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The adventure of explorers, face
to face with nature
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by Ana Luz Velázquez
June 3, 2002. |
Obviously, the adventure of exploration
may involve battling with dust, with some insect or
other, and maybe other sorts of discomfort, but it also
enables us to set our routine aside for a while. With
that thought in mind, we woke up one Friday at 7 o'clock
to meet our friends and tourists at 8, to start on our
adventure of exploring aboard a jeep from the Clover
Rent-A-Car company. They were already waiting for us
at a restaurant in Marina Vallarta with orange juice,
cookies and coffee, Sr. Jesus Lopez, the friendly owner,
and guide Angel Briceño Mariscal who turned out
to be a very knowledgeable person when it came to the
natural environment and the Nahuatl names of the area's
flora and fauna. We soon started out on the excursion
that would put us in contact with the other face of
Vallarta and the Valley of Banderas, their villages
and intact lifestyles.
This was a 7-hour adventure during
which we learned about all sorts of things, starting
with the brick factories along the old road to Ixtapa
where we got to see how the bricks were made. Afterwards,
we took the road to Las Palmas, just to turn off the
road 10 minutes later to take an earthen path at El
Cantón to visit the crops of fruit, corn, beans,
soya, mango, etc. We were introduced to a large variety
of trees like the coyul, amate or copalli. We saw ducks,
quails, iguanas, parrots, cows, zebu, etc. A mere 20
minutes later, we reached Tebelchía, a small
community of 6 thousand inhabitants more or less, on
the way to Mascota. There we rested for a while at Doña
Rita's house. She prepared a delicious guacamole that
we enjoyed with tostaditas and freshly made tortillas.
We continued along the dusty road
into that area of the Valley of Banderas, passing through
other small communities until we came onto the main
highway to Nayarit. We took the turnoff to Punta Mita
and in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle we went straight to El
Paraíso Escondido restaurant, lovely, typical,
with a beautiful view on the ocean. We ate and we rested
for another while. But we weren't finished. We kept
going to Sayulita along the old road that used to link
that community to Puerto Vallarta, also an earthen path,
nearly desolate, that took us to a deserted beach where
we had the chance to go for a dip, something we sorely
needed to wash off all the dust we had picked up on
the road. The sand there is fine and white, we also
found out that just on the other side of the woods surrounding
the little bay we were in was the luxurious Four Seasons
Hotel.
We got back to Puerto Vallarta at
4 in the afternoon, some of us were all dusty while
others were rather wet, but all well fed and cared for
by Don Jesús and his staff who kept on offering
us refreshments and cool water throughout the trip.
The jeeps are well equipped with communication radios,
flashlights and first aid kits, all driven by expert
guides. Our adventure cost us each $64. U.S. Don Jesús
can organize excursion programs based on the explorers'
suggestions, just as long as there are at least 4 persons.
For more information, please call 224-0304.
analuz@pvmirror.com
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