Last Blog from Bandaras Bay!

Hello all! We thought we'd fill you in on our last few weeks in Bandaras Bay. We spent one day in Puerto Vallarta, taking care of some business but also having fun! The malecon in Puerto Vallarta has many cool statues, including this one!

For the two weeks of Easter here, the artists build huge sand sculptures. This is a re-creation of The Last Supper, all done in sand.

Local fish market in Puerto Vallarta. Boy, can they clean fish fast!

Stephan "climbing to the stars" with the other creatures.

We returned to Nuevo Vallarta for one more night to fill the water tanks, clean up the boat and of course, enjoy the water slides at Paradise Village. This is Joe with our good friend Nora, who keeps her boat here year round.

We also spent an afternoon with our good friends, Duane and Dorothy, on the boat Raven. They spend half the year in a condo in Nuevo Vallarta and the other half in Oakland. Nice retirement, huh? We love talking to them - so many stories!

One last stop in La Cruz to get fuel, collect mail and of course say good-bye to our fabulous friends on the beach. Maria is on the right. Her mother, Guadalupe, and her sister, Lourdes, came to visit from Guadalahara. Thank you all for your wonderful hospitality, rides into PV, gourmet meals and friendship. We will miss you!

Victor and Finn are three weeks apart in age and like twins. They both love Star Wars, Legos, video games and movies. Victor had an overnight on Wildflower; it was hard to say good-bye.

Mariana is turning 7 on Saturday; she is very excited to fill and whack her pinata! Victor, Sr.: so sorry we didn't get a recent picture. Catch a dorado for us this year!

By far, our favorite stop in the last two weeks was Yelapa! Yelapa became a cult destination in the 60's for many free-spirited Americans looking for a simple existence. As of this year, there are no roads into Yelapa but you can get there by flying into Puerto Vallarta and taking a ferry (1 hour) or a mule through the jungle (? hours) to Yelapa. Everyone should go; as they say, "Better a palapa in Yelapa than a condo in Redondo!" Just look at this one perched on the hill. Yelapa is at the base of a mountainous river valley and the architecture ranges from multi-million palapa want-a-be's to quaint, cliff-side, brick shacks with thatched roofs and no windows. Yelapa is famous for Ricilla, a local moon-shine/tequila-like beverage with hallucinagenic properties (if consumed in sufficient quantities). Ask Joe!

Yelapa has two waterfalls - this one is a short, twenty-minute hike from the beach. There was very little water falling this year and they are building two eateries at the top. Here is Stephan and Finn at a gigantic tree with reaching roots.

Yelapa must receive all goods by panga (small boat). Everything within Yelapa is transported by mules, horses or the occasional quad. The horses must walk over uneven, cobblestone trails, many of them near vertical.

The longer hike takes you through the river-side settlements and into the jungle to a magnificent waterfall oasis. It takes a vigorous two hours to hike in but what a treat once you arrive! For the faint of heart, you can rent horses for most of the trail and hike in the last 20 minutes. This is our favorite tree. Somehow, a jungle tree has become host to a large vine and a coconut palm growning from a fork in its branches.

On accident, we managed to herd a group of cows along the trail, carefully avoiding horns and the occasional bovine land mine! A local Mexican women helped Joe reunite a lost calve with the herd. Finally, some local dogs chased "las vacas" off the trail and into the river bed.

Here was our treat! Doesn't it look inviting?

For those of you who wondered when? Yes, jungle boy (complete with self-made loin cloth) has returned to his native land! Good thing it was just us there! If you want to see more, get in touch with Stephan!

We cooled off right under the falls!

We had lunch and watched the boys play and explore. Needless to say, after the long hike back, we were exhausted and ready to feed and sleep!

For all our boater friends, taking a mooring ball for 150 pesos that night made sleeping so much more possible. No aft anchor and no rolly, rolly, rolly! Worth the extra money.

We found this dug-out canoe floating in Yelapa!

Finally, in Punta Mita, Joe found a local welder to fabricate a newer, stronger auxilliary rudder for Wildflower. Joe designed it and the welder put it together exactly right. We are confident that this new steel rudder will serve better than the last (i.e. no more hand-steering for hours on end!). And don't worry, it is now painted white! Many thanks to Rafael and Nicole at Mita's Pizza for wi-fi, contacts and wonderful pizzas.

Tomorrow, we are off to La Paz with a few island stops. It is time to cross back over and head into the Sea of Cortez!