2 Year Anniversary Trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico :)

Several months ago we decided to plan a trip to Mexico to celebrate 3 things: our 2 year anniversary (June 25th), my 26th birthday (June 24th), and a year of hard work in our jobs. We ended up booking a week at the Sheraton in PV and here are the highlights of our trip.

Day 1: We arrived in PV at our hotel around 4:30 after a 12 hours of travel. We were very hot and tired and had already turned away many aggressive sales people trying to sell us tours and time share promotions etc. That evening we got situated in our hotel room (which Alex said was much nicer than he expected) and took a long walk (4 miles!) down the beach and boardwalk in downtown PV. We found an amazing taco shop off the beaten path and were quite pleased with ourselves. We got back and pulled the heavy curtains closed for a restful night sleep.

 

Day 2: We wake up at 12:15pm (surprise!). We venture out on a very hot and humid afternoon to find lunch.    We stop at a tiny street side "pharmacy" to pick up ointment for my giant bug bites.. We go to a restaurant hoping to find more delicious tacos and stop in at a tiny restaurant called "loco tacos" something. Ironically, they had no tacos.. only burritos and hamburgers. We decide to try the burritos but were disappointed in the cheese, lettuce and mayo filling. I've learned that Mexicans lovee their mayo.. this was something I suspected living in Oakland--when a coworker suggested and a student requested mayo as a legitimate hot dot condiment--but now I know it to be true. Yesterday we witnessed mayo as a topping for fire roasted corn with the proportion of 2/3 corn 1/3 mayo.
We ventured out again and for dinner we ended up on the second floor balcony of a Cuban restaurant. We ordered paella to share. We watch the sunset from our premium seats, listened to live music from the floor below, and enjoyed a perfect evening.

 

Day 3: Today we did something super awesome. We figured out how to catch the local bus and then caught a connecting bus to the Puerto Vallarta Zoo. This Zoo was awesome. You could get super close to the animals and they gave you a bag of "goodies" (corn kernels, carrot sticks, bread, bird pellets, peanuts) to feed the animals. We fed ostriches, monkeys, birds, ponies, boar, giraffe, baboons, elk, deer, goats, burros, rodents and more! But the BEST part of the zoo was playing with the BABY MONKEYS, TIGERS, and JAGUARS!! They were sooooo cute and crawled all over us! It really was the best and such a once in a lifetime chance. We had to pay extra but it was totally worth it. Just awesome. We bought some super fresh tortillas from a lady's housefont shop on the walk back down from the  zoo. They were cheap and still warm~yum.
After the zoo we wandered down to the beach and hung out for a while until it started to rain. It was fun to see another part of the PV bay and feel like we were even closer to the locals. We headed back to bus station and caught a bus back to PV. I was raining really hard up in the hills at this point, in fact its rained some everyday we've been here so far. I think it must be the rainy season but we don't mind. When we got back to town we got fish tacos and tortilla soup for dinner. We took the long walk back to our hotel and still had an hour to test out our hotel pool and Jacuzzi. We are definitely tuckered out from all the walking but in good spirits. :)

Day 4: We spent a pretty lazy and laidback day hanging around the resort. We went on a nice long walk down the boardwalk and found shelter from the rain at a super delicious restaurant Vivea for our anniversary dinner. I ordered BBQ shrimp with risotto and Alex got the red snapper. We even got dessert. Finest meal of the trip--Happy Two Years, Alex!

Day 5: Today we woke up early (an hour earlier than planned because our hotel clock has been an hour off this whole time!) and took two buses to a town down the bay called Mismayola. We had arranged with a local boat driver to take us snorkeling at Los Arcos (an offshore formation) at 10am. When we got there we realized it was only 9am so we had an hour to kill and we spent it sipping fresh OJ on the beach. We went snorkeling and it was my first time--It was really fun and we were able to see a lot of tropical fish. My favorite fish were a little smaller than my palm and had iridescent blue spots. Alex liked a light blue fish with ghost-like qualities because of their fluttery fins. The water was really salty!While we were snorkeling a giant party boat stopped nearby and let out dozens of snorkelers in matching life jackets. We were glad we chose not to pay for a tour to take us to Los Arcos. Our experience seemed more intimate with just Alex, me and the boat driver. Plus we saved money going with a local guy rather than a big organized tour.Overall this snorkeling outing is a really memorable part of our trip so far. We took the bus back to town and walked back to our hotel stopping at a pasteleria for a snack. Before we went to get dinner we cashed in our free drink coupons at the bar by the pool. We enjoyed two virgin pina coladas, then we took a long walk to town and shared a margarita pizza for dinner. Our trip has been a lot of walking and eating and its great.   

Day 6: Today the weather was beautiful--blue skies and very sunny almost all day. We definitely used our sunscreen today. As Alex says, people like us were never meant to live in the tropics. The water looked amazing—very blue and clear. We took a water taxi to a town in the south bay called Yelapa. We passed a handful of villages and beaches along the ride. Yelapa is a fishing village of about one thousand people only accessible by boat. We did a little hiking—to a small waterfall and around the village. We sweat a LOT. People in this village don’t have cars, they drive ATVs, small motorcycles, and ride horses. Seeing the humble circumstances of the village people made us feel very fortunate for the opportunities that we have. We would definitely recommend Yelapa to people wanting a less touristy experience.We enjoyed lunch on the beautiful beach and took the water taxi back to PV. The water was a lot choppier on the way back so it took longer and we got a little bit wet. On the walk back to our hotel we got our favorite Mexican popsicles. You can tell they are made from unprocessed fruits and they are so delicious. For dinner we bought tacos from a street vendor and they were really good. But Alex is feeling a little sick to his stomach as I write this so maybe the tacos were not such a good idea. Tomorrow is our last full day in PV. The week has gone quickly!

Day 7: Our last day was very relaxed. We soaked in the beach and pool and found a delicious lunch in town. This place really was delicious.. mexican food with a little french finesse. One last frothy pina colada and we are feeling ready to head home. :)