Vallarta Verde (Green Vallarta) Ecologico was a total success. The entire afternoon at Cuiza Restaurant Bar was filled with music, drinks and people from everywhere. Rastas, Hippies, Grandpas & Grandmas, everybody with some rhythm in their blood was present.

UPDATE

(Video Source: Vallarta Verde)

In case you missed it, we have some pictures especially for you and for our german friend Ajim and his drummer girlfriend that did an incredible job on stage, not to mention: for free and for the good of keeping Puerto Vallarta green. Everybody that performed today/tonight was outstanding and drew big happy smiles on everybody, not to mention the people who danced through every song.

La Cuiza is a neat hidden place on Rio Cuale but not too difficult to find and only one minute walk from the new Malecon Bridge that connects El Centro with Olas Altas. Just follow the stairs that go down right in the middle of the bridge towards Oscars and River’s Café.

To help support the Vallarta Verde Ecologists, you can buy t-shirts, hats, drinks at their events, so please don’t think twice about it, buy something, knowing you are supporting the ones that want to keep Vallarta as what it became famous for (The green fishing port) and not the gray, cement Acapulco 2 City.

In the news: Fieste Ecologica – VALLARTA VERDE 

Barbara Sands

Puerto Vallarta - Vallarta Verde, a group of young and ardent ecology-minded activists has launched a new initiative to foster “green” thinking among Vallartenses.

Spearheading the new group’s efforts are Greta Fuentes, Tatiana Meneses, Carole Oury and Mercedes Sanchez among others. Joe “King” Carrasco of “Nuevo Wavo” musical fame, a transplanted Texan, is lending his group to bring Tex-Mex and reggae flavor to the day and promises to round up a bevy of local musical talents to keep the island moving to a green beat till evening.

The keynote theme of the day is information and ecological awareness. All it takes, sometimes, is a bit of chit-chat among friends and neighbors to uncover common concerns and to determine ways to address them.

Vallarta Verde aptly conveys the aims of the newly established group to build public interest in exploring all ways to preserve what very few green spaces we have remaining to us.

Major among these spaces is the eastern end of the Isla Rio Cuale whose development into yet another commercial corridor has been envisioned by the last two municipal administrations. The Isla is still a micro-nature preserve for iguanas, squirrels and an amazing numbers of birds.

But, more importantly, it’s a cool respite on a hot day; it’s a shady outdoor classroom for kids during the summer months and remains a small verdant microcosm in the Cuale. What an idea it would be to label those many varieties of trees; to have a plant and animal map. John Huston would find himself less lonely in his director’s chair.

The Isla effort will go hand-in-hand with public education through the press, in schools and in city-wide presentations to encourage ecologically sound waste management along with water and other natural resource conservation.

Development has moved so quickly in Vallarta that concrete bastions rise before our eyes without warning. Development certainly cannot be confused with progress and isn’t always the best answer for the municipality.

We can’t forget what put Vallarta on the map besides the torrid Taylor-Burton affair. It is its very Mexican-ness, its leisurely demeanor, its tile roofs and feeling of a city with proud roots, and those it has in abundance.

All those who have grown weary championing the preservation of our beautiful city’s native charms can only applaud these new faces picking up the challenge and bringing in new troops to carry on the battle to preserve our beautiful surroundings, our trees and the city’s heritage.

From the southbound bridge, Cuiza is located down the stairs and toward the ocean. From the Malecon, access is down the stairs and straight ahead to Cuiza on the right past Oscar’s and River Café.

For more information or to offer assistance, contact Greta Fuentes: zuckyinc(at)yahoo.com; Mercedes Sanchez: aisforartist1 (at) hotmail.com; Carole Oury: carolepvr(at)yahoo.com; Tatiana Meyeses: llomera(at)gmail.com or Barbara Sands: barbsands007(at)yahoo.com. Musicians or singers (dancers?) DJs or MCs who want to be part of the action can contact Joe King at joeking(at)joeking.com. Please! drummers need not apply.

Aurelio Lopez Rocha, tourismus secretär von Jalisco, México meinte dass auch wenn es keine Garantie gibt dass es eine Verbindung zwischen Berlin und Guadalajara geben wird (was er auch in seiner Vorstellung in Deutschland erwähnt hatte), gibt es eine positive Initiative von der Firma die momentan die Genehmigungen der Regierung bearbeitet, da sie contact mit dem Secretariat fuer Tourismus aufgenommen hat und ihre volle Unterstützung bekommen wird.

„Es fehlen Flugzeuge. Schade dass es nicht genug Flugzeuge gibt, denn jeder ist am fliegen. Ganz besonders die Transcontinentalen Flugzeuge sind limitiert. Zuerst werden wir ein paar Sachen klären müssen, bevor man mehr sagen kann. Was ich sicher sagen kann, ist dass wir unser bestes tun um mehr Verbindungen zu schaffen.“

Er sagte auch dass es notwendig wäre ein treffen mit den Flug-Routen Coordinatoren über Puerto Vallarta’s Flughafen zu haben, so wie es in Guadalajara statt fand um Interessen und Ideen von Teilnehmern und der Tourismus Industrie auf den Tisch zu legen und Atraktivitäten schaffen damit die Flüge nichtnur ankommen aber auch bleiben.

ENG:

Efforts to bring German tourism to Vallarta
Aurelio Lopez Rocha, the secretary of tourism in Jalisco said that even if there is no guarantee that there will be a Berlin-Guadalajara connection (which he proposed and presented recently in Germany), there exists a positive initiative from the company that is processing permits for the government and has already established contact with the secretary of tourism in Mexico, which expressed its full support.

“There aren’t enough airplanes and especially transcontinental airplanes, since every airplane is being used to its full capacity. We have to solve a few issues before we can draw any specific dates, but what I can say for sure is that the effort on our part is there and will continue to try to increase connectivity.”

Now that the meeting of the committee for airport routes was realized in Guadalajara, the next step is to have the first meeting at the international airport “Gustavo Diaz Ordaz” in Puerto Vallarta to align the interests of all beneficiaries and the tourism industry. This is fundamental to get the incentives and create the attractions so that the flights do not only get here, but are also sustained.

ESP:

Se hará gran esfuerzo para traer el turismo alemán
El secretario de turismo de Jalisco, Aurelio López Rocha señaló que si bien no está garantizado que se realice una conexión vía aérea Berlín-Guadalajara (que se mencionó en su reciente presencia en la feria turística en Alemania), existe una positiva iniciativa de la empresa que ya tramita los permisos ante el gobierno teutón y ya estableció el contacto con la Secretaría de Turismo federal, la cual expresó su apoyo.

“También hay falta de aviones, por desgracia hoy el mundo está viajando y volando tanto que hacen falta aviones, principalmente los transcontinentales. Tenemos que despejar estas tres cosas, pero sin poder predecir una fecha en que se pueda concretar, lo que sí puedo decir es que el esfuerzo de nuestra parte va a ser continuo para incrementar la conectividad”.

Refirió que es necesario realizar la primera reunión del comité de rutas en el aeropuerto internacional “Gustavo Díaz Ordaz” de Puerto Vallarta, después de que ya se llevó a cabo la primera en la terminal de Guadalajara, a fin de alinear los intereses y visión de todos los beneficiarios y de toda la industria turística porque es fundamental para que tengamos los incentivos y crear los atractivos para que los vuelos no sólo lleguen, sino se sostengan.

Bay of Banderas

In the above picture you can see three boats heading (at full speed) towards a couple of whales.

These pictures where taken on March 29. According to vallartawhales.com the season ends on March 24. The date changes, depending on the source, like on puertovallartatours.net it says the season is until March 31st.

 No matter if the season is on or not, it is not ok for boats to turn towards whales, especially on full speed.

We were sitting on the beach and had noticed the whales before these boats showed up. It looked like two whales playing together and constantly jumping out of the water. Of course they disappeared as soon as the boats in the above picture sped towards them… pretty sad.

In the next picture you can see how close the 3 boats are from the whales. And then people ask themselves how it’s possible that every year there are accidents with whales.

 This combined with some news talking about Vallarta being one of Mexico’s most polluted beaches.. is.. sad.

Please inform yourself well enough to know if you are participating in a real eco friendly tour/ride/adventure or if you are contributing to endangering our whales from being hit or maybe even never come back home to the Bay of Banderas.

