Mike in the Wild

On my first trip to Yelapa, last February, I was enchanted by giant, white butterflies that flitted through the jungle, never stopping long enough for me to capture a photograph.  I wasn't disappointed as there were so many other things to shoot in that remote, picturesque village that hugs the coast of Mexico south of Puerto Vallarta.  Most exciting were two brand-new bird species for me: the yellow-fronted parakeet and the golden-cheeked woodpecker.   However, on my recent return to Yelapa, right after Christmas, I didn't encounter a single noteworthy bird.  So instead, I focused my lens on the exotic butterflies, which seemed to have multiplied in numbers exponentially from my last trip.  Alas, this time, those enormous white ones were nowhere to be seen.  Pink cattleheart in Yelapa. Juno longwing, or juno silverspot, in Yelapa. Malachite in Yelapa. Cloudless sulphurs in Yelapa. Many-banded daggerwing near Yelapa.

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...