Shane and I just got back from a week of fun and relaxation in sunny Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. (Nuevo Vallarta is located on the Banderas Bay just north of Puerto Vallarta.) The area is absolutely beautiful with the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other.
The weather couldn't have been better - mid-80's and sunny. We enjoyed relaxing at the beach with the soft sand between our toes, the ocean breeze in our face, and a Margarita in our hands. We also went on a few excursions. We spent one morning swimming with a couple of wonderful dolphins! It was so much fun! The dolphins loved getting their bellies rubbed. We also got to hold on to them as they went for a swim - I almost lost my grip - they are very slippery to hold on to!! At the end of the tour, they said good bye to us by giving us a kiss on the cheek and we gave them a big hug good bye. Then they did some awesome jumps just feet away from us. It was such a great experience...we HIGHLY recommend it!
Our next adventure was a canopy tour through the jungle. My aunt highly recommended going on a canopy tour, but neither Shane nor I knew exactly what it was. Imagine this...zipping through the jungle from tree to tree 90 feet above the forest floor on tiny wire. Well, after we learned what is was we thought we'd be crazy to try it...I guess we're crazy! It was a lot of fun. Shane was a natural. We weren't able to take any pictures during the tour (both of our hands were a little busy!), but below are a couple from the web...a picture's worth a thousand words...
Our next excursion was quite a bit more tame...a sunset cruise. The cruise was wonderful. We were on a small catamaran that seated 12 people. Our hosts were extremely hospitable. They never let our drinks go dry, kept us well fed, and even let us steer the boat. We had a perfect evening to watch the sunset...the water was calm and the sky was clear. We got some gorgeous shots...
One day we went on a tour of our very own. I had read about Quimixto, a small fishing village just south of Puerto Vallarta, prior to our trip. Near the village is a hiking trail with a "warm" waterfall at the top of the trail that you could swim in. (Later we would find out their definition of "warm" was not ours.) The village is only accessible by boat. We were walking along figuring out the best way to get to our destination when we walked by a sign that said "Boat Rides to Quimixto". What luck! We purchased 2 round trip tickets to Quimixto and waited for our boat, which was supposed to arrive in 5 minutes.
15 minutes later, we started to get worried. We were assured again that the boat was on its way. In the mean time, we had been introduced to the captain of the boat...lets just say this did not ease our concerns. But within minutes, the boat did arrive. The captain threw his dog into the boat (yes, he had brought his pet to work) and all of the sudden locals started appearing out of the wood work and piling into the boat. Then we were finally on our way.
Quimixto was stop number 2 on the ride...and we were the only ones getting off the boat. This did not make us feel the best! As we were getting off the boat, the captain asked when he should return to pick us up, 3:15 or 4:30. We said 4:30 and all the locals on the boat were saying "No, don't take the 4:30. You want the 3:15." Because we weren't sure how long it would take us to find the waterfall, we stayed with the 4:30 boat. After we got off at the pier and the boat sailed away, we walked to the shore. There were a few locals hanging around. Some were holding the most gigantic iguanas we've ever seen. One handed the iguana to Shane, but before I could snap a picture, the guy asked for $5. We decided we didn't need a picture of Shane holding an iguana that badly and kept walking on our journey.
We eventually found the trail leading up to the waterfall and began our hike. The walk was nice and would have been perfect except for the occasional piles of horse manure. We eventually made it to the waterfall. It was a beautiful sight. We got into our swim suits and headed for the water. The water was FREEZING!! But we got in anyway... (I'm hoping the pictures turn out, I still need to get them developed, but I'll post them here once I get them.) After hiking back down the trail, we grabbed a few beers near the pier.
When 4:15 rolled around, we walked down the pier to wait for our boat. A couple locals were there also waiting. One asked if we missed our boat. We told him the name of the boat company and that they were to pick us up at 4:30. He laughed at us and said "They're not coming back until tomorrow. Their last pick-up here is 3:15!" We didn't know what to do. Were they coming to get us? Were we going to be stuck in this tiny fishing town? The guy told us not to worry, that they were catching a water taxi that would be here within minutes.
So not knowing whether our boat would be back (even though we had paid for a round trip), we opted to take the water taxi. There was no way we were going to chance getting stranded! Unfortunately, the water taxi only brought us to Boca Tomatlan, which is about 1/8 of the way back to where we needed to be. So we ended up hopping on a bus for downtown Puerto Vallarta. After about a half hour, we were back to civilization!
We also spent a lot of time in downtown Puerto Vallarta walking along the Malecon (which in English means "Boardwalk"). We checked out all the sites, including several creative statues, the local shops and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
We stepped off the Malecon to take this picture by the ocean.
Here we are in front of a sculpture on the Malecon.
Another creative statue on the Malecon.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe
We had a wonderful time in Mexico. The Puerto Vallarta area is absolutely beautiful. The weather is perfect, the beaches are wonderful and the food is great. We highly recommend it! If you're planning a trip there, make sure to have dinner at Cafe de Olla and La Fonda. Both were superb!! Adios!
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