Still Vallarta

1. Find some kids on the beach that look like they could need some fun

 2. Choose a game, set the rules and show the prize (ie: 20 pesos)

3. Let them play and if you want PARTICIPATE!

4. Enjoy the beach, the sand, and the sunset.

Enjoy

(fun)

Vallarta Adventures has added a promotional code field to their online reservations!

If you book online (vallarta-adventures.com), you will get a 10% online discount on any adventure you choose, so the promotional code will probably go over the 10% already given online, and save you some extra money. Now it’s up to you to find these promotional codes online!

Cabo Adventures also has this new feature on their tour reservation system, so be sure to look out for any discount codes out there!

Besides Vallarta and Cabo Adventures, there are also many other ways to save at least 10% on food, lodging and activities. For example the yellow and white pages that are free in many places, have coupons with all kinds of discounts and promotions. Look out for any free magazines, they usually come with coupons too! And if you really have just too much time on your clock, you can get $300 usd if you qualify to share your time by sitting through a horrendous time share experience which can be worth the $300 usd or more some times!

$50 dollars or $50 pesos?

Another common thing where you can save money is to watch and talk correctly whenever you buy something. It has happened several times on my visit to Puerto Vallarta that I share a taxi with other tourists and they don’t ask how much the trip will cost until they arrive! THEN when the taxi driver answers $70, the tourist ask DOLLARS? And now guess what the taxi driver will answer? “YES”. You just payed 10 times what a normal taxi trip would cost because you tempted the taxi driver by asking a ridiculous question like “Dollars or Pesos”?

The majority of people that work down here in Vallarta make no more money than $5 usd a day! Some are lucky to get a lot of tips or to own a business, but when you dare to ask “dollars or pesos” they feel that you probably just have too much money if your logic can’t tell how much a product is or should be worth, so they will happily look into your eyes with a big fat smile and reply: “Dollars”.

Remember: Taxis, shouldn’t be more than $5 to $12 usd within the whole Puerto Vallarta area, which is from the airport down to Conchas Chinas, passing through Olas Altas (Los Muertos Beach)

Also, remember to ask how much $$$ it will cost you to go from A to B before you take a cab!

When prices are shown with a simple $ sign, many people get confused and don’t know if it’s dollars or pesos, so they ask. We encourage you to ask, but remember that asking might be a motivation for locals to cheat on you and take advantage. The best would be to just simply assume it is in pesos, since you ARE in México and there are more Mexicans down here in pv than tourists…

Anyways… good luck on saving some pesos here and there!!!

 Today January 30, Consejo de Promoción Turistica (CPTM www.cptm.com.mx ) was filming a promotional video on the malecón where the sculpture of the Alien Ladder is located.

The weather was playing games and decided to interrupt the filming by sending a few clouds in every here and then.

It was very windy too, so the model would have to adjust her hair all the time while the crew was telling her to leave her hair play with the wind

As if the crowds with cameras and video cams weren’t enough, people would take pictures from their balcony and cars!

While waiting for the weather to play the same game so the filming could continue, the model would pose a little for the crowds.

We don’t know how well the filming went, but we hope everything went ok and that we’ll see some great promotional videos of Vallarta soon!

Other:

The Gauntlet III
Get Out! Celebrities filming Vallarta Adventures
Puerto Vallarta Film Festival

THE father of a 19-year-old Selkirk man who died in mysterious circumstances in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico last week said he’s not optimistic that information will emerge about the nature of his son’s fatality at the popular vacation destination.

Josh Iwasiuk was a guest at the Getaway Resort in the western Mexican city when he allegedly fell from the 10th floor of a resort building, according to reports given by hotel staff to Iwasiuk’s older brother, who was also in Mexico.

A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada said Tuesday they’re liaising with Mexican authorities about the investigation into the young man’s death. However, Jerry Iwasiuk expressed doubt it will explain the tragedy, adding the information released to the family has been extremely limited so far.

“We made some phone calls and I’ve been talking to (Foreign Affairs Canada) but you don’t get much out of them. All they say is the investigation is ongoing. But you don’t get any answers,” said the grieving father.

Twenty-eight-year-old Jerry Iwasiuk Jr. — Josh’s older brother — was also a guest at the resort and had last seen his sibling Saturday afternoon when the two were drinking at a hotel bar. Iwasiuk Jr. said that was before a hotel security member took him to a room he was sharing with his brother, where he fell asleep, intoxicated.

The next morning, after Iwasiuk Jr. awoke, hotel staff told him his brother was found dead on the ground 10 floors beneath their room’s balcony. It’s a claim Iwasiuk Jr. said he found dubious due to the chest-level height of the resort’s balconies and information relayed to the family by the Canadian consulate in Mexico that Josh’s only serious injury was trauma to the back of his head.

“I don’t think he fell by accident. The height of the railing on the balcony? I don’t see it. If somebody stumbled into it, you’d fall down, but you’d have to jump to get over it,” Iwasiuk Jr. told the Free Press Monday.

Iwasiuk Sr. said his son’s body will arrive back in Canada this Sunday and the family is considering having an independent autopsy done. A funeral is planned for next Tuesday.

“All the information we’ve got is very vague,” said Iwasiuk Sr. “I’m hoping his body comes back the way we said we want it to come back, and that it isn’t cremated.”

Christiane Theberge, president of the Association of Canadian Travel Agents, said the Iwasiuk family should be able to pressure the Canadian government into pressing the investigation forward on foreign soil. She said the country receives almost one million Canadian tourists per year, making it Canadians’ second-most popular foreign destination.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

Need a Bathroom?

At Los Mangos Library (Near Versalles and Soriana) 
26 and 27 of January
from 9:00 to 16:00

Entrance fee $20 pesos

Vallarta is a love place. If you can’t find your love here, I don’t think you’ll find it anywhere else. Love Dramas have taken place here since the Night of the Iguana was filmed here and now… love repeats.

Here’s what we found on mtvrealityworld.com
— 

“I want to thank MTV for introducing me to Jillian,” Frank said playfully in an interview with MTV Reality World (that’s us!).

The pair hit it off right away as filming for The Gauntlet III began in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. “And it’s not like it was slim pickings,” Jillian added, referring to the group of attractive male castmembers. “Frank made me laugh. With all of the stress, it was nice to have comic relief.”

But Frank wasn’t the only one who had his sights on Jillian. “On the first day, one of the other girls went up to Jillian and said that Brad thought she was cute and was interested in her,” he recalled. “It’s basically like high school crammed into thirty days.”

MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenges have been booze and drama-filled for as long as they’ve been on the air, fueling hook-ups and brawls between castmembers. But this season is already being billed as one of the craziest and most eventful yet.

Read the rest of this entry »

Click play to listen to the live Vallarta Radio Stream 

Update:
To suggest a song, contact us at vallartablog@hotmail.com
or add us to msn

Waiting at the Marina

Our adventure was about to start with our arrival at the Marina. There wasn’t any cruise ships in sight which made the Marina look a little bit smaller than usual when it’s filled with two or three enormous cruise ships.

There is some pleasant entertainment after you check into the waiting area from where you are then led to the Vallarta Adventures boats. There is a mime/clown for some healthy laughs and guacamayas (parrots) to take pictures of.

Trip to Caletas

The boats can carry between 50 and 100 passengers and we were lucky to get the smaller boat with less than 50 passengers which makes it more comfortable to walk, see and enjoy the boat.

Our trip started at 6:30pm, right in time for the sunset and a beautiful photographic ocean-view.

On the way, there is a free bar and party music entertaining the passengers.

The ambient is happy and everywhere you look you see people talking, dancing and laughing together with the willing boat crew.

Arrival at Las Caletas

20 minutes before arrival at Las Caletas, there is a funny show starring the crew in a “almost” real strip dance. The sun is completely gone and left is only the black sky with little bright dots that become clearer with every wave we approach to the beach. As we get closer to the beach the torches seem brighter, illuminating every path at Las Caletas.

We go pair wise along the paths passing a few scenarios where we can see actors dressed as Indians performing mystical ceremonies and rituals.

The sound of drums and other instruments gets louder the deeper we walk into the jungle. It is amazing how wonderfully nice structured and decorated the place is.

The Scenery could be described as if it was a mixture of an untouched natural world with the architectural work of mankind.

Also impressive is that almost everything besides the food and people is made out of stones, ropes and wood. After a few meters walk, the line of visitors is split in two, one to go to the buffet and the other to go view the show.

