Flashback - Mexico Vacation - December 2006

I thought I'd digress and put something in here that isn't all doom and gloom and reminds me of better times past and hopefully of better times ahead. It is an account of a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico we took a year or two ago. So without further adieu,

How We Became “Cat-People”
or
All in a Mexican Day-trip (Part 1)

It all started innocently enough -- we were on our 4th trip to the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico enjoying the 89* temperature and trying not to spend too much time “en repose”. . . Being someone who has vacationed with Brian before, (many times by now) I knew it would only be a matter of hours until he would suggest ditching the resort and heading out to explore. I managed to squeeze in one semi-tourist activity, which involved a ponga (which is a boat, not an animal) ride to Quimixto, a small, remote fishing village accessible only by water, south of Puerto Vallarta. There we chose to hike (rather than ride horses) to a waterfall and swim in the fresh and exhilaratingly cool (who am I kidding, it was cold!) water.

We wandered through the town, seeing how “real” life is lived in this part of the world. We were able to swim on a secluded beach, which is always our goal on any tropical vacation) and eat a fabulous lunch at one of several palapa restaurants. The area is also known for excellent snorkeling. We had a charming guide who is a good example of many of the young men we have met on our excursions to Mexico -- open, warm and happy to share his beautiful country with we lucky gringos. His name was Efram (as in Efram Zimbalist, Jr. -- the only way I could remember it) and he was working towards becoming a kindergarten teacher. The much older “captain” of the boat was very jovial, and although we were unable to speak the same language, he managed to show us many interesting sites on the boat ride out and back.

Well, having gotten that “tourist activity” out of the way, Brian could be contained no longer. The next day we rented a car and headed North to Sayulita and my favorite spot in that area, San Francisco, known locally as San Pancho. We spent the day poking around and I suppressed the urge to rent a surfboard and batter my body in the larger-than-we-remembered surf. (Not really, while the surfing-thing was something on my “To-do" list, my previous experience cured the urge and relegated surfing to the other list -- the one of “things I would have liked to do, had I started at an earlier age. . .”) San Pancho is worth driving the extra few miles for. It is a few phases of progression behind Sayulita, with only a small gringo population, and a few very distinct features. In addition to the relatively undeveloped beach that runs the entire western edge of town, there is a large lagoon, which is a designated conservation area, where one can view birds and various other animal species.

While there are some vacation rentals in town, they are less prevalent than in Sayulita and one is able to wander the streets and get a real taste of old Mexico. There is a large new development near town called Las Olas, where, if you look up onto the hillside, it is hard to miss a structure that resembles an Islamic temple, obviously looking quite out-of-place. In doing a little exploring, we managed to locate the caretaker, who gave us a short tour and told us we could rent the place if we were interested in staying for the night! The rent was quite reasonable, and the story of how it came into being was amusing, so if you get there, it would be worth a look or even a stay. While it was impressive in scale, it was a little eerie in atmosphere, so be forewarned.

On the way back to Puerto Vallarta, we encountered the one damper of the day. It was a poor dog on the side of the road, standing next to his dead buddy who had been run over -- he had such a forlorn look on his face -- it created a lasting image that was hard to shake, especially to two very ardent dog-lovers.

The next day, we decided to keep the car and head south, beyond any of our previous destinations. Our goal was to reach Costa Careyes, an area we’d heard about and become interested in visiting. It was a bit of a hike -- 150 miles (+/-) but that didn’t mean we got off to an early start, after all, we were on vacation to relax and that didn't include rising before the sun or getting a cup of coffee "to go". The drive was quite enjoyable, despite its length, and we were tempted to do some exploring along the way, but decided to leave that for another trip so that we might actually reach our destination and be able to get back at a moderately reasonable hour. We were cruising along the relatively smooth highway, well into the trip, having given up on the Mexican music station in favor of Brian's effusive running commentary. He was pointing out the huge vultures at the side of the road, and as we came up to a group of them, we saw they were gathered to feast on a dead cat. As if that wasn’t bad enough, on the center-line of the highway, crouched a teeny, tiny kitty, most likely the baby of the vulture feast and not much bigger than the can of diet coke that I was drinking. He was white and orange and blended in pretty well with the yellow line he was on, but we knew despite his camouflage, he would not last long in that location. What could we do, but a U-turn and hope our rescue effort would not be in vain.

As we re-approached the scene, we found the kitty now on the side of the road and out of eminent danger, but by no means “home-free” considering the group of vultures drooling over him. So we scooped him up and the next thing anyone knew, he was in the front seat of an air-conditioned car with two gringos who weren’t particularly cat-people wondering what the next step should be. I took the driver’s seat in deference to my allergy to cats, and Brian became the primary care-giver. (The kitty was lucky he didn’t know how scary a prospect that really was. . .) Since there was no SPCA or equivalent nearby that we knew of, we did the only thing we really could do -- carry on with our day. Be sure to read part 2 to find out how a Mexican day trip is actually possible, or even enhanced by the presence of a tiny kitty who we named Felix.