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.