We managed to sneak into the buffet line, since we wouldn’t want to see the show with an empty tummy.

Buffet

Everybody gets a unique table spot and there are special ones extra for couples located along the beach. Some are only a few inches distance from the water.

Drinks are served immediately from waiters keeping an eye on our needs and wishes. The buffet is nicely illuminated with candles that are sitting aside every food plate. It is a little hard to recognize everything on the buffet but don’t worry, there is no way to choose wrong because all the food is deliciously prepared by excellent gourmet cooks.

These are the moments you wish for more space in your tummy and lets you turn over in your bed, thinking about every single plate of food you didn’t try. One of Vallarta Adventures’ staff went through every table asking for feedback and making sure everything was fine.

You can see people that have fallen under the magical Caletas spell chitchatting with the crew and other staff members about how wonderful Caletas is. After a few glasses of wine and a full plate of exquisite food, we were advised to go to the show located deeper inside the area.

Show

The show starts by seating everybody on benches up a hill like if it was a theatre play just before all lights go of and the crowd is surrounded by total darkness. Now we become aware of the benefits of an open-air show.

The stars are as bright as stars can get and the hidden speakers start playing drum rhythms. Then color starts appearing on stage. First red, then green and violet playing synchronized with the actors and music.

Fire, smoke and drum beats stimulate all our senses, pushing our heart beat faster. The show takes about 20-30 minutes being perfect timing for our bum sitting on the wooden benches. After the show finalizes with an impressive act, everybody is getting ready to go back to the boat and head back to Puerto Vallarta.

Way Home

On our way to the boat you can hear people say things like “I want to stay here”, and staff people replying “Stay here, we’ll come and pick you up tomorrow”.

Everybody is back on the boat and believe it or not but with all the different kinds of alcoholic drinks we had, the boat didn’t seem to move more at all.

Here and there you can see people getting very tired, embracing each other or leaning on some body’s shoulder for a nap.

There isn’t as much party on the way back, which is good because it let’s you enjoy the rest of the night and some people can continue fantasizing about all that food and drinks they didn’t try.

By the way, if you are going to drink more than one cup of any alcoholic drink on the boat, you should stick to the beer. All our drinks were prepared and served in front of us at the bar, and you can see the rum is poured out of a Bacardi bottle, which we now know wasn’t Bacardi.

Just thinking about the different drinks we tried makes everything spin again and the truth is that we have never drank that little and gotten so drunk. 24 hours later our heads still hurt like hell, but it still was a five star experience that we would repeat any time (but only beers).

Last Words

Rhythms of the Night is a MUST SEE. There is no arguing, anybody coming to Vallarta with a good taste in food and scenery, will love this tour. We haven’t tried out many other tours offered by Vallarta Adventures, but we believe that this is probably the best one.

You won’t read about it in any English language papers or websites. It’s bad for business. Our English-language “news”papers cover the news that’s really important: what restaurants have opened, what events are happening this weekend. Pet picnic? check. Art walk? Check. Dead divers? Lo siento, no puedo escribir en ingles!

Uzueta Diving, a new company here in Puerto Vallarta took out a large group of divers for an advanced diving course, deep diving. There were 20 divers in groups of five and they were diving in the Devil’s Canyon, a spot at Los Arcos for beautiful wall diving. It drops to 6,500 feet and is like looking into outer space. They dropped anchor nearby (illegal in Los Arcos, btw, but everyone does it) and used a line to keep the divers together. Four divers got separated.

One diver was found and taken to the hyperbaric chamber for decompression sickness and three others were lost until their bodies were found (and photos posted in the local Spanish papers). It’s thought that they lost their line in the current and then began to feel the effects of nitrogen narcosis. Reports have them going anywhere from 150-250 feet down and most likely either suffering from oxygen toxicity or running out of air.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve gathered from reading the local Spanish papers and talking to some of the local divers. It’s very, very sad.

source: divebunny.org

Here is a link to the spanish speaking UNIVERSAL News writing about the incident.
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/464868.html

—

UPDATE:

Here some links to the issue:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/212062-3-missing-deep-dive-incident-mexico.html

On another issue in Cancun, Mexico:

Tourist missing after dive in Mexico

January 02, 2008
Authorities were searching yesterday for a Japanese tourist who went missing on Sunday when she was scuba diving off the Mexican resort island of Cozumel.

The Fine Dining Experience… just at Café des Artistes. Visit their Website here at www.cafedesartistes.com 

Vallarta is growing so fast, that the artistc scene grows with it and there can be found art just everywhere the eye reaches… even the sand is formed into beautiful sculptures, like this Pyramid and Iguana.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Send us your New Year Pictures or Videos in Vallarta and win a dinner for 2 plus a 15% discount on any Vallarta tour.

How about a Vallarta Christmas Adventure? If you are ready for some holiday adventure in Mexico, Vallarta Adventures offers all types of activities and tours.

Located at the Pacific side of Mexico, Puerto Vallarta has everything a vacation can ask for. Whale watching tours, swim with dolphins, Canopy, Americas Cup Sailing and beautiful beaches are just the tip of the mountain when it comes to the services offered by Vallarta Adventures.

If you are interested, you can visit their site at vallarta-adventures.com and choose a tour!

 Merry Christmas from Vallarta!

Puerto Vallarta, December 7 .- Two subjects armed with assault rifles AK-47, shot over 40 bullets at a business called Eclipzus, situated at the luxury division called Fluvial Vallarta, leaving three people injured.

One of the injured was an employee of the brewery Modelo identified as Samuel Castro Rojas of 35 years of age, who presented bullet wounds in the left leg and one on the other side.

The other injured persons were Victor Jerome Amado Cardenas and Jessica Sataray González, who were taken to different hospitals, which are heavily guarded on the in- and outside by police officers in order to secure the lives of every one of them, since it’s feared to happen again.

Expertise in the Office of Justice of this area collected about 40 bullet shells of different calibers at the scene, including 9 mm and AK –47 weapons, which were scattered over the interior and exterior of the shop selling curtains.

According to police reports, the shooting started around 1:45pm, when the assailants arrived on board a gray Jetta with tinted windows at the store with number 195, on avenue Río Amazonas in Fluvial Vallarta, two armed subjects stepped out of the vehicle and began firing against the woman and another subject that was having a conversation with the employee of the brewery.

Witnesses said that “it is rare that a business selling curtains, where normally only women go shopping and sometimes they might be accompanied by a man, but in this business there are almost only men going in and out, which is “very weird”. They also commented that the owners do own luxury vehicles such as Mercedes Benz and porting Corvette.

Since Jessica Sataray González is related to Fernando González Corona and the senator, Eva Contreras Sandoval, authorities do not dismiss any personal vengeance or drug trafficking relations.

Spanish Version—> Read the rest of this entry »

The harvest of watermelons has begun, and with it also of tomatoes and chiles habaneros, as reported by the Board of Health of Plants in Mezcales.

This season brings three different crop types: Corn, Watermelon and Beans. Also in less quantity there are tomatoes and chilies habaneros. Over 1500 hectares were sown with commercial corn, which will be harvested in April with another thousand of different corn.

January will be harvest for a lot of Beans, especially the Marcela variety and the azufrado and peruano beans.

Nevertheless the biggest harvest has and will be the watermelon, which has been sawn to 1500 hectares by 300 different producers. The estimate harvest this year will be around 5,000 tons of watermelons!

The biggest part (without seed) is then exported to the USA and the striped one is meant to stay in México, “since we Mexicans don’t mind the seeds”.

It will definitively be a great year for farmers, since the seasons have been perfect for the watermelon production. With 2 pesos a kilo, the producers will be more than covered and the buyers will also benefit from the lower watermelon price.

Spanish Version—>
Read the rest of this entry »

From 5th Dec to 9th Dec, 2007 

Featuring the very best independent films from North and Latin America, this popular Vallarta Festival is dedicated to fiction shorts, feature films and documentaries. As well as a packed programme of screenings, there are also plenty of other non-film events including a lavish gala dance and dinner, art expo, music concerts and culinary events.

The Vallarta festival this year will focus on environmental films, Latin American films, new images from Canada, American Independent cinema and Hollywood studio films.

