Day 31: Another Adventure

Flag Day in Sayulita

Today was another surprise adventure day for Sue. We started the day with breakfast at El Expresso and watched the Dia de la Bandera (Flag Day) parade pass along the main street  from of our table. All the kids from the surrounding schools were there, of course waving flags.

We then had time to visit the Friday Farmer's Market before catching the bus to the entrance to Nuervo Vallarta on the highway, and walking the half hour in to meet once again at Vallarta Adventures. This time we were going zip-lining through the forest on their Canopy Adventure.

Trucking to the Canopy Adventure

Eleven of us piled into a truck and drove an hour past the airport and into the hills, where they have 150 acres of forest rigged with a trail of zip lines. The staff are all young, enthusiastic, and very safety conscious. They handled all the harness and connections and taught us the basics we needed to know to stay safe without overloading us.

Then it was up into the trees and for the next two hours we zipped and zapped down numerous lines ranging from 60 to 120 meters. Also had to do two rope rappels and some of us chose to do a harder route that involved climbing back up 20 or so meters up a rope ladder and across part of the canopy on small suspension bridges. We learned that they are in the process of building a 1.4 kilometer line that you will ride horizontally, and then end the trip on ATVs.

At all times we were connected from our harnesses to a safety line and when switching lines our guides always connected us to the new line before disconnecting fro the previous line.

Unfortunately for safety reasons we were not allowed to take our cameras with us, and once on the course I understood why - we had to use all our attention and both our hands to focus on what we were doing.

They did had a photographer follow us, and my only complaint with Vallarta Adventures is that they then charge almost as much as the trip for a copy of the digital images. It would be for better if they simply set one price that included everything instead of nickel and diming you to death.

Then another hour's truck ride back to the main center, where we had just enough time to shower, get changed and have a drink before we set out for the second part of the adventure.

We passed a pirate ship in Banderas Bay

For Sue's evening surprise I had booked us on their Rhythms of the Night dinner and show at Las Caletas, an isolated cove on Banderas Bay below Puerto Vallarta.

My surprise was that there was 500 people heading out in five boats. Not exactly in intimate evening I had imagined, but we went with the flow and the MC on our boat was funny and kept us entertained for the hour or so it took to get there. We Stopped at Puerto Vallarta along the way to pick up the majority of the passengers.

Thankfully I had been warned by Eduardo, who sold me the package in Sayulita, to dress warm and wear shoes not sandals, as it was cool on the boat, and cold on the return trip.

Rhythms of the Night (Photo: Vallarta Adventures)

The staging for the show was well done and the
show was a collage of dance representing the history of the region. There were some good acts, but overall I think Sue and I have been utterly spoiled by Cirque du Soleil that it was hard to sit still on the hard wooded bench seats, especially as by now we were starving.

We did not have dinner until after the entertainment which ended around 9.30. They did a good job of dividing the 500 people up into small sections that were separated from each other by candle lit pathways and burning torches. The dinner itself was an unremarkable buffet, and we felt rushed  knowing we only had a half and hour or so before the boats left. It was a good experience, but not one I would overwhelmingly recommend as I would the dolphin training and the canopy adventure.

We got back to Nuervo Vallarta around midnight and got a taxi back to Sayulita for not much more than the official set price that we had been told, and collapsed into bed around 1.30am.