Puerto Vallarta

While in port in Puerto Vallarta, we decided to go on a Jeep safari tour.  Dave and I went on a similar tour while in Puerto Vallarta a few years ago, and thought it would be good for the girls to also experience, unmediated, some of the more outlying areas of Mexico, as opposed to the resort locations only.  Our tour guide, Pepe, was amazing; funny as well as instructive.  There were four separate Jeeps in our group.  Each Jeep held four people. Dave drove our Jeep.  Pepe led the group from his Jeep, which was at the front of the convoy.  Every so often, Pepe would pull off the road and tell the group about different places we had just passed, as well as what we were about to see.

During our 5-hour Jeep tour, we drove through some of the main areas of Puerto Vallarta, took an off-road excursion (even traversing a shallow river) to a few different small villages in the area, visited a tequila factory (where we were taught how tequila is made), and then ended up at the beach (where we were fed lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants located right on the beach).  We all had a ton of fun!  We even rocked out to some local radio stations as we drove around.  Not only was it enjoyable, but it was also educational, to witness firsthand how some of the people in Mexico live.  We saw their homes (beautiful, as well as impoverished), their schools, their churches, their stores, and were even able to talk with some of the locals.  It was amazing!  This was truly an experience that we will forever remember; in fact, our girls are still talking about it.

                                      

                                              That's our cruise ship in the background. 

During our tour, we stopped in one of the small villages.  Braxtyn spotted this dog that appeared to be homeless; it broke her heart. 

                                             This is the playground at the school in this village.

In Mexico, they paint the trunks of the trees white.  With no street lights, the white color provides a better, safer view of the trees at night.

This cute, little, old lady, sells bottled soda and water, from her house, to the tourists on this particular tour who visit her village.  With her permission, Pepe told us that we could walk through her house, and even take pictures, so we did. Braxtyn felt especially tall standing next to this cute lady.

Visiting this village was a humbling, heart-warming experience for all of us.  We were amazed at how happy these people are, even despite the fact that they seemingly have very little.  Pepe offered that most of the kids in the village have a few marbles, and maybe a ball, but that's about it.  The kids don't really have toys, and most have one, or maybe two, outfits that they rotate through.  It was a testimony to Dave and I, and especially our girls, that you don't have to have a lot to be happy.  Happiness is decided from within, and is seldom, really, dependent upon money or possessions.

This is the bathroom in her home.  She doesn't have a shower curtain.  After she showers, she sweeps the water down the drain.

This is the back of her home.  There are no back walls.  Everything is open to the outside.  I wasn't able to get a good picture of her bedroom, but she has a screen door at its entrance to keep the bugs out.

This is her backyard area.

This is her mother.  She is 94 years old, and also lives in this house. 

This is the school......

.....and this is the church.

While on the tour, we passed an LDS Church building, which was surrounded by a fence.

Being that our vacation to Mexico was during their rainy season, it was very green and lush, but quite muddy in places.  

The tequila factory.

They make the tequila from an agave plant.

The workers in this photo are from PVDOT.  They were fixing the road.  These workers were using shovels, and empty, used milk jugs (with the tops cut off) to remove water from the many holes in the road.  When the milk jugs filled up, they would pour the water into a wheelbarrow, and then haul it off to be dumped in the surrounding bushes.  The process didn't appear especially efficient, but oh well.....

Throughout our tour, we were frequently reminded that a few of the rules of the road in Mexico are quite different than what we have here in the United States.  In the photo below, notice the ambulance behind us, which can be seen through our side view mirror.  What is not easily noticeable, however, is the fact that the ambulance has its emergency lights flashing.  Also difficult to see, is that the two men in the front seat of the ambulance, dressed in something other than traditional EMT-type attire, appear to just be "hangin' out", slouched over to one side with a drink in their hands, obviously in no apparent hurry to get their patient to the hospital.  Well, to add to the bazaar story, we were in the last of the four Jeeps in our convoy.  Pepe, who was in the lead Jeep, stopped in the middle of the 2-lane road, got out of his Jeep, and proceeded to meander back to each of the other 3 Jeeps.  Apparently, stopping in the middle of the road, with a line of cars behind you (one of which is an ambulance, lights flashing, on its way to the hospital with a patient), is no big deal!!!  What????  Really????  I expected Pepe to have some big, imposing announcement by the time he strolled back to our Jeep, but that was definitely not the case.  Pepe was just concerned that the sun might be too hot, and wondered if we wanted the Jeep's canvas top pulled up over our heads for added protection!  Oh, and he also wanted to let us know that we were now heading toward the beach, and that we would be eating lunch there.  Unbelievable!!!!!  I just hope that the patient in the ambulance didn't die while waiting for Pepe to get the convoy of cars moving again.  I would have at least thought that the ambulance driver would be upset, but that wasn't the case either.  He was absolutely fine; calm and collected, windows down, just listening to his music, in no hurry whatsoever.

On our last vacation to Puerto Vallarta, as we were getting back on the ship, we saw this artist painting pictures on ceramic tiles, with his fingers.  We didn't end up buying a picture for ourself, but instead, bought one for my parents, who were so kind to watch our girls while we were on vacation.  I was always sad that we didn't buy one as a keepsake for our family, so I told Dave that if we saw the artist again, that I definitely wanted to get a custom painting from him.  Needless to say, I was so happy when we got back from our Jeep tour, and he was there!  We told him what we wanted in the painting, and he went to work.  It took him about 15 minutes to paint this tile, which resembled our cruise ship at sea, in the ocean surrounding Mexico.  The tile turned out amazing!  It was fascinating to watch him create such a work of art.
 

These were some of our views of Puerto Vallarta later that afternoon/evening, aboard our ship, which was still docked at the port.