A full programme is available from the Vallarta Film Festival website prior to the event:

VallartaFilmFestival.com
Puerto Vallarta Film Festival
Avenida Cocoteros 85 Sur
Segundo Piso, Local L-6
Paradise Plaza
Nuevo Vallarta
Nayarit
Nuevo Vallarta
CP 63735
Mexico
Tel +52 (322) 297 1605

– Additional Info –
(source: VirtualVallarta.com)

Vallarta Film Festival

Over thirty movies and the visit of Academy Award winning actress Helen Hunt will spotlight the Vallarta Film Festival fourth edition planned to be held December 5-9 at Cinemark.

A behind the scenes documentary about The Night of the Iguana film that includes John Huston commentaries, as well as a screening of the full-length feature “Then She Found Me” featuring Hunt, are part of the program.

Aside from her, there is a large list of special guests such as actor John Leguizamo, presenting “Life in the Time of Cholera,” and Mexican actors like Andres García, Sylvia Pasquel, Itati Cantoral, and Rodrigo Murray. Latin American movies, independent films and short films made by university students will also be participating. Among the new features this year is free screening of environmental films, the principal brand of this Film Festival since its inception.

Pictures / Photos of the
Botanical Gardens in Vallarta

Brand New Garden Paradise

Located between Puerto Vallarta and El Tuito, pasing Don Crispin’s Agaves factory.

Over 11,000 plants can be viewed at the Botanical Gardens in Vallarta

Countless Butterflies can be seen everywhere in the area.

Guacamayas are also all over the place

Only thing missing was a frog…

Palm Gardens, Rose Garden, Tree Fern Grotto, Orchid House, Jungle Trails, Tropical Bird Watching, Agave Gardens, displays of Mexican Wildflowers and the Carnivorous Plant Collection.

Police found a huge crocodile vacationing on the Playa Jitomates (north of Vallarta) and brought the animal south to find a new home for it. The Vallarta Zoo could be an option but officers said that before they bring it anywhere they would let it march on the streets today 20th of November where Mexico’s revolution is celebrated.

This IS a Croc!

The crocodile fills up the entire Police car not counting the tail!

It’s huge!!!

Tons of strength hidden in that tail!

Enjoy

Here some photos we took from Puerto Vallarta’s streets…

Need a trip to San Sebastian?

Growing, growing Vallarta.

Hungry?

Vallarta’s Trademark

Circus Time!

Enjoy

Home Depot has been advertising strongly in Vallarta.

Here some Pictures:

Enjoy

 
Liverpool 

Little by little, more stores are opening in the new mall, Galerias Vallarta. Hang Ten, Scappino, and The Athlete’s Foot opened this past week. The restaurant in Liverpool has a fantastic view overlooking the cruise ship terminal. We didn’t try the restaurant because we didn’t feel like waiting but the prices are fair and we will give it a try some other time.

Based on the amount of people in Liverpool it looks like the mall is going to be a huge hit. When I am in the mall I don’t feel as though I am in Vallarta. It feels more like I am in Guadalajara or Mexico City.

Galerias Vallarta

After nearly a year’s wait, Galerias Vallarta and its anchor store Liverpool have opened for business. Vallarta now has an upscale shopping center that will rival any shopping center in Mexico. Shops that are currently open are: Liverpool, an upscale department store, United Colors of Benetton, and the handbag store Tous. The remaining 70 plus stores are scheduled to open over the next two months just in time for the holiday season.

Text from: VallartaBlog.com

—— Below the Fold ——

Do they hide something? If yes, what is it?

We shot a picture of this security guy taking a nap right in the entrance of Galerias Vallarta Parking Entrance. Just after that, another guy standing 50 meters from him, tried to wake him up by yelling something at him, then while we were passing by and taking pictures, he woke up and started walking towards us. He said that we could not take pictures of the building or anything on their territory.

WHAT!? Yes, we had to leave with our tail between our legs in the hope that maybe another day when they aren’t so aggressive we can go and shoot some nicer pictures.

Anyways, here are the pictures and if you have any idea WHY it isn’t allowed to take pictures… PLEASE comment!

Naping

Waking up!

Censoring from Security of Galerias Vallarta / Liverpool

The low season is over and anywhere you look now there are white tourists getting ready to enjoy the sun and water that this little paradise has to offer. The beach vendors have multiplied faster than rabbits and the atmosphere has changed from a tranquil town to a party nightlife city.

Nevertheless there are still enough spots where to go and escape the crowds. We found a nice spot to relax and enjoy the sun nearby some rocks that go into the ocean from the hotels. If you already know what those rocks really are, good for you and if you don’t, just be advised that there are “better” places to go for a swim than here.

Lets get to the pictures…

That’s it for today… We hope you enjoyed

The International Gourmet Festival celebrates 13 years this November!

From the 8th to the 18th, twenty-four of Vallarta’s most prestigious restaurants and hotels will open their kitchens to renowned chefs from all over the world. With select dishes that contain every kind of cultural influence, this event most definitely will be on the top of every foodies list of things to look forward to here in Vallarta, I know I sure am!

With delectable dishes to tantalize your taste buds, one thing is for sure; the guest chefs have a passion for food and they aren’t the only ones!

 Organizers of the International Gourmet festival put a tremendous amount of time and energy into the event, making sure that it expands and progresses each and every year. This year a main focus will not only be the quality of ingredients but also the freshness, allowing every dish to be composed with the utmost care and served with grand detail!

For those of you who have experienced Gourmet festival Vallarta before, not to worry; the events calendar remains the same. To launch the week off there will be a cocktail hour introduction of the visiting chefs, a sensational Sunday brunch complimented with authentic mariachi music and the grand finale event including a majestic fireworks display.

The main events for the week include learning about wine pairing, testing out new wines and tequilas and experiencing all the delicacies the chefs have to offer at the participating restaurants and hotels. Each restaurant and hotel will feature a different chef, making for a full week of extravagant eats to arouse, excite and satisfy all the senses!

International Gourmet Festival Vallarta 2007 will be another unforgettable experience of culture, class and most importantly the finest food you may ever indulge in. So, book the week in your calendars now so you won’t be sorry you missed it!

For a full list of participating hotels and restaurants and more information on the event, contact:  info@festivalgourmet.com
Ph. + 52 (322) 225 0109

The F1 Roadshow was presented in front of over 200 thousand spectators, organized by Giancarlo Fisichella and Nelson Piquet Jr. After 15 years without F1, they rolled once again on the streets of the capital city of Mexico. The event was performed this weekend 13th and 14th of October on the Reforma Street.

In only 12 minutes the Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and the Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr drove the F1 vehicles in front of more than 200 thousand spectators.

The scene was packed with people and most of them could only get a peak of what was going on. Improvising with chairs, boxes, bikes and trees, some lucky ones were able to oversee the crowds and enjoy the event.

Piquet Jr drove the first car at 1:50pm with a deafening sound coming from the machine that cruised around the Reforma Avenue of 2km length, inbetween the Statue of Diana the Hunter and the Palma Glorieta.

With his Renault helmet and suit, the southamerican drove around the street saluting the spectators that where waiting with patience for the event since 8:00 am

After Piquet Jr. it was Giancarlo Fisichella’s turn to drive his car on the capital’s main Avenue with hydraulic asphalt like the one used by Big Racings in F1. Just before the end of his drive, he burned some wheel in a great maneuver, leaving black prints in circles on the Reforma Street under the Angel of Independence which resulted in loud applause by the fanatics.

When the rounds were over, both drivers walked along the Avenue to thank and wave the applauds of the Mexican spectators that have been waiting for a date since F1 Gran Premio in 1992 in the Autodromo Hermano Rodriguez.

To finalize the event, the Mexican driver Mario Dominguez drove a last round in a convertible carrying the Mexican Flag.

By Robert Perea

For most visitors, a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico means days on the beach, and nights club-hopping.

Not so for the Carson High School boys and girls soccer teams. For them, it was a low stress way to prepare for the demanding Sierra League season.

Both teams went 3-0 in a tournament hosted by Colegio Americano, with the boys team winning the championship and the girls losing the final match, both on penalty kicks, after a torrential downpour forced the cancellation of the championship matches.

As the Sierra League favorites, the trip gave the Senator girls team a chance to work out some kinks against good competition in a relaxed atmosphere.

“It was more of a friendly thing for us,” said coach Randy Roser. “It helped us quite a bit. We didn’t feel pressure like we would playing league games.”

