Puerto Vallarta - Arrival, our first beach day and first tour of PV - Feb 2 to 4th

Sunday morning we slept in! Fortunately only by 20 minutes and I'd given us lots of time. I set 2 alarms, my watch and my phone, but somehow they didn't go when my devices were charging. An e-mail on my phone our plane departure is delayed 30 minutes, so it all worked out. We stayed at the Days Inn near the airport, which offers breakfast. With their shuttle service and park and fly, we're able to leave our car there for the 2 weeks at half the cost of parking at the airport. Bonus!

Sidney only recieved a dusting of snow, but we still waited for the plane to be de-iced before takeoff. Our departure time was 9am for PV. The plane made up time, so we were in the air for 4.5 hours. It sure is nice and warm here at 28C. 

Customs was a breeze and soon we found our ride to our resort. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of other people the driver was waiting for and they took a long time through customs. We waited almost an hour before we were on the way to the hotel. Next time we will take an Uber! We landed at 3 PV time and didn't get to the hotel until 5 pm.

Very tasty breakfast and lots of snacks.

Views from the window:

Snowy mountain tops

Almost there!

Shuttle from plane on tarmac to airport for customs. Within a few minutes there was absolutely no space, full with people.

Good thing we got out on Sunday as it was "Snowmeggodon" at home. Well over a foot of snow Sunday into Monday! These two pictures are from Pat's next door. Our neighbour, Mike, apparently plowed our driveway twice!. Thanks a bunch. Not missing that!

Our house. Look how full the utility trailer is!

Roy and June got home on Tuesday from Florida and came home to this. Hopefully it will be gone in 2 weeks when we get home. :)

Pic from Pat

After checking in to our room, off we went exploring the resort. It sure is big and beautiful.

View from the International Buffet

First Sunset

After our long travel day we were in bed at 10. (8pm) BC time lol

Monday, our first beach day. We managed to get a couple of loungers and enjoyed the traffic and vendors along the beach. I even got a foot massage. :) We realized that we left our sun hats in the hotel in Victoria, so will have to buy some here. I brought my pool hat, so not to bad for me.

These guys almost land on your head!

This lady and her hawk work the beach to keep the other birds away.

Lots of other vendors of jewelry, food and sari's etc. selling their wares up and down the beach. They're pretty good though and not pushy. I managed to snag a dinner reservation at the Asian restaurant Ayami, for tonight. All the A la Carte Restaurants require reservations 24 hours in advance. Their egg rolls were delicious but the rest just so, so.

Pool side drinks before dinner.

Tuesday we're booked for a tour to downtown Puerto Vallarta, tequila tasting and a small theme park called Kawitu, way up the mountain. It was a very long day. We were first to be picked up (9am) and last to be dropped back at (6pm). Too long scrunched into a big bus with no legroom. Won't do that again. Too much standing and sitting.

First up we were taken to the Cruise Ship Terminal by a small van to meet up with the rest of our tour. They took us to a "Chocolate Factory". Miss advertised .... One room where a guy moved chocolate around on his marble counter and then back into the bowl. Then they move to the shop portion to taste 3 miniscule pieces and then want you to buy.... 

Showing the history of Cacao

We didn't buy anything as it's expensive and would melt on the bus. We all got on the bus and headed to downtown PV to the Malecon. We didn't even get to walk any of it, just get our pictures taken at the sign. :( We will have to go back another day).

Hard to believe this person is real!

We then walked up to the Cathedral, Our Lady of Guadalupe for a quick walk through.

We were all gathered up again to walk a few blocks to a they called it a Jewelry factory and we got a special deal through the tour of 25%off. It turns out to be a Jewelry store and in the window is a sign saying 20 - 30% for anyone who visits.

Apparently Mexico has 26 different colours of fire opals here. Very beautiful stuff and good quality silver. 

Back on the bus and off to Tequila Tasting. The nice part of this is that they divided us into 2 groups, english speaking and spanish speaking so we didn't have to listen to the whole speal twice. lol

Our tour guide, Marietta

Back on the bus to go further up the mountain to Kawitu for lunch. It's a great spot along the river. The views very pretty and the food spectacular. This was a two hour break.

They don't hand out menus so you have to figure out what you want before you are seated. They do have a tray of cooked food to show you as well in this display.

While I sat at our table, Ray went to take some pictures of the area.

Look at that drink!

We ordered a seafood platter for 2. It's delicious, way too much food for us though.

Trail back to the bus.

Finally back home at 6 pm. After dropping off our stuff in the room, we headed to the buffet for a bite and finished off the night sitting in the lobby bar for a drink. All this sunshine and fresh air is tiring. lol

We have been unable to take "great pictures" as there have been too many people everywhere we go. lol