Pomfrets (Louise, Gail, Joanne) in the Nylon Pool, a kind of natural shallow swimming spot, off Store Bay, Tobago. 

Some of the thousands of late-stage tadpoles in river leading into the sea at Mayaro, Trinidad. 

Trinidad and Tobago flag, San Fernando hill, Trinnidad 

Is it a swan? Is it a goose? No, it's a hummingbird, snapped by Dr Pomfret at the Asa Wright Nature Reserve, Trinidad. 

Blue birds, Asa Wright Nature Reserve, Trinidad 

Flags, Store Bay, Tobago 

Pigeon Point, Tobago. Despite appearances, it's actually quite pleasant. 

Tobago, taken from the boat that took us out snorkelling and looking at the fish on the reef off Store Bay. 

Moody shot of the anchor of the glass bottomed boat that took us out looking at the reef and to do some snorkelling off Shore Bay, Tobago with Joanne's sisters Louise and Gail 

Mexican flag. This is probably the last Mexico entry as we´re flying to Trinidad tomorrow (15/2/2006). It´s been marvellous.

Mexico City by night, as seen from the big Latinoamerica tower. The view from this tower was pretty amazing and neatly demonstrated what happens when twenty million people decide to all live together and all leave their lights on.  

The Mexicans are always keen to prove they´re the zaniest, wackiest, looniest people in the world and nowhere is this desire more clearly manifested than here, where four chaps swing round a pole tied by their feet and slowly descend towards the ground by unwinding the ropes they´re attached to. Perhaps the oddeest element of this spectacle was the fact that we saw it not in some huge arena with loads of paying tourists gasping at the participants´ atheletcisim and daring, but in a car park with only a few onlookers. 

Yes, they had a swan in Mexico City zoo. They had some pandas, too, but they were behind some sort of photo-proof glass.

Man painting political slogans on the wall, Oaxaca. This picture is brought to you by Nokia.

We went to see the Lucha Libre in Mexico City. This is basically WWF style wrestling in a caged coliseum environment. It´s deeply silly. No cameras allowed so this is a phone shot.

The Mexico City Metro. A journey on this efficient system cots 20 pesos per journey to any destination. That´s about 12p. 12p! I took this photo with my phone.

The ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City as viewed from the Pyramid of the Moon. You may be able to make out some people in this shot, but can you tell what percentage of those pictured were hawkers selling tat? It was a lot.

The ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City.

Joanne atop the Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan, Mexico. Note smog from Mexico City in backgorund

Me standing near the top of the Pyramid of the Moon in the ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexico. The lump over my left shoulder if the larger Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world.

The Palace of Belle Artes, Mexico City. This lovely art deco museum contains some superb murals by Diego Rivera, David Siquerios (a Stalinist who once led a plot to assassinate Leon Trotsky, who had been given refuge in Mexico, partly as a result of Rivera's lobbying of the government. The plot failed, but you can still see the bullet holes in the walls of Trotsky's house. Stalin eventually got his way when one of his henchmen stuck an ice pick in his skull) and others. The day we visited the museum was also home to the dead body of a recently deceased Mexican artist who was lying in an open coffin in the middle of the central atrium. I have some photos of him but am led to believe that posting them on the web wouldn't be in the best of taste. I bet the Mexicans wouldn't mind.

The cathedral in Puebla, Mexico, by night. Thanks to a bit of administrative immigration grief in Oaxaca, we only got to spend half a day in Puebla but it looked nice and I did eat an enchillada in chocolate mole sauce. The sauce is called mole, it doesn´t have any actual moles in it, as far as I know.
As for the immigration authorities, if you´re ever on holiday in Mexico and are keen to get your kids off your hands for a few hours of Treasure Hunt style fun, then my tip is to neglect to obtain tourist cards for them at the US/Mexico land border. This will lead to them being asked to perform a series of apparently arbitrary tasks - buying lots of forms, photocopying every page of their passports, printing out their bank balance, paying money into a bank and getting a stamp on six different forms to say you´ve done it, finding bus tickets - both American and Mexican - to prove when they crossed the border, filling in some more forms, marvelling as the official in front of them pulls a typewriter out of the dustbin of history and completes his notes, being very polite, digging out their best schoolboy Spanglish and finally leaving exhausted and grateful after three hours. 

The church in El Tule, Mexico plus part of the World´s Largest Living Thing (see below) 

This, according to the Mexicans and the guide book, is the largest living thing in the world. It´s some sort of cypress tree growing in a church yard in El Tule, a town just outside Oaxaca, Mexico. It´s more impressive for its vast girth than its great height, though it does over-shadow the rather modest church next to it and make Joanne (centre, arms wide) look like the five-foot-two-inch munchkin she is. 

Oaxaca, Mexico. The spires are those of the Santa Domingo church, which is astonishing on the inside; someone at some point obviously got a very good price on gold leaf. And then went and got some more. 

Joanne, Oaxaca. For some reason this amuses me greatly.  

Us at Monte Alban, Mexico. Picture taken by a chap from Alaska who asked us to take a picture of him. Note camera case for scale. 

If I´d been concentrating more, I´d be able to tell you what this is. Some sort of Zapotec ruin at Monte Alban in Mexico. In all likelihood it´s an observatory or a temple. Or a grain store. 

Ball court, Monte Alban, Mexico