snickering licorice: puerto vallarta...part iv - sea safari...paradise and perspective

Here is the last post relating to our trip to PV. This was one of the highlights for sure!

The Sea Safari was a day travelling around magnificant Banderas Bay (triva fact - third largest bay in the world).

After a short bus ride to the marina, we boarded a 30-person zodiac and headed down to PV, where we picked up our guide and some additional passengers.

There was only about 20 of us in total, so we had lots of room on the boat. Once we were out in the bay, our fabulous guide Carlos says, "Welcome to my office!" I think we were all thinking the same thing..."I wish I had his job."

(One of the things we noticed during our stay, is how passionate the various guides were about their country.)

The water was calm, the sun was shining and the vistas were fantástico!

We travelled along the waterfront of PV and then headed out for some whale watching. It didn't take long before we were watching in awe as a momma humpback whale floated along and her new calf frolicked all around her. Amazing!

Next, we travelled south and came back towards the coast and passed several boats loaded with scuba divers, snorklers and partiers.

We passed large rock islands that were home to hundreds of pelicans, friggits and blue-footed boobies.

We were taken to a private beach at the south end of the bay. This area is only accessable be sea, and the locals have to bring in all of their supplies by boat.

Some of the gang went snorkeling while the rest of us lounged on the beautiful white sand.

We were treated to a delicious lunch and beverages from the open bar. Coco-locos were served fresh. Stephen was brave and decided to try one. Stephen liked it but I had one sip and thought, "Uck...cough syrup." Take a coconut, hack off the top, add grenadine, rum and water to the coconut milk and viola (I still say 'uck').

After lunch we played volleyball. There were four gals from Red Deer, Alberta who obviously had played before (in college as a matter of fact). It was so much fun!

Before heading back, Carlos took us into one of the local homes where we were shown how tortillas are made, from grinding the corn on a stone that had been passed down through four generations, to cooking them on the limestone/mud stove.

The people in this area don't have much, but in other ways they have everything. This is where the perspective comes in. Carlos told us the last person they buried from this little village was 102 years old and when he died, he still had all his own teeth and walked without a cane. I guess living with less also means living with a lot less stress. And living in this tropical paradise can't hurt either.