Punta Vallarta Mexico

Puerto Vallarta is now a large city on Banderas Bay with many beach resorts and is a significant tourist designation. The city first served as a small port and fishing village immediately after the Spanish discovered it in 1525. In the 1960s, filming the Richard Burton movie Night of the Iguana led to rapid growth inspired by Hollywood celebrities. The city’s warm climate and low cost of living have also attracted a large Expat community of Americans, Canadians, and others.

We were on our own for this visit. We took a shared van from the pier to the Malecon, a long paseo (boardwalk) along the seaside edge of the town. We saw quite a bit of local culture and lifestyle. All along our walk were shops, restaurants, and bars. Artistic metal sculptures lined the beach. We saw four men in Aztec costumes, representing an ancient ritual by twirling upside down, on one leg, around a 100 foot pole. We sampled the local favorite for lunch, Molcajete, a mixture of meat and seafood served in a bowl made of volcanic rock. Excellent