The next day took us to Puerto Vallarta. Arriving early to port we embarked the ship only to board another ship minutes later (albeit of a much smaller scale). Seating a maximum of 30 people, we took an inflatable speed boat about 30 minutes south to Mismaloya Beach. Although it was a bumpy, rugged ride, it was very enjoyable to be out on the open seas skimming along with the cool breeze in your hair and the refreshing clean ocean air in your lungs. To add to the journey, we got a chance to see a couple of dolphins and whales playing on the surface.
Quite majestic!
The mountains along the sea side loomed above us as they grew out of the morning mist. There were antiqued abodes abundantly placed along the ridges. As we forged closer we entered into a picturesque bay reminiscent of every tropical Mexican movie ever made. This is what I imagine the Brazilian Rainforest to look like. It also reminded me of Costa Rica.
Check out that Tree of Life! After departing the boat we proceeded to take our 2nd mode of transportation. It was said that the area we were in is where the movie "Predator" was filmed. Therefore it was only fitting to take was can only be termed as a Mexican dump truck fitted with benches in the back. After our driver decided to do impromptu donuts on the mountain road side we began to question the sobriety of our driver. A 30 minute drive up the mountains on road and off road lead us even deeper into the forest.
Narrow roads and steep hills gave the truck troubles, however we chugged forward like the little engine that could. We finally arrived at our location which seemed to take place on the set of Jurassic Park. It was some sort of nature reserve that house some exotic plants, trees and wildlife.
I mean just check out how beautiful this pond was!
By now you may have guessed what our second adventure was. ZIP LINING! We have done this one other time in Jamaica and absolutely loved it! We got suited up with gear and helmets and immediately became excited for what lay ahead. This adventure was entitled the "Extreme Canopy Adventure" with the key word being Extreme. This was the "advanced" course where we left the children and elderly behind. We proceeded to the next mode of transportation which, low and behold, was a group of donkey's. Yes donkey's. Who rides donkeys? Now I have ridden horses before but this was years ago so I was not know what to expect. I did find out that donkey's have a terrible temper as mine tried to bite other donkeys that would try to pass it. It almost ran someone off the road! Crazy donkeys.
Arriving at the top of the canopy we over looked the entire valley. There was only one way down so we jumped into our first zip line. These lines were much quicker and longer than those we had expereinced before. Everything in Mexico feels a little dangerous, however we felt completely safe at the same time. Being naturals on the lines, we flew through the 12 stages and levels of zip lines. Intertwined into the stages we encounter obsticles such as rope lines, wooden bridges and even water fall rock walls. How were we to get down the waterfall you ask? Why rappel of course. Like navy seals dropping from the sky we dropped down two different waterfalls. One time we bounced off the rock face and the second time was a 4 second free fall into the pool below. Awesome!
To end the amazingness of the canopy adventure we took our final mode of transportation. A giant flippin water slide. Now I've been to America's Largest waterpark, but this is Mexico's fastest waterslide. Like I stated before, everything in mexico feels a little dangerous and this water slide was no exception. They said it was only a couple months old and I don't think any safety inspectors had rode it yet. Though it would never be OK in the states, it was wildly exciting. Unfotunately this concluded our days fun as we embarked the deathly dump truck enroute to the speed boat and eventually back to our cruise ship.
You will notice there are no pictures nor video. They explicitely forbid any photography or video. They said it was for "our own safety" however it was just because they wanted us to buy their crappy pictures for an inflated price. No thanks. Though we don't have any pictures to share, the memories are burned deep into our brains. We shall never forget.
After showering and grabbing some food, we headed to the theater to catch the nights show. We were pleasently surprised to find that a small gaggle of locals had come to entertain us. In true mexican tradition, we were entertained by authentic folk style dancing and acapella singing. Oh what a show they put on! They even invited a couple cruisers on stage for a grand finale. "Es una fiesta cada dia!"
We then headed topside to watch as the ship leave port and depart for it's three day journey back to Long Beach. Peurto Vallarta, you will be missed. Bon Voyage!
There's those towel animals!
The last two days were spent playing cards, reading books and just overall relaxation. We found a couple from Montana and played Rummy with them for at least 4 hours. We also met a few older couples from all over the states and they told us stories of the Cold War and flying the AC-130. We ran into one of my co-workers and even had dinner with a nice couple with Wisconsin ties. Not only were they a sweet old couple, they turned out to be another one of my co-workers aunt and uncle. How crazy is that?
We arrived back in Long Beach early Sunday morning. Our flight didn't leave until about 7:00pm that night so we has 10 hours to kill. We ended up going to a movie then grabbing lunch to watch the Packers/vikings game and the Seahawks game. With no other Packers fans in the place, I was feeling alone. Though 20 minutes later my wishes were answered as about 30 badger fans came funnelling fresh from the Wisconsin Badger pep-rally held in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. We sat with another old couple from Appleton (notice a trend of us getting along with older couples) and shared stories from the homeland as we rooted forth the home team. Unfortunately it resulted in a loss however we had a grand ol' time. We headed back to the airport for our flight back home. It was a great time and definitely something we would like to do again.
Here's some extras:
