Suave Vida Hotel and Suites Manzanillo

... on sunday and although they clearly state attendence of all activities is optional, there has been a noticeable shift of attitude now they realise I am not a potential follower - any of you that know me can vouch for that! So went to Xico, an even smaller, prettier, higher & lusher coffee town - got even closer to the volcanos, El Cofre de Perote & Orizaba(highest in Mexico, 3rd highest in North America at 5000+ M), but still no ...

I heard about couch surfing dot com so I decided to try it out. It's a bunch of people that are willing to let random people sleep on their couches. It's a pretty cool idea but it's a little sketchy at times and you never really know what you are going to get. Fortunately I ended up with some really cool people the first time so ...

... die Seilenden an ihren Hueften befestigen. Nach ei***** Zeit lassen sich die 4 "Flieg**" zeitgleich nach aussen fallen und fliegen, Kopf nach unten, langsam um den Mast h**um, waehrend sich das Seil langsam imm** weit** abwickelt und fu** die Drehung sorgt. Jed** d** vi** vollzieht 13 Drehungen, bis ** unten am Boden landet, was insgesamt 52 Drehungen sind und einen vollen Zyklus im Kalend** d** Totonaken darstellt. Es wird uns **zaehlt, das das Ritual urspruenglich zur ...

Written from Jalcomulco, Mexico: A phone call was just received directly from Jordan at 19:35 our time. Joel is awake and recognizes his brother as well as other friends and family. He has little memory of the incident but is making jokes and talking about kayaking. One lung continues to labour but the doctors plan to take him out of the ICU tomorrow. The family will be sending us further updates as they come along.

... securely in the hands of Canadian medical experts the WILD crew will be participating in a full Critical Incident Stress Debriefing before loading up and transferring to Huatulco for a final group paddle into the Pacific. Spirits amongst the group are currently as strong as possible under the circumstances.... everyone has passed their thoughts and energies along to Joel, Jordan and his family and are now prepared to move forward as a group for future adventures.

... in Xalapa."<br><br><br><br>Since then we have been staying in Jalcomulco trying to keep ourselves occupied. Yesterday we went on a hike to the spot where it happened with flowers and candles, and last night we went to the hospital to support Joel´s family before he flew back to Canada. We are currently getting ready to go to Huatulco and finish the trip.<br><br><br><br>Our thoughts are with Joel and his family."

So, after our hectic night with the ants we awoke early the next morning to hike up to Cotelamani - a large hill which sits in the middle of the convergence of 9 canyons and therefore a site of special spiritual importance locally. In ancient times, the dead were carried to the top and buried there with their possessions - a real honour considering that the hike is 1 hour up a steep and difficult path without a load ...

... enough Spanish to cover for all of us! We went back to the house where we were staying and made our dinner (gnocci -mmmm) on the open firein the kitchen before heading to bed on the porch. While we were setting out our beds we noticed the ants. They were crawling up the pillars so we made sure to move our beds closer to the wall and away from them....or so we thought! Apparently these ants (ormigas) hunt you out for the heat and, after the loud music in the village ...

... I am running. I start to slow and come around the corner into the Cozumel Marti Gras Parade. I start walking on the parade rout and find some dancers from the ship, watch the parade( I have pictures), and then we stuff 4 dancers, 1 lead singer, the stage manager, and 6'5 of me into a Hotwheels car with a sign that says "TAXI" on top and come back to the ship. We stop off at ...

... restaurant was regularly sprayed against such pests. Not 10 minutes later an assertive black snake with white bands came menacingly slithering up onto the patio! ***** balls, here I was preparing to spend a night alone, and exposed on this precarious patio! Hose promptly terminated the snake with a rake handle and reasoned that all this rain must have diluted the effectiveness of the spray! Ya think? Truth be told it was only about 50cm long, but I was still a bit ...