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Ok so I loved Puerto Vallarta and ended up staying an extra couple of days although I easily could have stayed longer. Puerto Vallarta is a town packed full of tourists, so the place is very western with a starbucks, mcdonalds etc. All the amenities are readily available and most of the Spanish speakers also speak English fluently. I felt very safe and comfortable. The malecon is gorgeous, walking down it soothes the soul.
I stayed here for 2 weeks, from Sunday 17th February to Monday 3rd March 2008. I took spanish lessons and stayed with a Mexican family. I was really very lucky on all accounts. The Spanish lessons were great, as geeky as it sounds, it was so good to be back at school i do love to learn. I was in classes from 9am to 2pm Mon-Fri, and i would have happily done more if i'd had more time there and wouldn't miss out on the activities outside of school. I was really impressed with the school, very friendly- my teacher was so nice. There was a roof terrace with a snack bar for the breaks and they also offered free classes- I tried the salsa class of course. I was also very lucky as in the afternoons every day I was the only one in the class, so I had the benefit of private lessons without having to pay for it. In the mornings on both weeks I was lucky to have enthusiastic and nice classmates which always improves the experience. I have definately learnt a lot and am making an effort (more so now i'm on my own again) to use Spanish as much as possible, although it was difficult in Puerto Vallarta as as soon as they saw me coming they used English.
The family were also really nice with a beautiful house centrally located- it was a 5 minute walk to school- and right on the seafront. I could hear the waves from my bedroom at night. There was also another student staying there- Claudia- who I got on with really well so we went out a few times.
Anyway, day to day I was a very busy lady. I think I was making up for being ill whilst on the Copper Canyon Railway. The first couple of days were quiet. I was met at the airport by the host family on the Sunday and on the Monday was my first day at school. I did get a little mixed up with the time though, but thankfully Claudia must've realised this and knocked on my door to wake me. I had to do a test so I could be assigned to a class, but being a beginner I had to leave most of it blank. On Tuesday after school I had a late lunch with a couple of the girls and later me and Claudia went for dinner and then browsed the markets. Wednesday I went to the movies and saw 27 dresses- such a good chick flick I highly recommend it. Thursday was the salsa class after school but I got a bit stuck with the turns... It wasn't pretty but I met some more people which was good. Friday was also fairly uneventful after school which was good as I had trips on saturday and sunday.
Saturday I joined a really cheap tour that in theory at least included whale watching, Los Arcos for snorkelling and Playa de Las Animas for lunch and a hike to a waterfall if you wanted. Turned out it was a bit of a party boat, loud music and an open bar including alcoholic drinks. It was fun and i met a couple of girls that I spent the day with, but I was a bit gutted that we didn't really see any whales. Just a couple of fins in the distance. Luckily though I love being on the water so the day was definately not a loss. Did get a touch of sunburn though... Forgot about the reflection issue.
On Sunday I went horse riding and on an ATV. It was a really great day. My horse was called Tomato and he was very cool. The ATV was fun, but so noisy and I came back covered in dust. While we were out on the ATV's I did witness a couple of horses being loaded onto the back of a pick up truck... Met a really nice couple today to hang out with and Cristian kindly took my camera whilst we were riding the horses to get some pics for me.
Monday again was a quiet one for me- I was doing so much in the daytime that by the evenings all I wanted to do was chill out. On Tuesday me and Claudia went to a well known, popular italian restaurant on the malecon- i had the best lasagne ever and we vowed to go back again before we left. That night we went to watch 'Cloverfield' at the movies- not as good a movie as I'd hoped.
Wednesday was a really big day. Today after school I'd booked a sea lion encounter. Claudia decided last minute to come with me. It was so much fun! It was literally half an hour- you get in a pool and stay on a platform, so you're around waist deep. They kiss you and splash you and a photographer takes photos for you. The first sealion got a little bored though and swam off so they had to bring out her boyfriend instead. After this we had a really good dinner at Hard Rock Cafe where I got started on the cocktails, and then we went to Cafe Social- a get together for drinks for the students at the school where the cocktails continued. We went on to a club called Zoo after that.
Thursday was a quieter day again, I finished school today as I was skipping school the next day for something special. Tonight just involved sitting in Starbucks and me trying to catch up on my journal which was 2 weeks behind.
Friday was definately one of the best days of the trip so far. I was a Dolphin Trainer for a day! Randomly we did start the day swimming with sealions (they are so cool!) and then we went behind the scenes and got to check out the trainer rooms, labs and even saw a video of a birth that took place at the centre. It was very informative and interesting. After that was the best bit, swimming with the dolphins! Our group was full- there were 8 of us, and we had two dolphins, Nemo and Mila. They swam around us so we could stroke them and I couldn't believe how soft they were, they felt like they'd been polished. They kissed us, sang, danced and took us for a swim. I did get clocked on the arm once by a tail as one of the dolphins turned so I have a little green dolphin bruise. I didn't mind though they were so great. It was a little gross when Nemo decided to do his business in full view whilst laying on his back for the anatomy chat but so entertaining. You just had to try not to think about what was in the water you were swimming in and getting in your mouth if you were really unlucky. It was a really amazing day and I am so excited about the 93 photos and 17 minute DVD I have to remember the day. That night I could not stop smiling at dinner and kept telling people they should go to. That night we went to a party at the school on the terrace for more merriment.
Saturday morning I got up at ouch a clock in the morning to go whale watching. There are humpback whales in the bay at the moment as they come down to the warmer water for breeding. We were very lucky- the whales put on quite a show- breaching numerous times, tail breaching, and laying on their backs to slap their huge pectoral fins on to the surface of the water. You suddenly gain a new perspective on size when sitting on an inflatable raft hanging out with humpback whales. Another truly amazing experience which was also thankfully captured on DVD for the bargain price of 40 bucks. Money well spent. I was a little slow with the photos so I apologise in advance. I went back to the Italian restaurant with Claudia tonight for a slap up meal as it was her last night.
On Sunday I said bye bye to Claudia and headed off to the Vallarta Zoo in Mismaloya. More animals! In the main the animals seemed healthy, you could buy food to feed them on your way round which was a nice bonus, but I was concerned about a monkley that clearly had something wrong with his mouth. At least he is in a place where he can be looked after. I was amazed to get to cuddle with a bengal tiger cub and a black panther cub. They were so beautiful! The photos will be put on to the zoo website so I'll try and get them on here when I can.
On Monday evening after a day of laundry, sending stuff home that I can't carry anymore and other errands, I got on a flight to La Paz that evening. I was sorry to leave Puerto Vallarta but there is still so much for me to see! So I'm in La Paz in Baja California (still Mexico) at the moment for a few days. I hope everybody is well back home.
Love Sarah xxxxxxxxxx
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