Roser said the tournament format allowed the teams to work on things that needed improvement.

“When you play in tournaments, what you see you’re weak on, you can work on in the next game,” he said.

Off the field, the teams took a three-hour cruise around the port on their second night of the trip, and the third night they attended a pool party and banquet.

“It was a great experience,” said Roser. “Most of the kids learned more Spanish than in four years of school.”

International partnership

The trip was part of a partnership

between the Carson City School District and the Colegio Americano. Next year the Colegio Americano will send a team to Carson City, while Carson will return the trip again in 2009, and they will rotate after that.

“From our perspective, our hope is if you play soccer at Carson, at least once you will play internationally in Puerto Vallarta,” said Roser.

Unfortunately, the Senator girls didn’t get much down time after returning from the trip on Sept. 13. They opened Sierra League play two days later with a 3-1 loss to South Tahoe.

Carson rebounded to beat North Tahoe, Wooster and Hug, and despite the loss to the Lakers, look ready to stand up to their role as Sierra League favorites.

The Senators have won the Sierra League in three of the last four years, and feature a deep and talented, yet still young, squad.

“We’re very strong,” Roser said. “We have 20 players and we’re 20 deep. Everyone is a pretty good player. They’re very fast, and we move the ball well.”

Returning talent

The Senators return six seniors — Kristin Rush, Becca Kane, Belle Fleming, Brandy Cantley, Amanda Osborne and Kayla Sanchez — who have been on the varsity team for three years. They’re joined by four juniors and 10 sophomores, three of whom are returning varsity players.

The goalkeeper is sophomore Jennifer Johnson, who Roser said is “getting better every match.”

The juniors returning from last season are Alli Collier, Helaine Berris, Lauren Schulz and Brandi Vega, who is getting recruiting attention from everyone on the west coast, including UCLA, Washington State and San Francisco.

Johnson is one of three returning sophomores, along with Taylor Musselman and Brenda Luquin.

“These girls are strong and they know how to win, the seniors especially,” said Roser. “We’re fast everywhere, back, midfield and front, and so far, I don’t see any team that will be able to pass on us a lot.”

With that kind of speed all over the field, Roser said the key to success for the Senators will be to play patiently, since opposing teams will likely try to neutralize that speed.

“If we can just keep our game simple, with our skills on the ball we don’t have to work hard,” Roser said. “Just let the ball do the work and do what we do. Be patient, and make better decisions.”

Although they’ve won the league title three of the last four years, Roser said that’s not the Senators’ goal.

“The goal is always to make the playoffs,” he said. “The first time around the league is a lot of training — working on the basics and on certain tactics and getting them ingrained in the players.

“The second time around is to make sure we get into zone, and to make sure the technical and tactical things are peaking,” Roser added. “Winning will take care of itself if we train properly.”

There are always constructions and repairs going on in Vallarta, especially now that Vallarta is growing amazingly fast. Since Vallarta is one of the most important tourist locations in Mexico, the government spends millions of pesos in maintaining certain cultural symbols, like the church, the Malecon, sculptures, some of its parks and most impressively its cobblestone streets which are doomed to damage every year by the rainy season.

Nevertheless Puerto Vallarta understands the importance of historical culture and the reason why it attracts millions of visitors each year. Unsure about why there isn’t a more organized and logical traffic system, you might still be surprised how everything works out well enough to get from A to B in the ever growing city of Puerto Vallarta. People have been visiting Puerto Vallarta in all kinds of vehicles, boats and airplanes which has forced Vallarta to expand its Marina Peer for private boats and immense cruise ships.

Believe it or not, but there was a time where the main Marina Peer was not able to fit more than one smaller cruise ship, where now we can be proud to see three international cruise ships each of the size of an entire hotel building.

Motorcyclists can’t miss to visit Vallarta when cruising through Mexico. We have many biker clubs and shops down here that will provide any biker with everything from imported parts, amazing graffiti art to even planning tour rides through the beautiful surroundings that would probably be missed if traveling all by yourself.

Once arrived in Puerto Vallarta, it depends on what time of the year it is, you might find yourself in a twilight situation where you can decide to stay inside of your car/bus for hours, waiting for the traffic to move ahead for 5 seconds and then stand still for 30 sec. to a minute OR you can leave your car if you find a place to park it. Then walk to your destination in the burning summer heat, defeating all kinds of dangers, like time share vendors that believe you can still hang out with them, listen to one of their funny jokes trying not to disappoint them too much by telling them that you might consider to buy something from them some other day when its less hot. If the heat gets you hard, you might start buying anything just to get into an air-conditioned office, store or restaurant.

Surprisingly now at beginnings of October, where everything is empty and there are no tourists in sight, the traffic jam has become almost as bad as in high season. The main reason is that there are several street constructions going on in some areas where the space for cars, buses, constructions and people isn’t big enough, so what happens is the known bottleneck effect.

Let’s hope that this sweaty sacrifice (until a better solution is found) will maintain the famous Vallarta cobblestone streets as they where many many years ago. The last thing we want to happen is what happened to the Parks in Vallarta, when the former municipal president destroyed the public and historical parks to turn them into private, moneymaking parking lots that now are causing the immense damage of the overfilling streets in Puerto Vallarta. The big trees were also destroyed, leaving no shadow for anybody fleeing the intense heat in the summer, which increases the city heat with every new concrete buildings, streets and plastic decorative palm trees.

Oh, and by the way if you are wondering why only one of four construction workers is actually working or why another is just checking out every girl that passes, be reminded that in Mexico and especially in Vallarta, the heat and the low salaries are a big factor why things still work different but still work in a seemingly chaotic paradise.

Protected by the Sierra Madre Mountains, Puerto Vallarta is one of the few places in Mexico that has low to no worries about hurricanes, earthquakes and other major nature threats.

In the last years, the weather has changed dramatically, messing up any pattern established for the local weather each year. It doesn’t rain when it should and then it rains for days when at least expected. This is a new phenomenon that Mexico and the world will have to confront with innovative ideas, because farmers are losing their crops, flights are being delayed too many times and worst of all, people might want to relocate their homes on the beach to safer places if they want to be spared from dangerous storms, hurricanes or earthquakes.

No matter what weather conditions are forecast for Vallarta, the local people will celebrate this day as if there was no tomorrow. It’s called “The Fiesta” of the year, because there is no other holiday like this where almost everything is allowed.

Many people might have an umbrella ready for the stormy weather, but it wont do any good against the kids spraying everybody full with foam, water and eggs… Cars wrapped in toilette paper accompanied by masses of happy celebrating Mexicans shouting “Viva Mexico!!!” could be the start of a day with no limits, no matter what storm, hurricane, or earthquake might approach.

The only thing we can predict is that today, the 15^th of September 2007 will be a loud, exciting day with a lot of Mexican energy on the streets. If you are on vacation and don’t mind some crazy happy party, come to the Malecón downtown, to experience the unique Mexican fiesta atmosphere.

Expect everything else than a boring day today!

(And don’t forget your umbrella!)

Greenpeace couldn’t express itself often enough and said several times that the information presented in their work wasn’t directed against the municipality of Jalisco and that they are only trying to point out the problems of all beaches in Mexico to find and suggest new solutions.

In response to the accusations made by Greenpeace (greenpeace.org), the mayor of Puerto Vallarta, Javier Bravo Carvajal criticized the non-profit organization Greenpeace of having unknown interests with the purpose of harming the port’s infrastructure. Greenpeace says that it has auto sufficient and independent politics with no economic interests and that the subjects they work on are ecological and are treated with absolute scientific rigor facing the Mexican society. More specifically the organization explained that the campaign that is being realized in different municipalities with beaches, has the objective of clean beaches in the entire country.

Greenpeace hopes that the last test results of the beaches of Jalisco, which were realized on the 6th of June, will be published in the same beach area instead of the internet.

For the World Health Organization, swimming in seawater with a higher level of bacterial feces than 137 parts per milliliter of enterococci means a risk of severe diseases like paratifoidea or infectious hepatitis.

Greenpeace pointed out that their presented information of their tests has not the objective to act against Puerto Vallarta or any other particular entity. “We only want to show everybody the problem in all beach areas of the country so we can find solutions because clean beaches are important for everybody”.

————————————– 

Dear Greenpeace,

We here at Vallarta Blog Wexico, admire your efforts to point out some of Vallartas biggest problems and we are not talking about the Beaches only, but about a common problem in Mexico like the corruption on cost of the environment and Vallarta’s traditional life.

