A map of western Mexico, showing the location of Puerto Vallarta.
Puerto Vallarta (w) is also on the Pacific coast of Mexico, but further south, in the state of Jalisco. Here's a map:
A map of western Mexico, showing the location of Puerto Vallarta.
Today's adventure was something I've wanted to do for a long time - swimming with dolphins!
After getting off the ship, we boarded a tender which took us a little ways up the coast to the dolphin facility. After getting ready for the water:
Terry and me, in our swimsuits and life jackets.
...we got into the pool and were introduced to our dolphin, Tlaloc:
Terry and me, in the water, with our dolphin.
We spent some time getting acquainted:
Tlaloc patiently endures us examining him.
...and we discovered that dolphins, like dogs, enjoy belly rubs:
Tlaloc is floating on his back while we rub his stomach.
And then came the fun part. Tlaloc lay on his back, and Terry held on to his flippers, and he took her for a ride around the pool.
Terry rides on Tlaloc, with a huge smile on her face.
Terry and Tlaloc then danced together. She held on to his flippers, and they bobbed up and down in the water, while he made squaeky dolphin noises.
Tlaloc enjoyed the dance so much that he rewarded Terry with a kiss on the cheek:
...and then it was my turn:
Me riding on Tlaloc...
...dancing with Tlaloc...
...and getting a kiss.
Tlaloc then impressed us all with a dive up out of the water and back down (expand your browser to full screen for the best view):
Seven pictures, taken in rapid succession, showing Tlaloc coming up out of the water, turning in mid-air, and diving back down into the water.
At the end of our visit, Tlaloc waved bye-bye to us... with his tail:
Tlaloc's tail sticks up out of the water, as he waves goodbye to me and Terry, and six other members of the tour group.
We got out of the pool, got showered and dressed, and went to have a buffet lunch. Again, it was not impressive. But the lunchroom was interesting:
A view of the lunchroom from outside. It's an open-sided building with a high thatched roof.
Inside, the lunchroom, showing how high the roof is.
I took a picture of some local wildlife:
Two small birds perched on a railing.
The tender took us back to Puerto Vallarta. Since the ship wasn't due to leave port until 9:00 PM, we all decided to stay ashore for dinner. As we walked past the ship on the way into town, I took this picture, just because I thought it looked interesting.
The prow of the ship, with its name painted on the side, tied down to a stanchion on the shore.
We took taxis into town, and walked along the Malecón, a walkway along the beach with a number of sculptures. At one point, I took this picture of a church:
The church is made of red brick. It has a tall bell and clock tower in the center, and two smaller bell towers on either side. The tall tower is surmounted by a metal crown.
...which I found out later was La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe).
We wandered a while, and eventually found a small seafood restaurant where we had a very good dinner. And then we wandered around some more, and some of us did some shopping, and then we all took cabs back to the ship.
And that was the end of the day's adventure in Puerto Vallarta. And that's the end of this trip log.