Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - Jan 16

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - January 16

This is our second time here and we saw the “must-see’s” last time. Here is a link to the photos. https://photos.app.goo.gl/biW2ueeaZZqthMoP8 You can always search my blog for that entry.

This time I set up a tour with the same company to tour the Botanical Gardens, Countryside, El Tuito town with a Mexican lunch. http://superiortoursvallarta.com

Today we are joined by Cathy & Tom. Always a pleasure to tour with them. Our guide was Paula, and our driver was Alberto. 

sail in at sunrise

entertainers as we walked out to find the van

wall art on the drive

We made a couple stops on the Malecon for photo ops

Tim & Cathy

Los Arcos for photos and amazing views of the bay

              

Great-tailed Grackle

Next stop is in Mismaloya where the famous movie, “Night of the Iguana” was filmed

people playing pickleball

El Columpio is home to a delicious family bakery. We stopped and Paula our guide bought a couple of different kinds of filled breads to taste. They were hot from the oven with delicious fillings. 

me on the left

the bread was under the covers of the table

driver Alberto & Paula buying bread

small store next door

bathroom

Restaurant across the street

from the parking lot houses on the hill with great views of the ocean

We then continued on to El Tuito which is a small, quaint 16th century mining town with a rich history of Spanish influence mingled with native Nahua tribal culture. It is nestled high in the Sierra Madre mountains and in the Jalisco region in Mexico. El Tuito, means “beautiful small valley” which is the perfect name for the quaint community of no more than 4,500 inhabitants.

we stopped for a photo of the town sign

Cathy & Annette

Cathy

each letter had beautiful detail

dogs watching us take photos

walking around El Tuito

Parish of St. Peter the Apostle

windows in the parish

wild pointsettia

We visited a cheese factory and then a tortilla factory and in the van after the walking tour we made tacos. Yum!

We wandered around the the Main Square (Zócalo/Plaza) and walked around the perimeter. We popped into an arts/crafts store which had some very nice things. 

cheese factory

she sold the cheese to Paula

main town square

Municipal Building for State of Jalisco

Mexican Flag

Great Kiskadee

Eurasian Collared Dove

arts & crafts gallery

Cathy & Annette making "serious face"

Greg taking a photo of Tom taking our photos

Yellow-winged Cacique

grocery store

tortilla factory

Paula buying tortillas

We left El Tuito behind and drove to the Botanical Gardens. Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens has over 3,000 different species of plants native to Southwestern Mexico. We had hoped to see more birds here, but other than a few hummingbirds and a pair of Chachalacas in a tree we didn't see much. We did see one Oriole but didn't get a decent enough shot to ID it. The Black-throated Gray Warbler was new as was the Yellow-winged Cacique. Upping our life list to 1,599.

Oriole of some sort....

Black-throated Gray Warbler

small cemetery (humans)

Our Lady of the Garden Chapel

pet cemetery 

Paula & the owner of the gardens

Tom & Cathy on the bridge

Cinnamon Hummingbird

Cinnamon Hummingbird

We had lunch at Chico's Paradise Jungle Restaurant. Lovely setting overlooking the river with huge boulders and a guy dove off the rocks into the one small area that was deep. I missed the dive but got him in the water afterwards.

outdoor restaurant area

river & boulders

dog was watching the diver from across the river

Great Kiskadee

Plato Mexicana

Plato Pescado 

It was time for the drive back to the city and I requested to see a couple of sights that we saw last time, but Tom & Cathy hadn't seen on a previous visit. This time we got to actually get out and get a photo of the bridge between Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton's houses between shots on the Night of the Iguana set (1963)

Both were married (to other people) at the time, and their scandalous romance—which the Vatican condemned as “erotic vagrancy”— received an incredible amount of attention from the tabloid press and could be considered the starting point of the modern-day stalking of artists and the morbid public fascination and obsession with famous people’s personal lives.

bridge between the homes

Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

for sale on the steps of the church

wall art on the way back to the port

Back on board we got ready for dinner. Service is getting better with our assigned table and our wonderful waiter, Ashwin who is from India. He is training 2 or 3 assistants, so he has his hands full.

The show tonight was a different show by Nathan Phan. First show was better, but still a delightful show full of surprises. After that we went to the 50's & 60's Rock & Roll night with Jaame's Band. Lots of people dancing. 

For larger photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/136AYTvuDpQvBAy16

Now for 2 relaxing sea days before Los Angeles.