Saturday 26 February 2005

Feb. 2005 Nuevo Vallarta


From Paradise Village Marina, in Nuevo Vallarta, we took a "chicken bus" to a small village called Sayulita. We just lucked into another one of the Fiestas that seem to abound in Mexico. We never did find out what this one was for...but what the heck! It is a time for eating, drinking and socializing. I would guess that all cruisers could easily become Mexicans as that is what we like to do to! As usual, there were bands and, at this one, also dancing horses. Fancy footwork and Quite unique!

This little guy just sat this horse as though he'd done it all his life...and probably had!
Not a spectacular shot, but just to illustrate a very typical little Mexican town...in case you've never been to one.
This lady, and likely her daughters, are Huichol Indians and do fabulous bead and yarn work work. They inlay yarn or beads into wax covered pictures or sculptures. It is very time consuming and intricate work. They also make jewelery. They had set up their wares in the town Zocolo, or square. Needless to say, I was forced to buy a yarn picture and an anklet. One needs to support the native culture...it's a social responsibility, isn't it?

It was interesting following this band roaming through the town. They stopped at the local meat market, and played for those inside.
We could only surmise that they knew someone inside well as they stayed here quite awhile.
Here are the beach vendors taking a rest and taking stock of their wares. They must be exhausted carrying around these large stacks of blankets and t-shirts, all day, in the heat of Mexico!
This is quite a surfing town. Although we didn't get any shots of the surfers, you can see that the waves and wind are strong. That is sea spray!
On another trip from the marina, we went to the homes of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. While nothing much, by our standards today, they would have been lovely then. They still had somewhat of a view, but now newer building blocked what they would have seen then. I am looking through some of the old photos they had there, before we went on the tour.

They lived in separate houses, across the street from each other(quite civilized as they kept different hours and different housekeeping standards), and the houses were joined together by this pink bridge. Since even then there were always people waiting outside their homes, to catch a glimpse of them, they escaped outside through Richard's back entrance, which was accessed on the street below.
Here we are again at Los Burros. Friends of Ralph's from AMEC, The Bruce's, have an apartment in Mismaloya. We caught up with them for a visit when they were down for a holiday.