Paid to Play Episode 8: The one about the amazing lava flow that ate an entire Mexican village. In 1943, in a small village in the state of Michoacán, a farmer noticed that the middle of his cornfield started smoking and began cursing the fact that his property value was about to go down the toilet. The small fissure in the earth's surface was shooting ash and rocks into the Mexican sky. A week later, the new volcano had grown five stories tall and after a ...

Paid to Play Episode 7: the one about the cool trip down the Rio Dulce river to Livingston and Guatemala's little known Caribbean coast. Guatemala isn't well known for it's Caribbean coast. The city of Livingston is at best a rather lame destination. However, the trip to get there down the Rio Dulce, or sweet river, is one of my favorite day trips in this tour for the scenery and seeing the way the locals live. It's all about the journey, not the destination. An...

Paid to Play Episode 6: The one where one of my passengers gets stung by the potentially deadly Portuguese Man of War. The world's second largest barrier reef offers great snorkeling and diving. And this time out I finally got my hands on a waterproof Olympus camera. It's awesome. I have some great photos of some of the larger fish and creatures of the area. But what made this trip especially exciting was that one of my passengers got stung by a Portuguese Man o...

PAID TO PLAY EPISOE 5: The one where the author climbs an active volcano for the sole purpose of roasting marshmallows over red hot, molten lava. This is one of the dummer things the Guatemalan government allows tourists to do; climb an active and erupting volcano up to where the lava is pouring out, and then roast marshmallows over the molten red rock as it flows by. Everyone seems to get a kick out of it though and I suppose until someone gets hurt, this will...

Paid to Play Episode 4: The One where the author realizes he is a "workaholic", even though those that know him will think that statement is absolutely ridiculous. I realize I have no time to update this blog regularly because I am working all the time. I even dare to say that I am a workaholic. It seems I am always on the move with my passengers; climbing volcanoes, paddling canoes, swimming in rivers and cenotes, going to the beach, snorkeling, going out to di...