In the past years, Vallarta has changed drastically. More and more people come to live here and more stores, buildings and cars are drawn on the maps of Vallarta. Only a few people have the patience and ear to hear and recognize the damage that is being done because everybody is focused on themselves. Almost half of Vallarta has worked for Vallarta Adventures, Timeshare Giants and tourist driven companies. Everybody relies on tourism and everything is growing fast enough to loose the picture. Soon enough Vallarta will be a second Acapulco and the ones in power now will be drowned in money.

What happened to the hundreds of people that protested against the illegal destruction of the historic parks in Vallarta? They are forgotten now. They stood up against the police attemt at 6 am in the morning to destroy the parks and anybody in their way ended up in jail or beaten up. What happened to the Human Rights reports that were filed from dozens of protesters? Thousands of flyers and information was given out through radiostations and local ecologists, but the only response they got was what the government had put into their heads: Puerto Vallarta needs modernization. It has to evolve and we need to construct parking lots on top of historical traditional parks. Too many automobiles need parking lots, no matter what the costs are.

History repeats itself and if we have learned something about it it is that it is not enough to just inflate a huge toilet for a few minutes in the early hours of the morning, so nobody notices it. Unless you are trying to warn the government of what you are capable, this event was totally confusing to many people here in Vallarta, which is why we hope that the next time you will make sure that locals and non locals have the possibility in joining your campaign, which means you have to speak out through the radio, newspapers and do more than just a quick photoshooting on the beach.

We are looking forward to Greenpeace’s results and will keep up to date with this issue. Anybody that has more information on these subjects, please don’t hesitate in commenting or contacting us.

The 28th of July, 2007 marks the anniversary of the Parque Lázaro Cárdenas as a parking lot since 2006. The city government converted 4 traditional parks of Puerto Vallarta into parking lots between October and July of the past year. The authorities promoted a plan, which should have cleaned up and improved the parks, reduced traffic in the downtown area and solved the parking problem in the city center. None of these objectives have been realized. The ecological group of Puerto Vallarta (Grupo Ecologista de Puerto Vallarta) protested these methods from the beginning, since the government dismissed their better proposal on solving the traffic problem in Vallarta.

Hundreds of locals and ecologists protested against what seemed to be a business oriented project rather than a solution to any problem. The big issue about the parks was that the locals didn’t see any need in destroying their historic parks which contained generations of history and a wonderful shade given by hundreds of years old trees. There were proposals to construct parking lots in many different areas then where the old parks where situated, but the mayor Gustavo Gonzalez Villasenor and the Construction Company “Guarantee Investments” had no interest in considering these proposals because they would have needed to spend more money on buying properties for the parking lots.

But the governor and his allies saw a much better benefit in the public parks which would not have to be bought since they didn’t belong to anyone but the “public”. By dressing this issue up as a “solution” to a public problem (the major traffic in this area) they acted as if there was no other way to save the city from its increasing traffic. They promised at the beginning that the trees would be spared, but ended up cutting every single one of them down, which now were only replaced in one park (Park Hidalgo) with ridiculous skinny palms providing no shadow at all.

The contrast between the old parks like Park Hidalgo and Park Lazaro Cardenas is that there are no people there anymore. No families nor tourist searching for a nice relaxing rest under the shadow with a cold drink in one hand and a tasty elote in the other.

Who benefits from this? Guarantee Investments and probably Gustavo Gonzalez Villasenor who have made a deal with the city to cash the produced income from the parking lots until many many years into the future, when THEN finally the city can get money out of it.

Who does not benefit from this? The people, the tax payers, the tourists, families and the increasing automobile drivers in town. Anyone who has sympathy with the originally old style of this town will not understand the arguments of the city.

The City said that Vallarta needs to “evolve” and to “modernize” but at the same time they do understand the importance of the “traditional” Puerto Vallarta like the cobblestone streets which are never replaced with cement because they represent the way Vallarta has always been. Also it generates a lot of jobs for all those workers that repair the cobblestone streets by the summer heat every and each year.

The new parks only provide shade at night and are little used in the hot day. The traffic in the downtown is really bad and getting worse. Parking remains a big problem. Further, the income to the city is minimal to none.

The street vendors who were removed from the traditional parks are still not relocated and have no other choice than sell their products by walking on the beach or streets so they can maintain their families. The authorities continue with a plan, which has been approved and announced on several occasions, to relocate the vendors to the Island of Rio Cuale in an “Artisans Commercial Center”, which already has hundreds of vendors that disagree in increasing the number of vendors in the area because the increasing competition will make it almost impossible to make enough earnings for any of them.

But the question of the parks is now past. We were never able to generate enough support to save them and they were lost. Many people that tried to support the local movement got hit in the face by the governor.

Even a international photographer (not named here) that works locally for the Puerto Vallarta Online News Magazines like “Banderas News” (www.banderasnews.com) and our Blog, had to go to jail for taking pictures of the destruction of the Hidalgo Park (Parque Hidalgo) in the early morning of the 10th of March in 2004. He was brought to “las juntas” a jail up north of Puerto Vallarta (the same jail where DOG “Chapman” the bounty hunter was imprisoned)  without a lawyer and no permission to make any calls. He was released under the condition to sign a paper where he admitted his act of “disturbing” the authorities.

Now the hillsides behind the city are being lost to excessive and legally questionable constructions. There are serious concerns about building permits, environmental impact reports, demand on services and yet more traffic. Even more alarming is a latent condition of structural damage which could result in property loss and personal risk.

In the campaign for mayor in the elections of July 2006, both major party candidates promoted the construction of a “Megalibramiento” (Beltway or Bypass) to be built in the mountains behind Puerto Vallarta from Ixtapa to Boca de Tomatlán. Although the specific route of this “megalibramiento” was never revealed, the portion from Ixtapa along the mountains has already been defined and construction along the side of the mountains above Coapinole can be seen.

While the discussion of building permits in the hills around Puerto Vallarta and the possibility of a “megalibramiento” in the mountains may seem in the future they are, in fact, being realized day by day. Most attention is currently focused on the Penninsula and Grand Venetian projects at the mouth of the Rio Pitillal and the Molino de Agua project along the Río Cuale. But there are numerous other projects which are currently under construction, being offered for sale or recently announced all of which will contribute to a fundamental change in the image, density and character of Puerto Vallarta.

In retrospect, the parks now provide perspective as to what is at stake in Puerto Vallarta. First, the parks. Then the hillsides. Then the mountains. And the shoreline will be converted into highrises. This is what is called “Acapulquización”. If the disregard for green areas and rate of high-density construction continues, this will probably occur in the next 3 years.

If the parks signaled the first step in a series of major changes in Puerto Vallarta, they also offer insight into what can be done if residents are not in favor of such radical changes. First, it was impossible to defend just one park. They all had to be defended …or they would all be lost. I still hear the remark, “I wanted Parque Lázaro Cárdenas to remain the same, but I really didn’t care that much for the other parks.” Since all 4 parks were included in a single vote in the City Council, the loss of Parque Lázaro Cárdenas was determined with the vote of the city council in October 2004. The successive losses of Hidalgo, Benito Juárez and Pitillal only confirmed the eventual loss of Lázaro Cárdenas. It will be the same with the mountains and shoreline.

Once there is a precedent of a 12-floor building in the center of Puerto Vallarta or a 30-floor condominium on the north beaches, others will follow. Second, all the authorities; federal, state and municipal; have made it clear that they either cannot or will not alter the present course of construction in the city. Questionably, the mayor has stated that he cannot change a decision made in a previous administration. Third, the public response of the residents of Puerto Vallarta to the current course of construction has been minimal, with a few exceptions. And Fourth, the private response of many residents of Puerto Vallarta has been one, initially, of disbelief and inconformity. Subsequently, the private response has changed to outrage or acceptance. It has seldom been made public.

Neither the law nor the authorities are proving to be timely or effective in bringing order to the building violations which are currently occurring in Puerto Vallarta. Public opinion is a recourse available to request the urgent attention that this matter requires. The Mexican Constitution (Art. 7) provides both Mexican citizens and foreigners the right to write and publish their opinions on any subject. While the rights of foreigners to voice opinion in México is clearly permitted, they should refrain from political comments. We encourage you to send a short letter to the local press in Vallarta by e-mail to express your personal opinion on the recent course of the development of the city.

