Dear Adventurers,
I felt the need to take you to Mexico so I've attached (below) the journal I kept while visiting the Mayan Riviera in the Yucatan a few weeks ago. Since the political situation in the world is somewhat cold, I thought a little heat, palm trees, crystal clear turquoise water and Mayan ruins might offer a respite.

FIRST SOME ADVENTUROUS EVENTS:
Thursday, April 24, 8:00 pm, (45 min) documentary movie, Altitude, the story of the first cancer survivor to climb Mt. Everest. The Eighth Street Trekkers' Lodge B&B, 120 Eighth Street, Ann Arbor, MI. Trek on over for some trail mix and a mountain movie.

Tuesday, April 8, 7:00 pm, the Banff Mountain Film Festival. The Lydia Mendelssohn Theater in Ann Arbor. (I submitted Altitude to this Festival in September.) I will be at the "Of Global Interest" table in the lobby. Come say "HI".

Saturday, April 26, "Club Day" at Eastern Mountain Sports on State at Liberty in Ann Arbor. Outdoor adventure clubs offer info on their programs. You'll get 20% off outdoor gear, too.

OTHER EVENTS:
Friday, April 11 at 7:00 pm, the studio where I take glass blowing classes, Michigan Hot Glass in Hamtramck, is having a party. April is "Michigan Glass Month". There will be an exhibit of sculptural glass and photography and glass blowers blowing glass, too. Send e-mail if you want to go.

Saturday, April 12, fundraising dinner party and wine tasting for the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. The Gandy Dancer Restaurant. Tickets: $100 a plate.

Sunday, April 13, 5:00-7:30 pm, Spring Blues and Jazz Splash Fundraiser. Directors John Lawrence of Washtenaw Community College and Mike Grace of Community High School will lead performances by the WCC Jazz Orchestra and CHS Jazz Ensembles AND featuring the blues band "The Aviators". Towsley Auditorium in the Morris Lawrence Building at Washtenaw Community College. This is a joint fundraiser for WCC Performing Arts Department, CHS Jazz Program and the AA Blues and Jazz Festival.

Saturday, May 10, fundraising party with two bands (TBA) and a silent auction (donations welcome) at the Downtown Home and Garden store on Ashley Street in Ann Arbor. Should be another good time!

Come to Kerrytown at lunchtime and play the Kerrytown Chime every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon. It's a two ton world-class instrument with 17 bells in the tower. Play by number. It is SO fun!

Check out the winning design for the kids T-shirt contest at the People's Food Coop on Fourth Ave. :)

NOW SOUTH TO ADVENTURES IN MEXICO . . .

Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Tulum, Mexico
I look up while swinging in the net of the hammock with one foot in the sand. The palm leaves are giant, 6 and 12 feet long. I am counting the stars beyond but the breeze blows the spiky leaves, covering some stars, revealing others. The air is so warm and the Caribbean Sea is twenty feet away. It is humid, almost sticky, even at night. I am looking up, noticing coconuts about to drop. Maybe there are 20 in this tree but most are small, not ready to fall. Swinging in the hammock, I haven't a care in the world. It is a peaceful paradise. The birds sleep, insects chirp and the wind steers the rolling waves to shore.

The concrete path winds around the base of the palm trees. Square orange bulbs at strategic places in the sand light the way. The tikki torches flicker reminding of an earlier, more primitive time. I am now in the hut. The dry palm thatched roof rattles, almost like rain in a constant chatter all night -- a nice place to fall asleep.

Wednesday, February 26
Tulum, Mexico
The birds hoot and sing from their perches, invisible in the foliage. The room is so small. It's a twig hut on the beach with a palm leaf roof and is more expensive than the others because it has a shower. The place is just like Gilligan's Island.

Four ropes hold the bed in mid air. I want to swing high, but the twig walls are confining on both sides and the entire hut shakes when the bed hits the wall. The mosquito net catches a spider's web on the outside. Later, it seems I have disturbed the spider. A single strand of web caught my head, and I see him scurry on his invisible path toward one of the four ropes holding the bed.

I am traveling with Dawn, a professor on spring break vacation. She is ready for the day. At breakfast I didn't touch the beans, but the mushroom omelet was good. And the fresh orange juice was worth the flight. The coffee was only ok. Like many scenes on travel agency brochures, the view from the table was full of palm trees leaning and reaching all over the beach.

