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In October 2011 our little group: Sonia, Craig, Wendy and Richard visited Bolivia. We left Puno in Peru by bus to Cococabana in Bolivia. After the usual border form-filling and stamps, and a guided visit to the church in which the ‘Black Madonna’ resides, we boarded a cruise boat, a large catamaran, to Sun Island on the Bolivian side of the lake.
In March 2025 Wendy and I flew from Sydney to Los Angeles (LAX) and caught a shuttle bus, south, to San Diego (old Town).
After a couple of days in San Diego we joined an 11 day cruise to Mexico, aboard Holland America’s ‘Zaandam’.
This was our second trip to Mexico.
We first visited Mexico on our way to Cuba in 2012. I didn’t write about the Mexico or California components of our trip back then because I didn’t want to detract from the Cuba story.
If you didn't see it at the time, follow this link: Cuba
So, first, here are my recollections of that experience, mellowed by time, informed by hindsight.
Several times past I've begun to read Moby Dick. It's one of the classic books I freely downloaded to my Kindle from 'Project Gutenberg'. Yet, each time, soon after reading: "Call me Ishmael" I put it down in frustration: at the flowery language and depressing imagery of the opening chapters. It's not Treasure Island.
The following paper was written back in 2007. Since that time the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) struck and oil prices have not risen as projected. But we are now hearing about peak oil again and there have been two programmes on radio and TV in the last fortnight floating the prospect of peak oil again.
At the end of 2006 the documentary film A Crude Awakening warned that peak oil, ‘the point in time when the maximum rate of petroleum production is reached, after which the rate of production enters its terminal decline’, is at hand.