I shot roughly 450 exposures on our trip to Puerto Vallarta so making a web
page out of them seemed a daunting prospect. Thao took my prints and
choose her "Top 20 picture", some 40+ pictures she though were best just
because of the image. This page shows most of those pictures and a
little story that lead to them. I didn't often use my Medium
Format camera (Sand and it don't mix) but I do have a
Medium Format page. We also used
some disposable underwater cameras, so take a look at some
water pictures.
We stayed at the Mayan Palace in Neuevo Vallarta, about 20 minuets north of
Puerto Vallarta. The resort has a relatively private beach, a massive
swimming pool and lots of lawns. I was surprised to find so much life
there
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The pool is large (perhaps 500 meter long) and kept refreshing
cold. Some days we stayed on the islands in the pool and the walk back
was always "invigorating".
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Sunset
Puerto Vallarta is on the West Coast of the Mexico so looking west is looking
across the Pacific Ocean. The sunsets were great if a little hazy.
A week into the vacation we found the waves at Sunset. We would run
out at 5:30 and play in the waves while the sun set. The waves were
never huge - perhaps a meter above our heads, but they were fun.
The City of Puerto Vallarta
We spent some three days downtown. Downtown is quite touristy - lots
of vendors, a wide promenade on the beach, lots of art. It's nice to
see and it tastes somewhat of Mexico, but it's very commercial.
The Church really stands out against the background of the city.
First, it's old and built of bricks - not plaster. Second, it's not
selling anything. There are poor kids selling chicklets on the stairs
and lots of stores near by.
Below is picture of corn husk lacquered statues (3 USD -> 10 USD depending
on where you buy it) and shot of a resort across the Marina.
The Kids
Foreign country, different values. I'm not a huge fan of shooting kids
without permission but a few were just so cute.
Day Off Cruise
The cruise was around bay that Puerto Vallarta was on. The large catamaran
was stable and fast. The cruise started at 9:30 am and first drove to
the Marinates islands - a group of islands in the center of the bay.
On the way we saw humpback whales and a large manta ray. The islands
are a bird sanctuary and are covered in nesting sites and small caves.
The snorkeling was great. The rest of the day we cruised back along
the the southern shore and looking at beaches and the city. The people
on deck turned into lobsters, and I discovered that gravol and a little alcohol
makes one heck of a drunk.
Snorkeling
Four of us brought all our snorkeling gear (we were expecting to go diving)
so we had to go jump in the ocean at every available opportunity. The
first two shots are from our day in the cab and the third shot is at Punta
Mita.
Other Fun
On the road between downtown and our hotel was this huge (>1km) Go-Kart
track. We stopped by twice, once in the day, once in the evening.
The second shot is at Chico's Paradise and the third is just before Chico's
Paradise.
Playing on the Beach
We took a few different beach trips. Our first day, we took a walk down
the beach (second shot) and day 5ish we took a bike trip to the other resorts
(shot 1, 3, 5). I don't remember when I picked up that shot of Wyatt
but he's just so cute!
