The most fun you'll ever have going insane!  

ne might be inclined to think of Tropic Hunt as a "scavenger hunt," but that would not be true to the nature of the event. In a scavenger hunt, you find coasters advertising light beer, a key chain with a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover. In the Tropic Hunt, you find meaning in the bizarre, sense in the fantastic and answers to the great riddles of life. And after eight years of successful Hunts, one thing is clear: in order to win, it helps to have the soul of a gambler.  

he amusement park that hosts Tropic Hunt is built on a shoestring budget in the middle of Downtown Miami. Anybody who buys a Sunday paper is eligible for the test run, which is also the only run: six hours of lunacy that will never, ever, be repeated -- in this dimension.  

housands of players, known as Hunters, converge on Downtown Miami to discover giant 3-D puzzles woven into the landscape. For example: A pair of gigantic dice -- 12 feet high -- sitting in an open space. When Hunters arrive they are handed two souvenir dice by someone in a Bugs Bunny costume saying, "Ehhhh, what's up, Doc?" Hunters must figure out that dice are read by adding the numbers on top ("What's Up"). Since the top of the giant dice aren't visible unless viewed from a helicopter, the Hunters must arrange their miniature dice in the same position as the visible squares of the giant ones, then look on top. Viola! The answer.  

ut giant puzzles are only the beginning of this game. Solving each puzzle correctly gives a clue to The Hunt's final solution. The clues, when combined and decoded, lead somewhere and tell what to do upon arrival. (One year, Hunters had to find a college professor masquerading as a bum in the Coral Gables bus station and say the word "Booger" to him.)  

t all sounds pretty insane... and it is. People paint their cars, dress in camouflage, communicate on walkie-talkies, and, eventually, somebody will probably rent a helicopter. Heck, just watching these competitors can be pretty entertaining. Playing the game is unforgettable.  

t must have something to do with transforming the geography -- taking an urban landscape, a billion-dollar slice of real estate, and turning it into a playground. Suddenly landmarks are something more than a place to hang a bank logo on. They are unique acts of imagination, ripe for spoofing and redolent with obscure meaning. sidewalks normally filled with slightly hostile strangers team with playmates and competitors, all engaged in a communal rite of civil weirdness. and in the end, life is ultimately and irrevocably altered for the better.  
xperience Downtown Miami in a new, powerfully positive way: 
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Rules: Pick Up the November 9th Miami Herald Tropic magazine, go to Downtown Miami and listen to Y-100.