Week 6 March The Pets of Bucerias

I refer to the attached picture as the “designer” dog, which is obviously pampered by its owner, and this dog was seen on various occasions with a different outfit, and I would not be surprised if it has a large wardrobe.  Pampered pets in Mexico are more common than a few years ago, but there are many more abandoned pets around Bucerias.  Many of the abandoned dogs we met were not threatening, but they were often docile and looking malnourished. 

To Julie’s delight, we encountered many stray cats, and each day our walk included bringing them cat food.  There were two main areas, along the road to the town centre, where we stopped to socialize with the cats – they became our adopted pets.  Many of the cats were fearful of humans, and often they hid underneath cars or in culverts.  Only two of the eight cats allowed us to pet them, but after a few weeks they became more comfortable with our presence – especially since we were bringing them food on a daily basis.  When people at Vista Bahia heard that we were feeding cats, we often had people at our door dropping off rib bones and chicken bones to bring to the cats and dogs.

One pet I wish to acknowledge is Coqueta (English translation is flirt).  This is one crazy dog who loves to lick strangers. (Similar to the dog who would not stop licking the Global News Anchor)  Leslie and Kosta adopted her and within a few weeks Coqueta was stolen.  Coqueta was eventually returned by the thief (for the reward), and the same person later stole Kosta’s laptop.  Coqueta is not much of a guard dog!  Bucerias is not a big town and thieves are usually not very smart, hence the police eventually caught him trying to sell the computer in the town centre (near the police station).   

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Week 5 February 23rd Fundraiser at Philo’s

I’m truly amazed how involved Philo is with the La Cruz community -- hosting Christmas gift-giving to the community and many other fundraising events throughout the year. Philo is also a seasoned and gifted musician, who also brings in other Mexican entertainers to his bar to perform, and he often performs to a sold out crowd. And many thanks to Leslie and Kosta for introducing us to Philo’s.

 

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Week 5 February 21st He shoots he scores!

McGonagalls Pub beats Philo Bar 3-2 at their annual futbol tournament

 

The game at 1-0 for Philo Bar…Pekino taking the ball from his goalie and quickly passes the ball to Mario, who sends the ball down the right wing to David who takes the ball down to the Philo goal line and back to Mario at the top of the box. Mario tees up the ball and fires a low shot that the goalie was not expecting…goooooooooooooooooooal! The crowd was frantic as McGonalls Pub responds quickly to tie the game and went on to beat Philo Bar 3-2. Unfortunately Philo Bar, winners of last year’s tournament forgot to bring the trophy as they had expected to win over the McGonagalls Pub aging team members. The young Philo team under estimated the abilities of the much improved McGonagalls team.

Weeks 3-5 February 3 - February 23 Happy Hour!

There have been studies done to measure the happiness index of major cities and the results were most interesting, and can be compared to our own happiness. Would you ever think that the width of the sidewalk would be a factor? It has been reported that happy cities have a sense of community, have fun, have an environment to enjoy, and are peaceful and safe. The reality is that human interaction is fundamental to achieving happiness, and life in Bucerias has maximized our happiness index. We have met some wonderful people and have enjoyed many evenings together sharing life experiences. Therefore when hearing “happy hour” it’s not about having cheap drinks, but about engaging in conversation and enjoying the company of friends.

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Week 2 January 27 - February 2 Towns close to Bucerias – PuertoVallarta, Nuevo Vallarta and La Cruz

The beauty of Bucerias is its small town atmosphere and of course its proximity to a big centre like Puerto Vallarta with it's many restaurants and shops, a resort destination like Nuevo Vallarta and a much smaller Mexican town like La Cruz that is frozen in time and has resisted the development of resorts.

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Week 2 January 27 - February 2 Animals of Banderas Bay

It was not our objective to discover wildlife (no, not the girls-gone-wild type), but there are animals and insects are all around us as we walk the Banderas Bay area. It is truly amazing, the variety and the bright colored birds, and the sea-life on the shoreline – puff fish, rays, eels, turtles and sea snakes. The most amazing discovery on our walk to Nuevo Vallarta was turtle eggs that were hatching. From the shore we followed the tracks and discovered a nest. The majority of little turtles were gone, but remaining were the late hatchlings which were having difficulty leaving the nest. We dug them out and carried them to the water's edge. It was so cool to watch them swim away.

Note to self – don't try to pull an iguana by its tail from a hole. I gave this some thought before trying, but obviously not enough. There was meter long bright green iguana at our condo. I ran down to get its picture but it ducked into a hole when I came too close. I noticed that about 12 inches of its tail was exposed and I decided to pull it out so I could take its picture. The iguana's skin felt very rough, and I was surprised how strong the iguana was. I gave up pulling because I was scared that I would pull off its tail, which is a normal reaction of many lizard species as a last resort to avoid capture. I'm glad the iguana out-powered me. I had forgotten about the iguana's long and sharp claws that were being used to resist my pull. Had I been successful pulling the iguana from the hole, I might not have been prepared to deal with its sharp claws and the potential damage it could do to my body.  Mario that was dumb, just like the time when you chased the black bear to take its picture.

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Week 1 January 19-26 Bucerias

About Bucerias
Bucerias is located north of Puerta Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta, but is more of the typical Mexican town rather than a tourist destination like PV and NV. There are a few resorts at the south end of Bucerias, but the centre of town is more traditional – with beach front restaurants and many merchants selling souvenir trinkets, and only a few fine dining restaurants. There is church at the city centre, but the souvenir vendors dominate the area. There are a variety of small grocery stores in the city centre, but the big grocery store (Mega) is a 10 minute bus ride away.

The beaches are great with many miles north and south to walk, and warm waters for swimming. There's also high surf in some areas and great for boogie boarding. And there's lots of wild-life with eels, rays and puff fish on the shoreline. Fishing is good from the shore and there are many divers seen collecting oysters that are immediately brought to local restaurants.

During our first week there was a carnival in town and a holiday festival with typical Mexican music, dancing and food. Unfortunately the carnival experienced a tragedy on its last day, with a family (father, mother and daughter) dying in a fire that may have been deliberately set. Since we had been to the carnival, we were saddened to hear about the tragedy, and I'm sure this was a difficult time for the other carnival families.

About Vista Bahia Suites
Life at the Vista Bahia Suites is quite unique because it is an older and small complex, and occupied mostly by visitors from Canada and the US. Vista Bahia is an old hotel converted about 15 years ago into a strata and all units are individually owned. We are renting from Leslie and Kosta who are Canadians from Whiterock, BC and are now living full time in Bucerias building a home. Our condo is about 2km from Bucerias centro and therefore it is very quiet – except for the crashing waves 50 meters from the building. The beach is great for swimming and some people are fishing from the shore. There is a pool and outdoor patio to BBQ and have group functions. The view is awesome and we met some wonderful people from BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Wisconsin and California.

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