Puerto Vallarta and Cabo

When we left Costa Rica we had two days at sea to enjoy the ship activities and amenities. There is always plenty to keep you busy. I will explore the at sea days in a later post.

When we docked in Puerto Vallarta we were right on the main shoreline road of the city. The crew loves this port because, as you can see, Wally World and Sam's are very close by so they can stock up on their personal needs. I thought we were going to be attacked by pirates.

Whale and Neptune sculpture celebrates Vallarta's link to the Pacific Ocean.

We took the Discover Puerto Vallarta excursion to get a quick overview of the town. Our first stop was El Malecon, the beach side promenade.We walked while our guide explained the history of the city changing from a small fishing village and mining town to a go to resort destination. 

El Malecon is lined with several contemporary sculptures. The Boy on the Seahorse was the first sculpture erected in 1976 and is now the symbol of the city.

Men in native dress dancing along the promenade.

Rain was erected in 2020. It symbolize openness, happiness, fulfillment and the welcoming of locals and strangers with open arms.

Triton and the Nereid. Triton was the son of Poseidon and Nereids were sea nymphs who helped sailors during storms in Greek mythology. 

This mural painted in 1981 in city hall shows the village as it was in 1851.

The Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe church by the town square. 

As with most churches of the period, the altar is very ornate.

A caballero keeping an eye on the street.

When in Mexico you must try the tequila.

Many options were available. I don't know about the one with the scorpion in the bottle. 

Nanc enjoying a surprisingly large margarita. She drank the whole thing!

In this little square all the structures are mosaics. The colors were fantastic.

This one was made for us, "True Love is You Love".

A street mural celebrates the people and animals of the land and sea.

The popularity of Puerto Vallarta as a go to vacation destination came after the filming of Night of the Iguana in 1963. Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr and Sue Lyon starred in the movie. Elizabeth Taylor was with Burton and they loved the place so much they bought a house (one of these pictured above).

We enjoyed our time in Vallarta and put it on our will return list. There are resorts there that are part of our vacation club.

When we awoke the next morning we were in Cabo San Lucas. This "little" pleasure craft was anchored by the Encore. Cabo is a playground for the rich and famous.

Cabo was the only port where we had to take a tender to land. A few of the boats were small enough to get into the harbor.

We have been here before but we still decided to take the Baja Highlights excursion. Our first stop was a resort with a view of our ship and Lands End.

When we were here nearly 20 years ago most of the development was in Cabo San Lucas with many resorts, bars and nightlife. Today almost the entire 20 mile stretch to San Jose del Cabo is developed with condos, stores and golf courses.

San Jose del Cabo is a more traditional Mexican village with the church on the town square. It is 250 years older than Cabo San Lucas. 

It was early Saturday morning so the town square was very quiet, with most of the visitors being from our ship. 

Of course the shops were open and some even had very nice Mexican made items rather than the Chinese junk you find in most places. 

Our last stop was The Glass Factory. They make all kinds of glass items using glass bottles they collect for local bars and restaurants. I'm sure there is an infinite supply.

Ceiling over the factory.

One of several stained glass windows.

They did a demonstration of glass blowing, making a glass animal. They make goblets, wine glasses and a variety of animals.

The finished product was a turtle wearing a sombrero and drinking tequila. It only took about ten minutes. The Glass Factory is an interesting stop if you are in Cabo.

As we were leaving we got to the arch at Lands End. This is the southern most point of the Baja.

As we rounded Lands End we saw whales. There were at least three that were breaching. We took many pictures and Nanc got this one of a humpback all the way out of the water, Very cool!!! We watched them for quite a while. Those boats got very close and chased them, something we don't like to see. 

We enjoyed our stops in Mexico and are now heading to Los Angeles and San Francisco.