(Daniel) After a wonderful nights sleep in the silence of the desert, and cooled by the mysterious and amazing swamp cooler (is there a swamp in it?  Is that it?!)  We headed out to a walking route just outside of town. 

With two bottles each of water and my trustee golf umbrella, Nick, Amy, Oli and I left the car in a small parking area, heading out on foot into the trails, along which, according to the guide, one could apparently see birds of prey, prairie rabbits, and mountain lions.  Although it was only around 8am, the sun was already blazing.  As the four of us walked out into the canyoned landscape from a boardwalk to a path, and out along the canyon trail the others started to visibly flag. 

I found myself lecturing as we walked, saying that this would be good practice for what would or could be essential survival efforts should we encounter problems in the Mexican deserts.  But as we came to the turning leading to a 4 hour hike along a dead end canyon, even I opted to take the shorter route home.  Amy added as we walked past, that two boys had attempted the walk a week before, one of them turning back and leaving his small bottle of water with his friend.  The friend walked on, becoming seriously dehydrated.  He eventually fell over and died not more than 100 meters from a spring that would have saved his life.

I had to admit, this was a different kind of heat.  The dry sensation that we felt was our sweat being instantly evaporated by the desert climate, draining our bodies of water at a dangerously high rate.   As we walked further along the track, we spotted eagles and small hares, which we took to be the prairie rabbits that the guide had mentioned. My golf umbrella turned out to be the most useful item of equipment, giving precious shade in an otherwise shelterless environment.

As we arrived back at the car, and drove back into town, it occurred to me that I hadn’t contacted the local shipping agent, Abba Shipping, that had received my documents required for collection of the Wolf. We stopped outside the Beatnik Café, which advertised wireless internet as well as food and live music in the evening.  I managed to get a number for the shipping agent, who had apparently tried to contact, Me, and had even phoned Nii in Thailand in his attempts to contact me.  Presumably this meant that he had a bill for me, this seems to be the only thing that shipping agents are proactive with!  I also managed to get a message off toTamsin, asking when and where Rowan and Gabby would arrive, as it would be nice to collect them from the Airport.

Before we left the beatnik café, a university professor who I got chatting to, explained that the national park just up the road, was the best sight in Joshua tree, and that an early morning visit was recommended, as was a sunset drive through.  We headed home, planning to visit the area tomorrow. 

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