a place called Villa Amor. The place has no walls and is on top of a hill over looking the bay and the ocean.

Yesterday, we took a boat trip out to a bird preserve and snorkeled around in the water. I found a nice little snail stuck to a rock and decided to see if it would stick to my face. It did not. It left some slime on my mustache and when I licked it off my tongue went a little numb. I rinsed it out in the ocean and then ate lunch until it felt better. The snail slime left a nice little red mark on my cheek, thumb, and arm. I guess it will go away someday.

After the boat trip, I took a kayak out for a little spin. I found a nice beach with nobody around and attempted a landing. From the ocean side the waves did not look too big. From the top of the wave, on the kayak, they were very big and I got swamped. I was able to recover the paddle, kayak and my shoes. I lost MY HAT.

MY HAT, which has been with me for the last two and half years. MY HAT, which has been to the lowest point in the western hemisphere and to the highest points of Africa and Hong Kong. MY HAT, which has been my towel, my trademark, my travelling companion to well over twenty countries and four continents and appeared with me in hundreds of pictures, is gone. A watery grave. Davey Jones Locker. What a way to go.

MY HAT hat big holes in the top and was frayed all over. It was white after a wash and dirty grey the rest of the time. It was only two weeks from retirement. I was going to find a new hat after this trip. Now I have no choice. The ocean saved my hat from my box for clothing that is too delicate and worn out for everyday use and only comes out on special occasions.

I looked for MY HAT in the boiling surf for a while and then made my peace and tried to leave.

The waves were well over six feet tall. I could see right through them and I could see some very big fish swimming in them. I tried several times to drag the kayak through the pounding surf. Each time I almost made it. Then I was overcome by the relentless sea and washed back up onto the beach.

I spent about an hour attempting to kayak past the giant waves and spitting out sea water. Eventually, a man who has been doing white water kayaking in Alaska for the past seven years came down the beach. I explained my problem and his friend said to him "Quit stalling and go do it." He was able to kayak, thanks to a break in the big waves, out past the break. I swam out to him and thanked him profusely. He swam back to the beach and I continued kayaking back to Villa Amor.

If you count all the little cuts on my fingertips from an attempt to climb loose sandstone, it was quite an eventful day.

Now I am in Puerto Vallarta for the day. It is just as touristy as ever, so I am headed back to the beach of Sayulita for a little more reading and kayaking. I am not going to take my shoes or a hat with me today. I am going to try to get back to the same beach and see if it is any easier today.

21 MAR 98

Last week, we went to the Sumidero canyon and took a boat ride. We saw a few crocodiles and a bunch of birds. We also saw the Christmas tree waterfall and the Sea horse formation.

After many hours on curvy mountain roads we arrived in Oaxaca and spent the next few days at the ruins of Monte Alban and Mitla. We also went to Teotitlan de Valle to see rugs being made and Arrazola to buy some funky painted carved animals. Finally, we saw the giant Tule tree and toured a Mezcal factory.

Yesterday we explored some tunnels in the world´s largest pyramid, by volume. We also climbed up to the church on top that the Spanish put there, in Cholula

Now I am in Puebla and I found an Internet place that charges only two dollars per hour. Of course, now I only have one hour to spare before I drive everyone back to Mexico City. This is the last day of our trip.

Tonight I meet my new passengers and start heading north with them tomorrow.

Well, not much to say this week. I did not jump off of any thing or swim in anything.

14 MAR 98

Hello from San Cristobal de Las Casas, home of the really fast computer connection. It is so nice not to have to bring a book with me to read while I wait for the computer.

I forgot to mention the great time I had at Misol Ha waterfall last month. We spent a while jumping off of the rocks and into the waterfall. When you jump under the water it hits you in the back really hard and accelerates you towards the pool below fairly rapidly. That was lots of fun. Then we went into the cave next to the waterfall. After about 50 meters the cave turned and there was a little waterfall inside. I climbed up the waterfall and went as far back as I could. Then I jumped off of the little 2 meter waterfall in the cave.

Since my last update, I left Merida and went to Holca. There we camped in a really bad campground. To flush the toilets you had to pour a bucket of water into it. Then the toiled drained out a pipe that emptied through the back wall and onto the ground. The reason I took my group here was for the underground cenote. We climbed down a bunch of stairs to a 120 meter long fresh water underground swimming hole. There were bats flying around and it was pretty special. Then we came back upstairs and beat up a pinata for somebody's birthday.

