This time, our adventures took us back to Bucerias and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, both places we've enjoyed before.
Our departure on November 21 allowed us to bypass the Thanksgiving Day airport rush, though we were surprised by a 2 1/2-hour wait at Immigration and Customs in Puerto Vallarta – the longest we've ever experienced. Interestingly, we discovered that you no longer need to fill out immigration forms on the plane, but still had to complete the customs form while waiting in line for Immigration.
Upon reaching the Bungalows Arroyo, our home for three weeks, we were warmly welcomed by numerous familiar faces who remembered our names from our stay there in January 2022.
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Bungalows Arroyo. We stayed in the lower left unit on the ground floor.
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On November 22 we were off to the Chedraui for groceries, an experience similar to shopping back home, just with Mexican pesos. The prices were comparable to prices at home.
At the Sunshine Bar that evening, we met Jeff and Stephanie from Ottawa. We had a great time chatting with them and had lots of laughs.
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| We were hoping to see them again, though it didn't happen. |
On November 23, Thanksgiving Day included beach massages and tacos, followed by unexpected fireworks. One-hour beach massages for two cost $900 pesos, which was a steal...roughly $25 U.S. per person.
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Happy Thanksgiving!
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| Tacos and stuffed baked potato. |
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The daily happy hour at Bungalows Arroyo can have from 5 to 20 people. They always provide valuable local insights since many have been spending their entire winters in Bucerias for decades.
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Big happy hour at the Bungalows!
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Exploring abarrotes (local grocery stores) for Mexican ice cream treats was fun because we never knew what we would find.There is always dancing going on in Centro Bucerias.
On November 26, we had a beach day with a bar crawl on Playa Bucerias.
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Enjoying beers and a comfy lounger at the beach.
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We saw the Gecko Band at Jax's, the biggest live music bar in Bucerias. We thought the neighboring roof dogs were hilarious. Check them out in the video below.
On November 27, we rented a car from Gecko Car Rental for three days. We went to Guayabitos and discovered delicious tacos, burritos, and papas at Anahi's.
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| One of the best baked potatoes we have ever had. |
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Julie's burrito was huge!
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We were surprised the beach in Guayabitos was so busy on a Monday and more surprised at the super-friendly pelicans. There were so many pelicans.
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So many friendly pelicans.
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We also visited Lo De Marcos and had a few drinks on the beach. The beach is so different than Guayabitos.
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Corp and Julie posing on the rocky shoreline in Lo De Marcos.
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On November 28, we were off to two more beach towns in the area; Playa Destilderas and Sayulita.
Julie and I had fun picking driftwood on the beach at Playa Destiladeras.
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There was so much driftwood to pick from....we each brought some home.
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Sayulita is one of our favorite beach day towns. We paid $300 pesos for two beach loungers, two chairs, and an umbrella. We love watching the surfers catch waves.
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We loved all the festive yellow flags.
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I found my Mexico Charlie. He sat under my chair for a while and was such a sweet dog!
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Jamie wanted a ride.
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We love Sayulita. The young beach vibe is great!
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The evening included drinks with Kelly and Darlene from the Bungalows, with Kelly giving us a ride home in her golf cart.
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L to R: Darlene and Kelly from the Bungalows.
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On November 29, we hiked from Boca De Tomatalon to Playa Las Animas, visiting four beaches along the way.
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We started our hike in Boca De Tomatalan.
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Say cheese....a perfect photo spot early in our hike.
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The hike was a little harder than we remembered.
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Selfie with an iguana on a rock.
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We decided to take a boat ride back to Boca instead of hiking back. Well worth the $10 U.S.
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On the way back, we decided to stop at another of our favorite restaurants; Canto Palmares.
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Restaurant with the best bathroom ocean view.
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This wall mural is so beautiful!
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Our favorite dish at Cantos.....shrimp tostados.
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We returned the rental car without issues, except for the momentary panic over a lost wallet that we found between the seat and console.
