I spent the last week of April in Tulum and got a chance to test out my new digital camera and new performance hiking sandals in Southern Mexico's challenging environment. Here are reviews of this gear and more, plus a mini-trip report on Tulum and the surrounding area.

Digital Camera
I grieved the loss of the Olympus C-2020 Zoom digital camera I bought before my Y2K trip to India--it was pilfered a couple of months ago during a house-move. My insurance covered the loss (more on that, below), and so I took the opportunity to upgrade to the new five megapixel C-5050 Zoom. Priced at $799 retail, I shopped around on the Web and found it for under $600. This is a "prosumer" digital camera that I recommend to anyone who is really serious about photography and needs five megapixel quality (if that's overkill, choose a lower-priced 2000, 3000, or 4000 model). Olympus is known for their lenses and the picture quality is very high. Using it is fairly intuitive (unlike the similarly priced Nikon Coolpix) and there are lots of options for automatic and manual operation.You'll need an additional storage card (it comes with a 32 MB Picture Card). I recommend that you buy the 128 MB card so you don't have to worry about running out of shots -- it holds up to 257 very high-quality photos or hundreds of lower-quality shots. The camera also takes SmartMedia, Compact Flash, and IBM Microdrive cards--good news for those of us upgrading, since we don't have to throw away these expensive media. Also invest in a lens cover, especially if you travel, because it'll keep dust, humidity, sand, pollution, etc., out of the lens mechanism. The battery recharger and Ni-MH batteries (AA size) are also good investments. I took nearly three hundred photos last week in the Yucatan and didn't have to change them once. Buy your own camera case, the one that comes with it it in a special executive kit is kind of chintzy. If you want, you can add a telephoto or zoom lens, flash, and other accessories for a really professional outfit.
Olympus C-5050 Zoom website

Insurance for Your Gear
Your homeowners, renters, or business insurance may cover stolen or damaged gear at home and while you're on the road. Check with your company for their policy on computers and other expensive gear like digital cameras, and if necessary, purchase special computer insurance for your laptop from Safeware.
Safeware website

Nalgene Water Bottles
I like the Nalgene LEXAN loop-top water bottles because they are sturdy, you can loop them through a belt or backpack strap, and they don't add a plastic taste even when you fill them with boiling water for hot tea to go. The 16 ounce size is just right, and now they come in some great colors, too. Also check out the multi-layer, flexible, loop-top bottle that collapses to save space. You can also order a variety pack of high-quality travel containers for lotions, cosmetics, and other stuff, guaranteed not to that won't leak. This is all great quality stuff for travel or camping.
Nalgene website and sales

Hiking Sandals
My discontinued leather Nike hiking sandals finally bit the dust last year at Burning Man and I had been long unsuccessful in finding a similar model with the wrap-around toe loop. Desperate, I searched the Web and found a review in a backpacking site that led me to a suitable replacement, the Chaco Z2 "performance sport sandal" with the toe loop I like (keeps my foot from sliding around), arch support, and soles suitable for hiking, climbing, boating, and river walking. I rarely took them off this last week in the Yucatan. They gave me sure footing climbing the steep

pyramid at the Coba ruins (where at least one person a year looses f

ooting and tumbles to their death), during a jungle walk, on the seaside, and on the unpredictable Mexican city sidewalks.
Chaco Sandals website

Tulum, Mexico
Michael and I spent a relaxing week at Cabanas Copal, a cluster of about 30 grass huts on the Caribbean Sea a couple of miles from the town of Tulum and another couple of miles to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. Copal, like most of the other cabanas on the beach, offer cabanas that cost the range from about $20 to $100 (shared, with or without bathrooms, garden, beachfront, etc.) with a variety of activities and services like yoga, meditation, a Tezmecal ceremony (sweat lodge), Mayan astrology readings, organic meals, massages, tours to local ruins and the biosphere down the road. That said, the New Age atmosphere is not thick, and can be completely ignored if desired. There is no electricity in the cabanas, just a cement floor, a firm bed, a table, chairs, towels, and the all-important mosquito net. Their restaurant has a generator and there's a neighboring Internet cafe with satellite access, if you really can't disconnect (we weren't even tempted). Outside our door the Caribbean Sea shimmered beyond two hammocks in the shade where the local iguana hung out begging for fruit. With only a week to practice maximum relaxation we didn't want to get too ambitious so opted for only two side trips: one to Playa del Carmen for some Euro-Mexican nightlife, and another to the Coba ruins and the Punta Laguna spider monkey refuge. We will definitely return and add a snorkeling and diving trip to Cozumel and a jeep ride to Punta Allen where we hear that the roads are really really bad and the lobster is really really good, and a trip to the most famous Mayan ruin, Chichen Itza, a two-hour drive away. Check out the Cabanas Copal website for a great virtual tour of their cabanas, Tulum, and the surrounding area. If you're going to rent a car the best values are in Playa del Carmen (a $2 mini-van ride an hour away) and not in Tulum.
Cabanas Copal website