The next day we went to Chichen Itza, which my passengers have renamed Itza Chicken. We walked around the ruins and watched one of the big bus tourists pass out from the heat and fall over. The ambulance carried him off and we continued the tour. After that excitement we went to Isla Mujeres, a sort of low key backpackers Cancun.

From Isla Mujeres we took a boat trip to Isla Contoy, a nature preserve. On the way we stopped to snorkel and saw a 2 meter shark. Then we relaxed on the island and barbecued the fish we caught on the way. That night we camped on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean.

After a stop at Wal-Mart to load up on American type things, we continued down the Caribbean coast to Punta Bete for a few nights of beach camping. Unfortunately, with the strong, steady wind, much of the beach blew into the tents.

I went back to Dos Ojos, the cavern I usually snorkel in. Now the owner is offering beginning scuba courses in the cave. I got to do a scuba dive in a cavern. It was amazing. I really really want to get scuba certified so I can cave dive. After the dive, I snorkeled around the cavern for a while and saw some big shrimp.

Then we went to Playa del Carmen for dinner. The next day we hung out at the snorkel haven of Xel-Ha. I explored it a bit more than I ever had before. I found a good 12 meter cliff to jump off of and a cave to swim into. I also found a rope to swing off of. It was too short so I climbed the tree it was tied to and jumped off that into the water. Then we went to the ruins of Tulum and played in the big waves.

After a few hours drive, we arrived at Cenote Azul. I perfected my technique of running really fast and jumping off of the high platform and landing on the other side of the rope that keeps people out of the people falling area.

The next day we drove all day through the jungle to get back to Palenque. We spent the night, and at 5 am we left to drive through 5 military check points to the Guatemalan border. We hired a boat and cruised down the really big river for an hour. Then we got back out on the Mexican side and explored the ruins of Yaxchilan. You can only get there by boat or plane and we were the only people there to look at the ruins and howler monkeys.

On our return trip to Palenque, we passed a road construction area. The flag man had no flag and I felt that was dangerous. I just happened to have a spare orange safety vest. I gave it to him, but he was too embarrassed to wear it. Oh well, I tried.

The next day we went to Agua Azul. I spent a few hours jumping off of waterfalls and swimming under them before we continued over the mountains to Rancho Esmeralda. Glen and Ellen's macadamia farm is one of my favorite places in Mexico.

We explored the tunnels of the ruins of Tonina and then took a horseback ride. We went over the mountains, around the ruins and down to the river. I jumped off of the tree into the water and then we went back to the ranch for one of their always excellent meals.

Now I am back in S.C. d l C. and this concludes my latest update of things in Mexico that I have climbed up and jumped off of.

3 MAR 98

Greetings from Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.

Before I update my exciting adventures, I wanted to update a few things I forgot to mention on previous installments.

First, back in January when I drove from Texas to Cancun, I set a little goal for myself, which I was able to achieve. During my three days of driving through Mexico, I did not once set foot in a bathroom. Using only nature's natural toilets, I was able to delay my re-introduction to the world of really dirty toilets. I am kind of proud of this achievement.

Second, just to show you what kind of luck I have. I drove from Palenque all the way to Felipe Carrillo Puerto without once stopping for gas. In F.P.C. the gas gauge read below empty so I went to the gas station. The truck in front of me took over 1000 liters and by the time I got to the pump, there was only 22 liters left, enough for about 100 kilometers. As luck would have it, that is exactly how far the next gas station was.

Now for the update.

After leaving the island of Flores, we went back up to Tikal to spend the night near the ruins. We ate a nice little dinner and I got food poisoning. It took me a few hours to turn my sweet chicken dinner into liquid and get it all out both ends. After that I had a good night sleep and headed into the ruins the next morning. The ruins at Tikal are very impressive and I spent many hours wandering around the jungle and climbing pyramids.

The next day we went back to Belize and met David. David is a pretty cool Rastafarian guy who speaks almost every language of the 200,000 Belizians. He speaks Spanish, English, Creole, Garrafunga, and Mayan. All he needs to learn is the Swiss German of the Menonites and some Chinese and he will be able to speak to almost every person that the British saw fit to bring to their former colony.

David took us on a canoe trip through the tallest cave in Central and South America. We paddled through the darkness and looked at the formations, spiders, fish and Mayan ruins for a few hours. It was a most amazing voyage.

