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.

Jungle and Crocs in Costa Rica and Coffee in Guatemala

We left Panama in the evening with a day at sea before our next port, Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. We were now in the Pacific Ocean and were greeted by some big 21' waves. Most of the rough seas were at night and by noon the next day the waves were "only" 11'. Even with the big waves the Encore was very stable, unlike smaller ships we have been on during heavy weather. 

Most of the ports where we stopped were primarily for commercial tankers, bulk carriers or container ships. This balk carrier in Puerto Caldera was being loaded when we arrived and had departed by the time we left in the afternoon.These short visits to countries do not give you a real feel for the country, but we could tell Costa Rica was more prosperous than many others we have visited. They have the second highest standard of living in Central America, in part because they do not have a military.    

In Costa Rica we went on the aerial tram, river cruise and lunch excursion. We boarded a bus at the dock for the ride to the jungle. There we got on a tram like this one and went up the mountain through the jungle. 

While we saw plenty of trees we were disappointed with how many animals we saw, not one monkey or snake.

We did see this lizard, but have no idea what kind it is. 

The only bird we saw was this toucan. 

This colorful insect accompanied us on our tram.

It is a rain forest, but it was not the rainy season so even the waterfalls were not that impressive.

After the tram ride our guide took us into the botanical garden where they grew many tropical food producing plants. This is a cashew tree. Who knew? Only one small nut at a time. Obviously, that is why they are so expensive.

A pineapple plant. We had a taste of pineapple and it was fantastic. It was so sweet it was like eating candy.

After that we entered the butterfly garden. They were so active it was difficult to get a good picture. This pic is of two blue morphos. When their wings are closed, like the top one, they aren't that impressive, but when they open up and fly they are beautiful. For lunch we had traditionally prepared chicken, beef, rice and beans that were all very good. I also got to try a local beer Portena Cerveza Artesanal IPA that was surprisingly good.

We were back on the bus heading to the river cruise part of the tour. If you want really fresh fish, it is available on the side of the road. We had seen several small fishing boats when we were coming into the port.

The cruise was aboard one of the Jungle Crocodile Safari boats.

In no time at all we saw crocodiles. We have seen many alligators but never crocodiles. These two were ready to preform for us.

Open wide. You can see why you would not want to encounter one in the water. With all the gators we have seen, seeing one with its mouth open is rare.

This one got really close to the boat, so the guide could get an up close picture. Most of the guests let him take a picture for them.

I thought the crocs we saw were just putting on a show, but this one on the other shore was also showing its teeth.

Even with all the crocs in the river, these cattle were relaxing right by the water.

We did see a lot of birds on the cruise, but most were far away. Here is an osprey looking for a meal.

A pair of Frigate birds. With only a couple exceptions most of the birds we saw we also see in Florida.

The cruise took us to the month of the river on the Pacific Ocean.

When we turned around to head back to the dock clouds were starting to cover the mountains. The tide was also going out and these boats that were tied up on shore were now grounded. 

While the tram ride was disappointing overall the excursion was very worthwhile. 

Day 9 was a relaxing day at sea.

The next morning we arrived in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. This port is the the largest on the Pacific Ocean in Guatemala. There were many ships anchored off shore and we were docked near the LPG terminal. 

Our excursion here was to a coffee plantation. It is in the mountains where most people live to escape the humid weather along the coast. This is one of the countries 37 volcanoes. Four of these are active and eruptions are not unusual. The bus ride into the mountains was very neat.

The coffee plantation, Finca Columbia in addition to growing coffee has a club with a restaurant, and swimming pool. 

The land was bought by our guides grandfather in 1925. The family first grew vegetables and later turned to growing coffee.

A banana tree. Unlike Columbia, where coffee is grown in the open, in Guatemala they plant the coffee where it is shaded by taller trees. 

I did not know what to expect and was surprised how spindly the coffee plants were.

It is getting near the end of the growing season so they will soon be picking all the beans whether they are ripe or not.  

Like all plants they age out and new plants must be planted.

Coffee beans on the trees.

The red ones are not yet ripe.

After they are picked, they spread the unripened ones out on the concrete until they dry.

These are not yet dry.

Before and after the beans are dried.

They sell most of the beans they grow to other coffee companies. They do roast some to use in their restaurant and sell in their store.

A bird of paradise.

After the tour we had a coffee party. The woman at the end of the table said it was the first time she had ever tasted coffee. Wow, we never go one day without our morning java.

Feeling better after our caffeine fix. It was interesting learning about how coffee is grown and processed, but the coffee was not bold enough for my taste.

Not sure what this says about the safety of the area. There were two guards with guns at the entrance of the plantation. 

Public transportation in Guatemala, the chicken bus. They are locally known as camionetas and are the cheapest way to travel. The name comes from the fact that it is not uncommon for passengers to bring animals aboard after their shopping trips.

The flow from the 2018 eruption of 12,346' Fuego Volcano (Volcano of Fire). The eruption happen so fast that many people could not evacuate in time. It killed over 200 people and left 260 missing. It was the deadliest since 1929.

 

The eruption caused a five mile lava, lahars and pyroclastic, flow and put a dense plume of smoke and ash high into the air. Some concrete buildings survived but any wood was burned and in some cases buried.

Here is a link to a video about that disaster. 

At the dock there was a market with local artisans. Nanc bought a woven table runner. 

We enjoyed our visits to Costa Rica and Guatemala, but, while the tours are very informative, they only give you a glimpse of what the countries are really like.

Our next two ports are in Mexico.