Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

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Two relaxing sea-days after which we were quite excited to arrive in Mexico at noon, Tuesday, 27 March, at Puerto Vallarta, established in 1851 with a population of 850,000.

The ship docked right near the shops which was great for the staff who had managed to get some time off. Most of them were heading to Walmart!

We decided on a tour to see the highlights of Puerto Vallarta and we weren’t disappointed. We were dropped off at the newly renovated Malecon, a boardwalk at Banderas Bay, lined with shops, restaurants and artists selling their wares. The weather was perfect as we strolled along admiring the ornate sculptures. Peaceful and pretty with outstanding views of the ocean and Sierra Madre mountains.

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Our tour guide told us an interesting little story about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. She followed him to Puerto Vallarta, where they had their famous affair and he bought her a home in Gringo Gulch, the Beverly Hills of Puerto Vallarta next to his, joined with a bridge so they could meet at night. They were married at the time, just not to each other!

We visited the beautiful Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe with its ornate concrete dome, saw beautiful ocean views of Olas Altas, several shopping opportunities to buy silverware, leather, jewellery or pottery from local vendors, a snack and complimentary drink at a local restaurant.

We must not forget about the tequila – we found a little place next door to the restaurant to do some sampling of the many different flavours – out tour guide had to hustle us along, we could have stayed there for quite some time!

We thought this was a great introduction to Mexico and it’s a destination we’d love to explore in more detail sometime. We enjoyed our day here very much.

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San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

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Saturday, 24 March: We headed out this morning, very keen to learn something about Nicaragua, of which we knew nothing much at all! It’s the land of volcanoes and lakes and very pretty countryside. There seem to be many lakes in South America that look as large as an ocean, and Lake Nicaragua is no exception, stretching 99 miles long and 45 miles wide. It even has waves!

Nicaragua

Interesting facts: 1) San Juan del Sur has no names on the avenues and uses an indigenous method for finding addresses. Instead of numbered houses, directions are given from nearby landmarks, for example, lakes, churches, trees and even where previous buildings once stood. So, the address might be “the third house after the coconut tree”! Our guide said that letters addressed in the conventional way would take much longer to be delivered. 2) This is a very safe place – our guide told us there is no crime here. (Not a claim that many cities could make these days!)

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Our coach took us on the 90-minute trip to Granada, stopping at the Catarina Viewpoint for a look at Apoya Lagoon Natural Reserve along the way. Lunch was a Nicaraguan buffet of pulled chicken, pork and vegetables in a corn tortilla and a sweet treat at Le Gran Francis Hotel followed by a walk around parts of the 500-year-old city of Granada, with its ornate churches, narrow streets and rich architecture, in the shadow of the Mombacho Volcano.

This city certainly warrants another visit to explore more deeply into its amazing history.

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Puntarenas, Costa Rica

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Friday, 23 March: After two more days of smooth sailing and nice weather, this morning we arrived in the familiar port of Puntarenas. We visited here in 2013 on our world cruise and once again we enjoyed walking around the craft market next to the ship.

Last time we did a boat cruise looking for crocodiles and macaws, so today we decided just to do some exploring on foot to get a feel for the town.

Typical small town with church and museum, a bit shabby. The local people are very friendly to tourists and there were many exchanges of “Buenos Dias” as we walked around.

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Interesting to note that most houses had bars on the windows and doors and many properties were surrounded by barbed wire and razor wire. I don’t think I would like to walk around these areas after dark.