Puerto Vallarta

A FEW years after retiring to this Pacific resort city, David Bender was bored with golf. His new hobby, the American decided, would be tackling Mexico's income inequality. He would do it by teaching English to Mexican children. Never mind that Mexico didn't ask for his help. Or that the former advertising executive knew nothing about running a school. Bender saw working families hungry for affordable English-language instruction and a shot at upward mobility for their kids.

Great article on Chacala, Mexico ["Chacala, the Anti-Cancun," Feb. 25]. We have a time share in Puerto Vallarta and always make it a point to take a day trip to San Francisco Beach, near Chacala. One note to those who travel north from Puerto Vallarta: There is a one-hour time change. Thanks again for the great article. We're going to check out Chacala on our next visit. PHIL YOUNG Palmdale

THE young girl in the shop was helping. "We-CHOL," she instructed, the second syllable sliding off her tongue. Hundreds of Huichol ornaments, gourd bowls and animals filled the small shop near the Cuale River Bridge. The Huichol Indians, who live high in the Sierra Madre not far from Puerto Vallarta, are said to get the inspiration for their symbolic yarn paintings and beadwork from peyote. I pointed to a table filled with distinctively painted winged animals and asked what they were called.

Regarding "Fewer days at the beach," Nov. 19: I've been traveling to Mexican beach resorts -- Cancun, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan -- for many years. The people are always friendly and welcoming, the waters and beaches are beautiful and my wife and I always have a great vacation. Travelers who are fearful of Mexico must come from another planet or need to get a life. Vance Lerner Riverside The decline in tourism to Mexico will continue. The corrupt police who harass tourists for bribes and the hotel and restaurant rip-offs are a few more reasons American tourists do not want to go to Mexico It also seems as if Mexican authorities are not doing anything to address this situation.

AS our launch carried the 10 of us down La Tovara River in Mexico's Nayarit state, I had one thing on my mind: Would I see a crocodile? Our eco-tour near the sleepy coastal town of San Blas had promised a lush array of tropical vegetation and exotic turtles, snakes, birds and iguanas, but disappointments on such past excursions had made me and my husband, Richard, skeptical. After all, we were only 100 miles north of the busy, tourist-filled streets of Puerto Vallarta.

I read your article "When It's Time to Pay, Choose Plastic Over Paper" [Jan. 23]. I left the next day for Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and on your advice, I didn't take traveler's checks and left much of my American money at home. It really made my vacation difficult. The stores did not want my credit cards, and the ATMs were always saying, "We cannot contact your bank," thus no pesos. Travelers need to know that what works in Europe will not work in Mexico and Central America. They want American dollars.

Bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman said this week that he would not return to Mexico to complete a trial stemming from his capture of fugitive rapist Andrew Luster, claiming that he was mistreated while in custody. Authorities in Mexico declared Chapman a fugitive this week after he failed to appear in a Jalisco state court as ordered by a judge.

They were audacious criminals who like many before them found a perfect place to disappear -- among tourists enjoying the beaches of Mexico, where no one cared about their last names or their histories. While on the lam, Max Factor great-grandson and convicted rapist Andrew Luster was so confident that he stayed at a Puerto Vallarta motel just steps from the headquarters of Mexican police who took him in custody June 18. He surfed, picked up girls and drank tequila. The Rev.