Humpbacks and Orcas

On Thursday, June 1, we caught an early taxi back to Marina Vallarta, to go on a whale-watching cruise with Ocean Friendly.  After an orientation (and observing the endangered green iguanas on the trees overlooking the water), we got on a small boat with eight or ten other people and headed off into the bay.  Other than being accompanied for a while by some dolphins, for the first three hours we didn't see much--some humpback whales spouting and surfacing, off in the distance.  The last hour, however was very eventful.  Besides seeing a sea turtle, we finally caught up with a group of humpbacks (probably about ten males chasing a female).  Then someone noticed a dorsal fin in the distance: an orca.  We went to investigate and soon found ourselves in a whole group of them (four or five?).  The fact that they were there may have been one reason why it had been so hard to find humpbacks: orcas (or "killer whales") prey upon very young or old or ill humpbacks.  We got very close to them.  Some of them even passed under the boat.

After walking from the whale-watching pier up the highway to the marina, with a couple who were staying there, we caught a city bus downtown.  That evening we had a very nice dinner at El Arrayan.

Walks

On Wednesday, January 31, we had breakfast, then we walked the few blocks to the Los Arcos Amphitheater, down on the Malecón (the pedestrian walk along the bayshore).  There we met Sandra Cesca, for our own private two-hour walking tour of El Centro, the downtown area of Puerto Vallarta.  Along the way, we learned a lot about local history and visited several craft shops (no hard sell), including a couple of Huichol Indian shops and a candy factory.  She gave us some restaurant ideas, which we used.  It was a very interesting and informative tour.

We had lunch at Gaby's, which is between our hotel and Guadalupe Church.  It was okay, but nothing to write home about.

We then wandered around for the rest of the afternoon, going up the hill above the hotel, then down to the Malecón.

That evening we went on the weekly Art Walk, connecting a number of galleries.  I didn't bring my camera.  The art was interesting--especially the expensive pottery at one gallery--and we picked up a few craft items.

Then we went to dinner at El Carboncito, which would have been on the taco tour, except that it wasn't open on Mondays.  This hole-in-the-wall place was reputed, from several sources, to have the best tacos al pastor in Puerto Vallarta.  They were very inexpensive and very good.