Today’s post is 1425 words, 21 photos, a 6 minute read. Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

This week begins a long series of posts from Mexico. Today, I begin with beautiful Puerto Vallarta, a resort city on the Pacific Ocean. If you missed my tw0-part series on the Driftless of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, click here and here.

Let’s get started. First a little about Mexico and Puerto Vallarta.

Mexico

As many of you know, the country of Mexico is on the southern border of the United States. With a population of about 130,000,000, its physical size is about the same size as Alaska. Economically, Mexico is considered to have an upper-middle income economy similar to Costa Rica, China, Argentina, and Turkey. However, nearly 40% of Mexicans live in poverty. Unemployment is low at about 2.5%.

Mexico is often stereotyped in US news as a backward, third world country. While it does have problems with income inequality, crime, and corruption, it currently has a stable government that is actively engaged in improving conditions for its citizens. Mexico’s main trading partner is the US, exporting manufactured goods, electronics, auto parts, silver, fruits, vegetables, coffee, and cotton. Mexico imports agricultural machinery, assembly equipment, aircraft, plastics, natural gas, and other goods from the US. The Mexican people are considered some of the hardest working people in the world as measured by hours worked per year. Pay is low thus income is low. Remittences sent home by Mexican workers in the US, Canada, and other countries are an important source of income especially in poor areas of the country.

Mexico is culturally rich. Human existence in the country dates to 8000 BC. The Aztec and Mayan cultures are recognized world wide. The country was colonized by the Spanish in 1519 that lasted until the 1820s when they gained independence. During Spanish rule, the indigenous people were converted to Catholicism, today nearly 80% of Mexicans identify as Catholics. After the Spanish left, the country went through years of turmoil with dictators, coups, and revolutions until 1917 when its Constitution was adopted.

Mexico is the fourth most biodiverse country in the world. It also has one of the largest number (35) of UNESCO heritage sites in the world, the most in the America’s. There’s a lot to like about Mexico in addition to its mild climate. Tourists agreed, as they from around the world travel to Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta

The resort city of Puerto Vallarta, population estimated at 560,000, is on the Bahía of Banderas (translated as Bay of Flags). This 62 mile (100 km) bay sports miles of sandy beaches and is the winter home of humpback whales where they breed and raise their young. P.V., as it’s known to tourists and part-time residents, lies on a narrow coastal plain surrounded by the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. As such it is subject to occasional earthquakes although often without much damage due to the change in building codes. Hurricanes are also possibility although rare. The most recent hurricane was in October 2023 that struck with 140 mph winds causing a lot of tree and roof damage and flooding in low lying areas.

Nearly 80% of the workforce in P.V. is employed in tourist related industries such as hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and transportation. During the winter months, the city is filled with retirees from the U.S. and Canada. They along with a regular stream of tourists seeking warm temperatures and fun, fill the city to the brim between November and March. The city is friendly to the LGBT+ community with some resorts, bars, and nightclubs catering to these tourists. During the offseason when prices are lower, many Mexican families come to enjoy the beaches and relaxing atmosphere.

There are many things to see and do in Puerto Vallarta. I’ll take you to many of them in the next few weeks.

The Trail to Puerto Vallarta

It was an early rise on the first day of 2025 to catch our flight to Puerto Vallarta. We were barely awake and bleary-eyed when we reached the Madison airport at 4:45 AM for a 6:20 flight to Dalles/Fort Worth where we would catch an onward flight to Puerto Vallarta. Check-in and security was quick so we were soon sitting at our gate.

Not long after taking off from Madison, I took a photo of the sun rising over the horizon. Note the streaky window, we had to de-ice before taking off.

In Dallas, we grabbed coffee and bagels as we headed to our gate. Our connection time was short so we ate the bagels once we were seated on the plane. The flight to Puerto Vallarta was full, there was a lot of jockeying for overhead space for luggage. We checked ours so didn’t get into that scrum.

As we got closer to P.V., I watched the landscape pass by. I imagined Mexico with a lot of desert but what I saw were tall mountains and narrow valleys where there were villages often along a river. Off in the distance I could see what looked to be volcanos. Mexico has many extinct and a few active volcanos. I suspect what saw from the plane was Volcan Colima (over 14,000 ft or 4330 m), one of the most active. I’m not sure of the name of the volcano further away on the right center of the photo below.

As we came into the Puerto Vallarta international airport, I snapped this photo of the city. You’ll note there are a number of high rise buildings, most are condos, apartments complexes, or hotels.

Our friends invited us to spend a week with them in the condo they rented for six weeks. We were happy to take them up on their generous offer. This sign greeted us as we entered the airport. Lo vives mas de una vez translates as “You Live It More Than Once” or maybe more appropriately “You Experience More Than Once.” This implies something is being experienced repeatedly or a moment or feeling is revisited. Maybe it’s an invitation to come back again.

Our friends warned of the gauntlet that we would have to navigate after clearing immigration and customs. As we exited the terminal, there were several men and a few women holding up signs. One fella called out “taxi” and I responded yes. He took us over to a counter where a nice guy with good English tried to sell us a whale-watching tour and other attractions in exchange for a “free” taxi ride. After a couple of minutes of high pressure sales, we told them no, not interested. The next hurdle was the actual taxi cue. We were told that a taxi to our destination would be $360 pesos (about $18 USD). We would have to pay in advance and share a ride. It was at that point when we took the advice of our friends and made our way over the highway by way of a pedestrian walkway to a taxi stand where the taxi fare was $200 pesos ($10 USD) and the driver delivered us directly to our friend’s condo building. It was a relief to be there, besides it was warm and we came from a cold climate.

The rest of our first day and our full second day were spent chilling. For us that meant reading, sitting by the pool, walking on the beach, feeling the warm breeze on the balcony, and watching the sunset in the west. Here’s one of my first photos from the 15th floor condo.

This is the condo complex as viewed from the beach. We were in Tower 1 on the right. Below is another photo of the tower close up.

Our walks on Playa de Oro took us past many other resorts including those along a river that flows into the ocean.

There were always a lots of people on the beach including those trying their luck at fishing.

One of the resorts had small catamarans and kayaks for use by residents.

We encountered this egret whenever we walked the beach. He/she had a broken foot and seemed to get by begging for food or scavenging the beach. Not the best of meals but a chance at survival. He/she could fly at least short distances. We wondered what would eventually happen to the injured bird.

One morning we noticed this police boat patrolling the bay. I don’t know if they were looking for someone but they made several passes in one location.

From the condo balcony, we could see the cruise ships that pulled into the harbor. They usually arrived during the night or early morning so the passengers could spend the day on shore excursions. They usually departed in the evening for their next port of call. Some of those ships were huge with accommodations for over 4000 people plus the crew.

The sunsets were spectacular. Here are a couple from our first two evenings.

That does for this week. Join me next week for a visit to El Tuito with Sandra as our guide.

Until then, happy travels!

Tom

PS: Click here for a link to the post about my book “Farm Boy.” Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a copy. Thanks to all have plunked down your hard earned dollars and read the book. TM