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Last updateThu, 26 Mar 2026 6pm

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The NOkidd’n NOphone: Recalling Mexico when Telmex was all we had

CNN tells me the whole world is abuzz over the imminent release of the Snapple Phone 5… or was it the Gooseberry Smellphone 9981… or maybe the Androgynous Flan 4.2? Somehow the exact name escapes me – tasty as they all sound – probably because I’m completely sold on my own, personal mobile device: the truly versatile NOkidd’n NOphone. Believe it or not, my NOphone has been serving me faithfully for 71 years, nonstop and has never gone out of range and never let me down, even in the remote and barren wastes of the Saudi desert where I once spent some time.


A one-man revolution in Barranca de Otates

“A funny thing happened to us on our way to the cave.”

This is one of my favorite expressions, as not only funny things have happened, but also beautiful and inspiring things, mainly because of the extraordinary people we inevitably come upon in those lonely, out-of-the-way places where a cave may or may not exist, but where we often find adventure and friendship … and in the case of Barranca de Otates, signs of a most interesting “idea revolution” operating in rural Mexico.

Getting to know the jungle; A visit to Vallarta Botanical Gardens

Every outing we have ever gone on with botanist Miguel Cházaro has been an adventure. One day our friend took us to visit a cloud forest of maple trees and giant ferns, not far from Talpa, Jalisco. The next morning we had planned to return to Guadalajara, but Cházaro said, “There’s a botanical garden near here you really must see. It was started by an American and it’s unique.”