Mexico 2000
The west coast of Mexico is an easy connection from Vancouver, in half a day we could transition from cold and rainy to hot and sunny. Having learned our lesson about traveling to Mexico in the middle of hurricane season, we would go to Nuevo Vallarta in the early spring before my overtime crunch season at EA started. Nuevo Vallarta is the new resort area just north of Puerto Vallarta, close enough to town to take a bus and check things out, but far enough that the beaches are clean and you aren't bombarded by people trying to sell you everything from Chiclets to hankies.
The Allegro resort was beautiful, very new, with a great pool and lots of activities, a lot of them revolving around food and booze. An old favourite would become a staple... the Bahama Mama!
Most importantly was the beach area, a nice sandy area to plunk down, absorb the rays, nestle under a thatched umbrella, read a book and relax. Strangely we were mostly alone lazing on the beach, everyone was at the pool. Maybe they had heard that the waters off Puerto Vallarta weren't very clean. It definitely wasn't a Caribbean style blue beach, but was considerably nicer than the beaches closer to the city. It made for some quality relaxation time away from the Spring break activity based, noise loving type crowds, and we had free reign on the waves to body surf.
Of course when I said alone, it wasn't always alone. When traveling to the beach, I always like to have a cheap water camera with me, to take out into the water, to toss into the sand... something available that wouldn't matter if it got mistreated or stolen. While I am reading chapter three of the latest Stephen King book, I look up to see a giant ostrich walking past. Apparently it broke loose from a nearby farm and wandered down the beach. The next day on chapter seven I look up to see a parrot nestled in a Palm tree. See! Always have a camera handy!!!
Since we were so close, we decided to take the bus into Puerto Vallarta and check out the big town. As we get off the bus there is two things that strike me, one, how dirty and busy it is, and two, how much greyer the water is. I think if I was staying in the city, I would spend most of my water time at the pool. Aside from checking out the local shops and having a lunch at Carlos and Charlies, we wander the famous beachwalk called "Al Melacon". I'd call it a boardwalk, but it's made of brick. The famous statue of a boy riding a Seahorse "El Cabalitto" is here. I would later discover that most of the Melacon would have to be rebuilt due to Hurricane Kenna in 2002.
The next day we decided to go rugged and do some Mexican horse back riding. We are taken to the small town of En Las Palmas, a hillside town in the state of Jalisco. It's a cute little western town, complete with a classic church and young cowboys posing for pictures for just a few pesos.
The ride itself is quite nice, Norine gets a horse called Carton, and I get a larger horse called Pulpo. We make our way up through the hills, cross a stream several times, and leave our horses while we cross a suspension bridge and hike in to a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole.
After cooling down under the falls we make our way back to Rancho Capomo. I learn a lot about horse back riding, well I learn one thing, why they recommend long pants. Back at the Ranch we learn about lots of things, we see them making bricks the old fashioned way, making tortillas the old fashioned way, and letting them dry in the sun just like the bricks. We learn about making tequila, apparently it's made from the blue agave plant, mostly in the Jalisco area. We are treated to a fresh Mexican lunch, consisting of some of those freshly made tortillas, have a shot of freshly made tequila and then head back to our resort. I would walk funny for a few days... Pants!
Continuing our adventuresome ways, the next day is a mix of whale watching and snorkeling. We spot numerous Gray Whales as we cruise around, and enjoy the famous tail shots as they dive down to feed. Norine is less excited about the snorkeling, it is nice, but the waters are a little murky here, making long distance vision an issue. Back in the boat we visit numerous bird reserves, and are treated to a Seagull snowfall... I'll let you figure out what that means.
Each night the resort tries to do something special for their guests, one of the highlights was the dinner on the beach. They moved all the tables and chairs onto the sand, had a band playing, and served a tropical/mexical buffet. We could enjoy our meal and tropical drinks with the waves splashing, our bare feet in the sand, and the sun setting right in front of us.
With no sand fleas biting our feet and legs, it was a nice way to wrap up our trip to Western Mexico. The warm salty air, orange skies and blue water would be the closing memories of Nuevo Vallarta, as we packed up our bags and headed back to rainy Vancouver.