On this anniversary of the loss of the traditional parks of Puerto Vallarta, we should reflect on the direction of the modernization program of the city government. The parks were but a first step in a much larger, unannounced series of changes that began in 2004. If the Grupo Ecológico had mentioned in 2005 the possible loss of the Island of the Rio Cuale to commercial development and the mountains above to condominium projects, we would have been classified as radical and extreme. What is your opinion now? What will Puerto Vallarta look like in the next 2 years if the changes that have occurred in the past 2 years continue?

July 28, 2006. A day to remember. And to realize that only the opinion of the local residents can influence the future. Or, through silence, will be responsible for the remainder of traditional Puerto Vallarta to be lost.

Enjoy Seeing Iguanas while You’re on Vacation

No idea of where to go for a holiday escapade? Why don’t you try Puerto Vallarta? Most people are desiring to enter the haven and paradise world of Puerto Vallarta and you could be one of those aspirants!

For one, there is the Banderas Bay. The place is fit for sunbathing, snorkeling, and surfing. If you love these activities then Puerto Vallarta is the best place to stay! There is no need to worry about the facilities and accommodations because there are inclusive condos and hotels all over the place. In Puerto Vallarta, you will be communing with nature in a relaxing manner. There are colorful butterflies, bountiful tropical flora, egrets, pelicans, scissor tails, geckos, and Puerto Vallarta iguanas!

When it comes to the enjoyable activities, Puerto Vallarta is also rich with them. Golf courses and bars abound the area. With all of its captivating sceneries, Puerto Vallarta has not only been once featured in Hollywood movies! In fact, it was in the year 1963 when the place was taken to center stage with the film “Night of the Iguana”.

A native Puerto Vallarta travel would be to take the local bus. The trip will not be boring since there are drumming, tooting flutes, “bus-kers”, singing, and strumming on board that do the entertainment of the passengers. As you reach your destination, you can settle in at a homey environment as offered by the number of hotels and condos around the area.

The Vallartenses are very hospitable in a sense that they will take care of you up to the utmost manner. You can go bar hopping, go to galleries, listen to the music, surf, snorkel, scuba dive, enjoy the lush beauty of nature, walk by the seashore, swim, tour the caves, and see the iguanas in Puerto Vallarta .

Because Puerto Vallarta is a place that is close to nature, the Puerto Vallarta iguanas thrive in it. They can be seen thriving close to streams and rivers. They can usually be seen atop the trees basking under the sun, eating fruits, seeds, flowers, and leaves of the bushes, and then diving into the water especially when predators aim at them. The iguanas are fast runners and splendid swimmers.

Other habitats of the iguanas are the cacti, burrows, and shrubs. Beforehand, they can be spotted near the coastlines but since the time that the area has been frequented by travelers and visitors, these reptiles had been forced to retreat into the further sides of the island. They do love to bask under the sun because they need to regulate their body temperatures.

For most of the visitors of Puerto Vallarta, get inspired to keep the iguanas for domestic pets. When these reptiles sense an oncoming attack, they usually strike its tail, bite, or scratch the enemy as a way of its defense mechanism. Aside from this, they prove to be harmless to humans.

Like other animals, the existence of the Puerto Vallarta iguanas are now also at risk especially with the rate in the destruction of their natural dwellings. The clamor of the iguanas may be taken as the restoration of their habitats so that they can enjoy their existence more.

source: iguana-care.com

Puerto Vallarta Blog

The Ecological Group of Nayarit (Grupo Ecologistas de Nayarit) , AC and Turtle Camp El Naranjo have organized the second Marine Turtle Expo in Puerto Vallarta from the 28th  to 29th of July.

The objective is that the local population and its visitors aknowledge more information about these marine creatures that are in danger of extinction.

If you are interested, you can visit the expo in Plaza Caracol just under the cinemas, where you will be able to interact with the volunteers that will be glad to answer your questions. You can learn more about the seven different types of marine turtles that nest on Mexican beaches and how a turtle camp like this one works. You’ll also have the opportunity of viewing information rich videos and if you bring your kids with you, they’ll be encouraged to participate in recreational and educational activities.

The Turtle Camp “El Naranjo” has been around for over 10 years now and has been able to work its conservation and ambient education programs thanks to donations and help from dozens of volunteers in Mexico and around the world. You can help too! Give a gift to nature by buying a little turtle toy and receive a certificate of turtle adoption or buying a “T”urtle –shirt. Your participation helps these organizations to save hundreds of little turtle babies that could not make it without help this year.

We are looking for people interested in setting up a webcam / video cam on good locations for internet streaming. If you have a webcam or even better a video camera and have a good view to the bay of banderas, you can join our little “PV Through a Webcam” project. As long as you have an internet connection, we can provide you with everything else necessary to start sending the lively pictures into our site. 

1. Contact us by leaving a comment. (we won’t publish your email address)
2. If you don’t have a computer, we can provide you with one.
3. If you don’t have a connection to the internet, please get a cheap DSL service at Prodigy (Telmex).
4. You will need a Webcam or a Video Camera. New ones cost in between $5 and $20 USD in stores.

That’s it! Also, if you don’t have a good view, but a used computer, laptop, camera (video / webcam) or anything that might help us, please contact us also by leaving a comment.

Thank you all for your support!
Go visit the Puerto Vallarta Webcam!

By Eric Lindberg

A flurry of instructions, in English and Spanish, filled the small control booth and spilled out into the studio as students from Santa Barbara and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, prepared to produce their first live broadcast.

Then, as the numbers slowly ticked off the monitors above the control panel and a headphone-adorned teen signaled to the cast with a raised hand, the studio grew quiet.
“Roll intro,” Saul Gomez said, and broadcast began.

Gomez, who works with Santa Barbara Channels, brought exchange students from Santa Barbara’s sister city, Puerto Vallarta, into the studio with local kids, offering them a chance to experience the world of television, from both behind and in front of the camera.
“What I wanted to do this time is create a show with them, to train them in the use of our equipment,” Gomez told the Daily Sound.

The students, ages ranging from 15 to 17, interviewed each other about their relative trips to Santa Barbara and Puerto Vallarta. Eight teens from Mexico joined six local students from San Marcos and Santa Barbara High Schools to produce the show yesterday, broadcasting it live over Channel 21.

The opportunity to appear on television had some nervous and others excited. When asked if they were anxious in the few moments before the tape started rolling, Maite Lopez and Nallely Zarete chimed in at the same time:
“Yeah.”
“No.”

Lopez, a 15-year-old San Marcos student, said learning how to use the television gadgetry was “very interesting” and her interest in production is growing. Zarete, 16, is visiting from Puerto Vallarta, and had Lopez help translate some words for her.

“Yesterday we went down State [Street] and there were a lot of shops,” Zarete said. “It was a lot of fun.”

In the first segment, Zarete ran a Powerpoint presentation showing photos from the trip Santa Barbara students took to Puerto Vallarta a few months ago, during spring break. As she scrolled through the photos, out in the studio other students discussed the images and the trip, which featured a hiking trip, a boat cruise and a canopy tour.
The biggest difference between the two cities is their weather, judging from the amount of time dedicated to that topic.

“In Puerto Vallarta, it’s hot,” Zarete confirmed. “Here it is very, very cold.”
Only a few bumpy moments surfaced during filming, and the teens handled them smoothly as they discussed a range of topics in both English and Spanish, from how people in Puerto Vallarta seemed more welcoming and friendly to their first impressions when they met their exchange students and host families.

Channel 21 will rebroadcast the hour-long program at various times until next Friday. The next showing will take place this Saturday at both 12:30 and 7 p.m. Gomez, who started bringing exchange students from Santa Barbara’s sister city into the studio last year, said the project has been very successful.
“I think it’s a wonderful experience for kids that age,” Gomez said. “They’ll be able to see the possibility for their future, that it’s possible if they apply themselves.”

Has Vallarta found another excuse for not paying their bills?

“We got robbed, no money for you buddy, hasta mañana” might be the next excuse in Vallarta. There have been some rumours stating an ATM fraud in Olas Altas, Nuevo Vallarta and the entire Banderas Bay. No this is not the fraud from a year ago about the “insider job” nor the other one with the fake card reading attachments on the doors giving access to ATM booths; there are no card reading attachments anywhere in Vallarta anymore, but this is more about a new supposed kind of “Super ATM Hacking”.

