Misadventures with sourdough

This is the second time I have attempted to produce sourdough starter.  The first time, foolishly, I followed some idiot's instructions that were based on capturing "natural" yeast spores from the air in a batch of flour and water.  You capture stuff, all right, but I don't think it was sourdough yeast.  Some of it could even be seen with the naked eye, and when that happens, you'd better suspect it isn't yeast, natural or otherwise.

So I ordered some starter from a company that has the original San Francisco strain.  I followed the directions to the letter, and at first, the mixture of starter, flour and water bubbled and popped away just beautifully. 

By day two, however, all was not well.  You have to keep feeding this mixture as if it were some kind of damned pet--a very delicate, not particularly healthy pet that needs plenty of vet care and lots of love.  Something went wrong and the mixture developed a smell that was between tangy and god-awful.  There were some desultory bubbles making their way to the surface, sort of like swamp gas. A dark, watery liquid covered the surface too, and anyone wanting to make bread with this junk surely risked poisoning from who-knows-what bacteria.

So in order not to waste any more bread flour feeding this unspeakable mass, out it went.  You can't get sourdough bread in Mexico.  That means no sourdough biscuits, no sourdough pancakes...

However, there is a webpage that offers starter free from some guy who has, according to the users, the best starter in the world, a lively, bubbly, tangy product almost guaranteed...Problem is, if I send in my self-addressed, stamped envelope, there is no way customs is going to let through a suspicious envelope containing a slightly damp mixture of flour and some kind of white powder.