Spring

 

Spring has arrived.  Note also the display of newfound patriotism. Or is it a Newfoundland display of patriotism?988

For the first time in years my Forsythia are putting out a great show of blooms.

I pulled out and displayed my Easter egg collection.  I inherited a bunch more from my mom.

Here's this year's Easter egg:

Ongoing Kitchen Renos

We had a guy come in and replace the arborite on our countertops.  Then Leo and friend Glen installed vinyl plank flooring.

It was a complicated business and a good idea to have two brains working on it.

All installed.

Then we had a tile guy in to install a backsplash.  Also a complicated process and we're grateful we had a professional come in to do it.

Tiles installed before grouting

And here is the finished result:

All that's left is for Leo to finish the trim.  We also have to buy a new kitchen table as our old one cannot be screwed back into the new floating floor. 

Jardin Botanica de Puerto Vallarta

 

Our last full day in Puerto Vallarta and we went to the Jardin Botanica.  We caught a taxi to the gardens in time for the opening at 9 am.  It's a lovely drive south of PV on a winding highway along the ocean past fancy hotels and homes clinging to the cliffs.  We didn't really come for the gardens (though they are very nice).  It is listed as the top location for birding in the area.  And it didn't disappoint.

We headed for the trails that go from the garden up into the hills and down to the Rio Horcones.

Happy Hiker

Bird of the Day was a squirrel cuckoo, a lifer for both of us, an impressive large bird with an impressive large and showy tail.  Unfortunately, no pictures of any of today's birds as Leo cannot recharge his camera batteries.

The squirrel cuckoo was in this tree but we're not sure who the nest box is for.  Not the cuckoo, they make a nest in tree branches.

We also saw a golden-cheeked woodpecker, a white-throated thrush, masked tityra and some familiar Canadian birds:  Wilson's and yellow warblers and a warbling video.

It's always fun to see plants you know as horticultural varieties growing in their native habitat.  Below is a wild begonia that I could not for the life of me get a focus on the flowers growing on the side slope as we hiked down to the river.

Begonia nelumbiifolia, I believe

There were just a few other people down by the river when we got there.  We sat in the shade and I waded in the stream.

No fun allowed - Puerto Vallarta style

We didn't break any rules!

Down by the river we spotted a citreoline trogon in a tree across the river - lifer!  What a beauty.

Standing in front of the 

And then we heard another trogon calling, though we never spotted it.  Identified by Merlin as  an elegant trogon.  This is the the trogon we've seen in Southern Arizona, a big deal in the US, ho-hum, not so much in Mexico, where they literally grow in trees.

So nice to hang out in the shade by this lovely stream.

Other birds:  the flashy San Blas jay ( possibly a lifer) and we (Merlin) heard a green jay ( which we've seen on previous trips to Mexico and Texas.

We walked back to the Jardin and went for lunch at their lovely restaurant.

The food was the best we ate during the trip.  I had enchiladas with 3 delicious salsas and stewed black beans. Yum. And we got a complimentary glass of Jamaica (hibiscus drink).

Oh, and look at the lovely flowers grown in the garden.

Leo checking out the sweetly singing bird in the bushes next to our table.  It was a northern mockingbird.

After lunch we checked out the garden, including the orchard house

And the cactus house.

Monkeytail Cactus

They had tortoises!

Very well camouflaged tortoises

Eventually we had to give up; it was getting very hot.

We caught the bus back to Puerto Vallarta.  By the time it arrived I was suffering from heat exhaustion.  Luckily I got a seat on the bus.

Whale of a Time

On our second last day we booked a whale tour.  We got a taxi ride to the wharf and had to hoof it the last little way.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle at the wharf when they tried to send us off to another pier but in yhe end we were in the right place,

Our boat was a catamaran but they were not using the sails.  We passed a giant cruise ship on our way out of the harbour.

In about 15 minutes we found our first whale with her calf.  Every year about 500 whales winter in the Bahia de Banderas.  They come here to breed and a year later the females birth their calves here.  Fun fact: they don't eat while they are here, relying on fat reserves from their summer of eating up north.  

There was a cute young family sitting in front of us in the bow.

This is what we saw of the whales:  fins,

Tails flipping,

More fins,

Flukes,

Splashing,

The reality of trying to photograph a whale is you see it pop up and grab your camera just in time for it to go under. Then you focus on the spot waiting for it to come up again but now it's moved to another location.

The whales were not jumping out of the water like you see in National Geographic.

At the very end of our tour a baby whale was breaching but by then Leo's battery was dead (his battery charger stopped working) so no photos.

Having a whale of a time!  But not as good a time as the drunk lady behind us that I cut out of this selfie. She was taking full advantage of the open bar!

Coming back into the harbour we passed the Pirate Ship.  There's a tour every night, including a fireworks display we could watch from our condo.

Beach Walk

We had no agenda today.  Mark and Gina made us a great breakfast.

Ham and Cheese Croissantwiches

And then we hung out under a poolside ramada for the morning.

In the afternoon Leo walked north on the beach.

The river/lagoon next to our condo

As you can see below there are hotels and condos as far as the eye can see.

There were several paragliding outfits on the beach.

On our way back to the condo We again passed within a few feet of the lagoon next to our condo.  Can you see that rock in the lagoon located in the reflection of furthest right of the 3 highrises?

Closeup:

 Closerup:

We noticed a few tourists talking to a security guard near the lagoon. That's when realized they were talking about crocodiles and that the "rock" was a crocodile.

Fun fact:  How can you tell if it's an alligator or a crocodile?  Crocodiles show both their upper and lower teeth when their mouths are shut.  Alligators tend to show their upper  teeth only.  Also, alligators have a broad, shorter snout while crocs have longer, narrow snout.  Lastly, there are only 2 species of alligators in  the world, one in a small area of China and the other in southeastern USA and a small portion of northeastern Mexico.  Florida has both the American alligator and the American crocodile, which is the species we saw in Puerto Vallarta.

But if it's on the Pacific Ocean or anywhere else in the world it's a crocodile.  

Downtown and the Malecon

Today's field trip was to the downtown area and the malecon.  We took the bus down to the Zona Romantica, where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had houses built after filming the Night of the Iguana, thus popularizing Puerto Vallarta as a tourism spot.  We wandered around the artisans' market that's located on a small island in the middle of the Rio Cuale.  

Bridge leading to the Artisans' Market

Street Mural depicting the Motmot

This above is a combination bridge and staircase crossing the river and leading to Gringo Gulch, and upscale neighbourhood.

We walked on to a park with leafy trees

And public art.

Then we headed downtown for supper at the Café de Olla.

I had seafood tacos

We had a nice meal but the place to be was clearly the taco joint next door where the lineup was huge.

After dinner we walked down to the very busy malecon 

For views of the sea

And joined all the other tourists (Mexicans and gringos)

For a view

Of the sunset.