Puerto Vallarta (December 19 - 28)

I left Che Bella on December 19 and took a 4 hour bus ride north to Puerto Vallarta, where I was going to boat sit for a fellow member of the Tradewinds Sailing Club of Richmond, CA. Jerry had to leave Sea Story, his Pearson 39, in the marina there to attend to unexpected family matters in the states for a month, and wantedsomeone to look after it. No problemo.

The boat was quite comfortable, and the marina looks impressively chock full of mega-yachts. On clear days the mountains behind town loomed impressively in the distance, beckoning for exploration (though I never got up there). The marina is ringed by 6 floor condo buildings, the prettiest with bougainvillea spilling from window boxes, and restaurants overlooking the water at promenade level. The city is smaller than Mazatlan, but seems much busier. The traffic is nightmarish, and the multiple bus systems more confusing. I spent my week stay here exploring the small downtown area, lounging at the beach at , and taking care of chores. Paradise Village has a marina attached to the swanky hotel, and the cruisers are invited to use the beach palapas and swimming pools. It was a fine place to while away a few days working on the tan and reading a book from Jerry’s library (Sailing Around the World Alone, by Joshua Slocum).

The downtown is built between the ocean and hills so steep they remind me of San Francisco. This is the view from 2 blocks up from the main drag, near a great little Tapas place.

And I made some money while here. The companies that own these big hotel resort time share places will give you US $100 ($1,000 pesos) to listen to their pitch for an hour. Ok, fine. Nice place, pretty swanky. I don’t really want a time share, but as they were running through the numbers in a rather confusing fashion with multiple colored felt pens, it seemed like the thing would pay for itself within 2 years… which was interesting and surprising. I barely escaped without buying something, and they did give me $100 for my time.

In the days leading up to Christmas, I noticed parents in the Wal-Mart parking lot by the bus station trying to fit new bicycles through the diver side door of their VW bug into the back. The day after Christmas, there were many little kids with big smiles learning how to ride bikes. Very cute. The local kids in Mexico are generally very cute. And it isn’t just their big brown eyes and pigtails. They are more pleasant to be around than the average American kid. Which is good because they are everywhere -- riding on busses, running around the plaza with their friends, shopping for groceries with their mom -- and they’re rarely whining or crying or begging to be bought something. One day on the beach, I noticed kids zipping up and down the sand on a little motorized 4-wheeler toy. Every time that thing zipped by there was a different combination of kids on it. They share with their siblings and friends, and aren’t greedy with their toys. Anyway… I digress a bit, but I thought that was significant. I’ll try to get some pictures of the cuties to illustrate this.