Then we were off on a fun day trip to Puerto Vallarta. One of my favorite places in PV is the tile park in Zona Romantica. We saw it about two years ago when it was first started. A lot of tiling has been done in the past two years. Below are a few of my favorite pieces:
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Enjoying my favorite banana margarita at Margarita Time!
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Corp getting ready to enjoy a tray of his favorite French pastries.
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On our way home, we saw a car driving next to us with a parrot on his shoulder. Too bad I couldn't get the photo fast enough. When she saw we were looking she grabbed the bird quickly so we could get a photo.
On December 2, we bid farewell to Jamie and Julie and decided to explore north of the highway.
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We discovered this huge fruiteria (fruit store). I loved all the pinatas on the ceiling.
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Interesting living art....cactus with steer heads.
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Later, we took a local bus to La Cruz for a farmers market experience. The farmers market was huge, but it was all tourists.
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Corp liked the Mexican paella.
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Yummy cinnamon rolls!
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I was tempted to buy some pasta. It looked so delicious!
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These bird of paradise flowers were so beautiful.
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Tons of vendors at the La Cruz Farmers Market.
Turns out there is a market in town and another market at the marina.
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We almost bought one of these sun catchers. They were beautfiful, but spendy. The large one in the front was over $600 U.S. We think the ocean in the background was what made them so beautiful.
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On December 9, we had a picnic with friends from the Bungalows at sunset.
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L to R: Stu, Mo, Cheryl, Steve, and Corp having a picnic at the beach.
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Another beautiful sunset.
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Saying cheese with my sweetie.
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We also found the roasted potatoes and chicken shack thanks to Steve from the Bungalows.
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| The whole chicken rotates and drips on the potatoes cooking below....so delicious | !
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We also had dental cleanings at Centro Odontologica de la Bahia. It was a great experience, even with with Dr. Leslie humming in our ears. The cleaning cost about $50 U.S. We would defnitely go back. They even discovered I had a root canal that had never been permanently capped so they told me to go to my regular dentist when I returned home.
On December 10, Corp's birthday unfolded with tacos and Blackberry tart at the Buceria Farmers Market, follow by a fun beach day.
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The fruit stand at the Bucerias Farmers Market was very large.
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Corp started the day with birthday tacos.
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I loved these Mexican style Christmas trees.
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A stand that only sold yarn.
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We bought our dog Charlie a new leash.
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Corp with his Blackberry tart birthday cake. Cake #1 on his birthday.
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We had fun hanging out at the beach with some beers, Paloma's and shrimp ceviche.
The beach table next to us brought their pet parrot to the beach. Only in Mexico!
His birthday day ended with a memorable grilled mahi-mahi dinner, (thanks to Murray and Lorraine from the Bungalow's successful fishing trip), Cake #2, chocolate birthday cake this time, a pool-side skinny dip (thanks to the owner Yolanda's suggestion that it's tradition for Mexican men to skiiny dip n the pool on their birthday), and beachside drinks with surprise fireworks. His birthday was memorable for sure!
On December 12, we said goodbye to our friends at the Bungalow's and moved to Puerto Vallarta for a week.
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Corp saying goodbye to our Mexico Mom Kathy.
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Corp saying goodbye to Gordo.
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Looking forward to seeing them and everyone else again next November.
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More of the Bungalow's crew. L to R: Pedro, Steve Cheryl, Shannon, Corp, Connie, and Helen.
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We were thankful Steve drove us to Puerto Vallarta instead of getting an Uber.
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Miscellaneous random cute/funny/interesting/weird pics/videos below...
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Our first sunset in Bucerias.
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Bucerias has a super long walkable beach.
I bet it's at least 15 miles of beach from the marina in Nuevo Vallarta to the end of Bucerias. |
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Met this guy on his birthday at the Sunshine Bar. He was a character!
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Street performers in Centro. The combination of fire and stilts on cobblestone must be tricky!
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