It’s said that some people have been victims of this new ATM fraud by using the ATM machine in Olas Altas, which I use everyday without problems besides the fact that it is surrounded by people going to La Playa store and PvCafé. The claim is that somebody has managed to cash more than 3 times the withdrawal limit on the ATM machine and has robbed accounts being used by local people living in the area of Olas Altas.

There is no official statement, but some people assume that somehow the robbers had put fake keypads and card readers on the ATM machine, to get secret pin numbers and card info, which still leaves the excessive withdrawal without any explanations.

However, these scams or frauds happen all over the world and it seems PV has been talking about it more and more lately, even if there is no actual bank statement that proves or warns about this. Make sure you cash your money in a safe place, better in the same Bank and think twice whenever somebody tells you they couldn’t pay you because they have fallen victims of an unknown, illogical, irrational fraud at the ATM machines in Olas Altas.

If you have been to Puerto Vallarta more than a few times and in different seasons, you know that every year it’s the same thing: Low season is no money season. Hotels, Boats, Tours are all packed with money-spending tourists, but still you can notice the absence of money on the streets. There is no excessive tourism and many stores close their doors before 10pm if not located near a tourist zone. What locals experience every year is nothing new to them, but it is to every new business down here.

If you are planning to open a business in PV, be aware of the low season. Not so much because of the low tourism or the ATM frauds, but more because of other businesses. If they are in debt with you, you will most likely hear the same excuse to not pay you, over and over again: Low season. This excuse sometimes takes other less recognizable forms like “Mañana” (Tomorrow). Many people won’t tell you directly in your face that they won’t pay you… instead they will just tell you that they will pay you “tomorrow”.

A “mañana” in Mexico, or at least in PV can mean everything from a month to a never and there is nothing you can do than learn from it and move on. Try to find the kind of people that mean what they say and say what they mean, because the summer can and will bring a lot of heat into many people’s heads, that can and will result in unreasonable, illogical behaviour and or excuses.

Once you have accepted and gotten used to the fact that low season means no money, no work, no payments and a lot of unsatisfied locals and new businessmen grabbing on to their wallets (as if the world was coming to an end); you can still find a lot, and I mean A LOT of business down here in low season that won’t tell you they can’t pay you because of some fraud.

Many Hotels towards the north of Vallarta are packed and many tour operators like Vallarta Adventures can’t even handle the amount of people coming in. Badly this results in other hotels and tour operators south of Vallarta ending up with almost no clients and firing employees temporarily until there is more tourist activity in PV.

The only way to stop this is to stop doing business with irresponsible companies and people. Especially when excuses like “tomorrow we’ll pay you” or “We’re victims of the ATM fraud” are becomeing more common.

Hasta Mañana

Puerto Vallarta has more to offer than just the sandy beaches, tropical nature and compforting stays, it also is a very artistic city hosting more Art Galleries than any other in Mexico. Artists from all around the world have contributed to the amazing artistic landscape of Vallarta through paintings, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, literature and a unique Mexican new fashion.

There is no way you will be able to avoid the overwhelming and artistic spirit of Vallarta. You can admire art everywhere, such as in public places or local restaurants. You’ll find walls decorated with colorful paintings on buildings or public sculptures, artists on the streets and malecon, creating or selling their work.

Vallarta’s Art Scene has to offer everything from contemporary to traditional folk art in various Galleries. Just to name some famous ones: Galeria Dante, Galeria Arte Latinoamericano; and some other than local Galeries: Galeria Omar Alonso, The Galerie des Artistes.

Huichol Art is also a traditional work known in Vallarta, done by the Huichol tribe living in the mountains around Vallarta. Some galleries offer some insight into how the Huichol Indians create their artwork, by displaying them while working the bead and woven art to the passing tourists.

Generally from the end of September to April, during the high season, there is an ArtWalk in and around old town (Viejo Vallarta) taking place each Wednesday. With detailed maps in your hand, you can visit at least a dozen of galleries that will be awaiting your visit with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and refreshing cocktails.

The boardwalk of the Malecon along the beach is without doubt a kind of public art gallery featuring dozens of sculptures along the way. One of the beauties of this public art display is that it reflects the beauty of the bay and tropical surroundings combined with an amazing art scene.

There are some tours that will explain each sculpture and tell you about the artists behind the works. You will find something for everybody in PV, for every wallet, so be sure to take something with you when visiting Puerto Vallarta.

Vallarta with it’s Art and Culture awakens inspiration and creativeness wherever the eye can see. Come and see for yourself, because this place is open for new styles and concepts from around the world reflecting its hospitality to artists, art lovers and every type of visitors.

Just one day before Father’s Day, a strong whistle starts the exhibition game hold by professional soccer players from Mexico and Hollywood’s United team in Casa Magna (Marriott Resort and Spa in Puerto Vallarta) followed by a cocktail toast and a autograph session.

Casa Magna Marriot Resort and Spa is making an effort to open up a homeless shelter for youngsters and teenagers that have nowhere to go but to exploitation or unhealthy corners of the other sides of Vallarta.

On Father’s Day, the special guests take part in a Golf Tournament at the VistaVallarta Golf Course.

You will find players like Eric Wynalda, member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Frank Leboeuf, who won the ’98 Fifa World Cup and Vinnie Jones, now acting in movies like Swordfish, X-Men 3 and Juggernaut Roal taking part on this charity event in Puerto Vallarta. There were uncountable more celebrities taking part and teaching all kinds of soccer tips to the only 50 children chosen to learn and practice some soccer moves from these famous champions during the soccer clinics.

Marriot International has over 2,800 lodging properties in the US and over 60 around the world operating and franchising hotels under brand names like JW Marriot, The Ritz, Renaissance Inn, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn and SpringHill

Simple steps to enjoying a romantic getaway in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Vallarta Blog shares some tips on how to spend some romantic evenings in one of the most popular travel destination in the world.

1. It is almost impossible to miss a romantic sunset at La Palapa Restaurant, located in Los Muertos (The Dead) Beach in south Vallarta. This restaurant might be one of the reasons they call this area the “Romantic Zone”. Enjoy the elegant atmosphere with your feet in the sand, the sunset and ocean in front, romantic fire torches surrounding you and the unique fine dining experience accompanied by live music.

The professional musician team of Memo, Bob and Raul enhance the night with sounds of latin rhythms. We recommend the Spanish coffee, a flaming presentation performed by Jorge Bernal, one of the favorite waiters of returning costumers.

2. There is nothing more relaxing than enjoying a massage after a romantic evening in the tropical paradise of Puerto Vallarta. PV offers many Spa, Aroma Therapies, Mud Treatments and Body Massages that are in the price range for every type of tourist and add a touch of well being to the romantic vacation in Vallarta.

3. A must see is the ArtWalk every Wednesday night located around old town and malecon.  Galleries will open their doors for the summer Art Walk from 6:00pm-10:00pm with refreshing drinks awaiting your visit.

It is difficult to plan events that require walking around the Centro area during the summer season because of the heavy rains and storms but usually the rain doesn’t last for long. For a full list of galleries participating in Summer Solstice Artwalk Vallarta contact Barbara Peters of Galeria Vallarta (galeriavallarta.com).

4. Vallarta’s Malecon is one of the most famous places to go, whether you are a tourist or a local looking for a nice walk along the beach accompanied by local buildings of restaurants, art galleries, annoying Timeshare Salesmen, jewelry shops, traditional Mexican food stands offering delectable tamales wrapped in banana leaves rather than the traditional corn leaves and some original entertainment performed by clowns, fire stunts, papantla flyers, mimes, musicians, fireworks shot from a pirate ship at night and much more.

5. A few blocks inland from the Malecon you will find Lounge Bars and Nightclubs that offer a unique and special scene from the rooftop to the inside areas decorated with every inch of detail reflecting the more modern side of Puerto Vallarta’s Nightlife.

There are areas with sand floors at the bars and magnificent panoramic views to the horizon where you will be able to enjoy the stars, sunsets, birds or fireworks. Some of these places are almost hidden but not difficult to find.

What you will encounter might be an incredible Japanese Styled and decorated courtyard with cozy dining areas that you wont find anywhere else in Mexico, offering comfortable chaise lounge areas, adequate for romantic evenings accompanied by a bottle of fine wine in an intimate atmosphere.