"Isn't it dangerous on the road?" they ask me. Usually car drivers, the fright still in their eyes from the moment that huge truck came peeking around the corner of that narrow mountain road.

Today, in the latest move in the War Against the Dogs, I bought myself a clean and mean Super Soaker machine. A pocket model, but nonetheless accommodated with a five meter shooting range. I hardly can wait to use it. This is going to be fun!

7 mei 2003

Playa San Pedrito, Baja California Sur. Camping on the beach, the shorebreak of the Pacific Ocean right in front of me. A superb site.

The last night of my stay I had Mexican neighbours. When I left they invited me to Cabo San Lucas. Next to their house they had a camper I could use. I could stay as long as I wanted. This invitation resulted in some of the most remarkable days so far.

1. Again and again I happen to meet the same road workers along several hundred kilometers of highway 1. They are filling the potholes in the road. We seem to have more or less the same tempo. One day I see them all having a siesta under some trees. How Mexican. We greet each other. That afternoon I see them again, and I decide to take a break and have a chat. I get some fresh drinking water from the cooler. I compliment them with their work (the road is in excellent condition).

13 mei 2003

Today was my hottest day so far: 39°C, and that's in the shade. If you happen to have a flat tire in the desert - like me today - you'd better find some. In the sun the temperature seems to have no limits. 50°C are easily reached. At such a temperature water slowly starts to think about boiling. At such a temperature grease starts to drip out of the bearings. At such a temperature things like glue start to melt. So further down the road I lost my derailleur switch protection thingy (the length of its name is inversely proportional to its importance so never mind).

10 mei 2003

Today I escaped from the USA. Officially it was called San José del Cabo, situated at the southern tip of Baja, but still it was the USA.

Somewhere along the way in Northern Baja I stopped at a hippie-esque cafe for a coffee break. In the bathroom they had the following poem. Just ignore the hippie stuff, I liked the text. What do you think?

I decided my name will be Gael (pronounced Gah-el) around here. It's much easier to pronounce for the Mexicans, and a name not uncommon in Spain. It's an old Celtic name from Galicia (actually I think it means Celt).

4 april 2003

Right now I´m staying in Bahia de Los Angeles, at a place called Camp Gecko. Looks like even the most remote places have a website.

First I camped with my tent under one of the palapas. Nice shade, but the palapa also turned out to be a windtunnel, so after one day my whole tent was full of sand. So I moved to a cabana. Very comfortable.

24 maart 2003

Yesterday I took a walk along the coast. I spent over an hour looking at the pelicans. There´s this rock just in front of the hostel. Pelicans, seagulls, seals. Just sitting there. It looks very "gezellig". A hundred meters away is another rock. Also full with birds, also "gezellig". Every now and then a pelican seems to think "oh well, let´s check out the other rock." And it spreads its mighty wings, takes off, makes a wide turn, and lands on the other rock. The rocks seem to have only one or two "aanvliegroutes", depending on the wind. Just like an airport.