The next day a few of us went on a nice little horse ride through the orange groves and country side. We stopped for a swim in a river and the little fish nibbled on our legs. That night we went out for Sri Lankan food. The next day we took a canoe trip down the Macal River. We spent the whole day looking at birds and iguanas. We, well me and Pierre, jumped off every big cliff we could find. David was our guide again and explained to me how to grow dreadlocks.

The following morning we packed up and went to the Belize Zoo. After melting in the hot sun and looking at the animals we headed up to Corazol. We set up camp and I took a few people into town. The town was not very interesting, so I parked my van with the other taxis and spent forty minutes learning how to become a Belzian taxi driver. The guys were very nice, after I bought a round of Jonny Cakes from a little girl. We ate our johnny cakes and they explained to me how to get a taxi license and how much to charge for various distances. I learned that a big part of their work day involves standing in the park next to the taxis and making jokes. Big Head Man, China Man, President Bill Clinton, and Roxanne were very kind to this budding taxi driver and we had a lot of fun.

Then it was back into Mexico. We headed up the coast and camped at a nice beach called Xpu-Ha 7. After a couple of days of beach activities and a night out on the town, we headed up to Cancun and said goodbye.

While on the coast, I was able to track down Stan and Joan and their daughters, Katya and Liana. Stan and Joan have known me for as long as I can remember and it was nice to see them again. They were down here for vacation and were staying on a nearby beach. Katya, now 17, is one of the few people that I can say to "I remember when you were this big" and hold my hand a foot off the ground.

Then the trip ended and I had five days to get to Mexico City and plan my next trip. On Saturday morning, Beth, another tour leader, joined me and we headed west. First we got propane, then we checked out a cenote near Chichen Itza. The cenote is underground and good for swimming. I am going to bring my current group there tonight.

Then we drove on. I took the coastal road along the Gulf of Mexico, because I had never been there. Just after sunset we came to a long bridge. I drove across and wondered why, for the first time anywhere in Mexico, everybody was following the speed limit. The speed limit was a ridiculously low 30 kph. I was getting annoyed with the car ahead of me. I saw a car coming up from behind and decided that if he passed, so would I.

The car came up quickly, passed me, and then turned on his flashing lights. He pulled me and the car ahead of me over. The policemen quickly dispatched the Mexican car ahead of me and then came to talk to me. They explained that I had been travelling at 40 kph and was now going to receive a speeding ticket.

Luckily for me the cop was incredibly helpful. He realized that in order to pay the 1000 peso fine I would have to backtrack three hours and wait two days until the fines office opened on Monday. He went on to explain to me, that if I did not require a receipt, I could pay only 500 pesos on the spot and no points would be attached to my license and no time would be lost. I explained that 500 pesos was a lot of money to me. Apparently, I was convincing. He soon lowered the fine to 300 pesos.

Then I told him that I could pay 200 pesos and drive at 10 kph. His partner laughed as he told me 250 pesos and 30 kph, no more and no less. I paid the 250 pesos, thanked him, and continued on my way, elated over my first Mexican speeding ticket, even though I had no receipt to prove it.

A few hours later Beth and I found a hotel in Ciudad del Carmen. It was the Saturday night before the beginning of Lent and Carnival was in full swing. We watched the parade of floats and wandered around the town in fiesta.

Sunday, we drove to Cholula and on Monday we explored Cholula and Puebla a little bit. I drove up a really bad dirt road to see if I could climb the 5500 meter volcano. Popo was active and the lodge was closed, so we drove on to Taxco.

The road to Taxco goes down a very steep hill. Taxco goes up a very steep hill. It was very disorientating to drive down a mountain towards a city that streched up the facing mountain. We spent the night and explored the former silver mining city the next day. It was parade day and all the school children were marching around the city like little soldiers with drums and flags.

Then we headed into Mexico City. I spent Wednesday planning my next trip and making reservations. I also saw a couple of 16 peso movies. At 8 pesos to the dollar I watched Alien - The Resurrection and Titanic. I also ate lots of food off of the street stalls. The street stalls are amazing. The food was completely different that the food of six months ago, but it was still incredibly delicious and cheap.

Then my new trip started. We went to Palenque, had a tour, went to Uxmal, wandered the ruins, and we are now in Merida. This trip is going well and we have many exciting things planned for the next few weeks.

I now have a large line of people waiting to use the single computer here so I must go. Bye.