Puerto Vallarta

NOT CONTENT with a program of mere panel discussions, lectures, and fruity, girly drinks, a group of STANDARD cruisers met up at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday to strike out into our final port of call for various adventures. Some people went on hikes, others went swimming with dolphins, others flashed along zip lines on the forest canopy. And some of us rented dune buggies.

Four of us hitched a bus to a hacienda 20 miles inland and took a dune buggy tour of the towns and hills at the feet of the Sierra Madres. Despite a few mishaps–some of us had never driven stick before–we finished in one piece, albeit it caked in dust and mud. At least we hoped it was just dust and mud; the cattle do run pretty free. There are pictures of the lot of us wearing goggles and kerchiefs. I would post them, but I still have a tiny scrap of dignity laying around somewhere.