Mike in the Wild

After almost ten months, I returned to Puerto Vallarta.  Again venturing south of the city and its crowded resorts, I preferred to explore the wild and verdant coastline.  And again, I plunged into Banderas Bay, near Majahuitas, to witness the underwater life with my mask, snorkel, and fins.   However last February, the sea was green and choppy, with terrible visibility.  Algae clouded my views of the king angelfish while my sightings of puffers and starfish were mostly thanks to my guide's grabbing the creatures and holding them up to my mask.   I'm happy to say that on my recent December visit the water was much clearer.  Maybe it was due to the season, or perhaps it was the skipper's decision to drop anchor at a slightly different location, at a cove a mile or so further down the coast from Majahuitas's beach.  Whatever the reason for the improvement in conditions, I was thankful. The stop was earlier in the morning than last time; the sun...

As my cruise ship moored, the forays of the flycatchers in the park beyond my stateroom balcony should have been a hint that I was in store for something completely different in Puerto Vallarta.  And the hooded oriole poking through a tree's pink blossoms as I walked to my tour's excursion boat on the next pier was yet another clue.  A short time later, the brown boobies diving in the motorized catamaran's wake confirmed that this visit to the Mexican Riviera's most popular vacation spot was going to be unlike any other before. I've been to Puerto Vallarta at least a dozen times, staying in guest houses, hotels, and stopping for day-long visits off of cruise ships.  The city is most famous for its Zona Romantica, a charming neighborhood of bridges, trees, and red tile-roofed adobe buildings that house art galleries, bars, and restaurants close to the shore.  Sprawling north is the long Malecón leading to mega resorts, while south lies vacation homes nestled in verda...