The Mayan ruins down the road at Tulum were the main tourist attraction here. We wandered around and through the old stone temples and courtyards. The iguanas were everywhere. Huge, giant lizards waiting to catch your snacks, sneak up on you or accidentally TRIP you! I was watching my step in the grass. They looked like rocks. I wondered if they bite. Every tourist must have taken at least one lizard picture.

The entire area overlooked a beach and the most beautiful blue waters. No wo nder the Mayan people built their temples here. Butterflies decorated the ruins, and families were tanning in the sand on the beach. The heat and humidity pulled everyone toward the blue-green ocean.

In the town we ate tortilla chips and salsa "Bandera" -- red, white and green, the colors of the Mexican flag. YUM! It was a magical combination of white onions, red tomatoes and green cilantro and jalapenos chopped together with lime juice and garlic. YUM! The margaritas quenched the heat of the peppers and the chips were super crunchy. It was hard to hear the conversation at times. I couldn't get enough of those chips (and brought home a heftier waistline as a result). The roasted carrot wedges with grilled onions were a surprise. Marinated in a clear liquid, it was an unexpected addition to our lunch but good even with nachos and guacamole. Yum.

Thursday, February 27
Near Tulum, Mexico
We rented bikes, first riding through a neighborhood with bright tissue paper flags cut in snowflake patterns strung colorfully across the street between the homes. I had to stop my bike to take a picture. One of the children watching us from one rooftop said his mother had made them.

Along the two-lane highway we biked about 5-7 kilometers. I looked for the Yucatan toucan but didn't see one. The smells along the roadside were sometimes interesting. "No Dumping" the sign said as if explaining. Ahead was the Grand Cenote, and a few dollars later we were through the gate. We changed into swimsuits in a large one-person bathroom and rented snorkel gear for the next adventure.

It was just like a mermaid cave. I wanted to scuba down deeper and into the darkness. This was a sink hole leading to the underground rivers that take fresh water from the hills and lakes out to sea. I will draw a picture of Dawn snorkeling among the stalactites in the cave. She became a fish, swimming ahead. I followed trying to keep up sometimes too close to her kicking flippers.

What a wonderland it was in that crystal clear water. Little fish sparkled in the light in the distance and other fish swam near looking for food. I followed and watched several up close. In a fit of excitement, I turned heading deep into the darker depths of the cave. It suddenly got too dark so I lifted my head -- too quickly, hitting my forehead hard on the rock ceiling. OUCH!

Dawn and I looped around several times. I found it thrilling to swim into the blackness. I loved this place and might have to come again to try scuba diving deeper. We rode back down the highway and all the way back to the sandy beaches, palm trees, cabanas and our favorite hammocks.

Friday, February 28
We were up early, drinking orange juice that the man spent a half-hour making. There were pillows on a bamboo mat and low tables -- the perfect breakfast spot. The center piece was a conch shell. Artistic touches were everywhere. In almost every direction there were interesting mobiles hanging, hiding in the trees, above the bar, by the tables. Small shells and seeds and drift wood turned, defining their shapes in the breeze. I took pictures of those.

More time in the hammocks and soon we were in a big luxury bus headed further inland on the two lane highway. It was a boring three hour ride, but we sat in the front seat by the driver. Not much to see out the window but thick jungle lining the way, an occasional village and more tourist stops as we got closer to Chichen Itza, the biggest Mayan ruins in the Yucatan. Every time Dawn put her feet on the wall ahead of the seat, the bus driver flinched and waved his arm. I was just beyond his view with my feet up and comfortable. The countless speed bumps were, however, painfully too many.

We finally arrived at Chichen Itza where an older Greek couple asked if we knew where we were going. We ended up sharing a cab for the 3 kilometer drive to the town of Piste. We moved into a budget hotel on the main drag. The mildew imbedded in the walls of the room looked strangely like flowers on wallpaper. Of course the large insect that fled the scene on my side of the room was not quite as lovely. It would do for one night, I hoped.

Heather O'Neal
Of Global Interest LLC Adventure Travel
Ann Arbor, Michigan
(734) 369-3107
www.ofglobalinterest.com

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