I Heard What...?

The Rain Gods finally woke up!  At Condominiums Pilitas #204 the first Rains of the 2013 Summer Season occurred @ 12:50 AM on June 21, 2013 (Sorry Charlie…lol).  I had just turned off my Kindle and sat down in my office to review last minute emails from my “spam fans”, when I realized I smelled an odor of “fresh wet soil.”  Then I heard Dolores voice, from her office, saying “what’s making that strange noise outside”?

Realizing the Rain Gods had finally blessed us with rain, I rushed outside to the front veranda, sat in my reading chair and watched the rain drops dent the water in the swimming pool just below.  We´ve had several light rain´s since until this last Tuesday at 5:30 PM when the season’s first “gully washer” arrived, accompanied with thunder and flashing lightning over the Bay.  The dry river bed just to our west finally had water flowing from the hillsides into the Bay.  The local niño´s had a great time playing soccer in the partially flooded street, trying to kick the ball as it floated and bobbed in different directions.

Those of you in the PNW would probably consider us crazy; however, the first cooling rains are a wonderful experience in the tropics and everyone makes it an exciting moment.  Of course as the newness finally wears off it does become much less exhilarating, however a relaxing mid-day rest on the veranda coupled with a quick jump into the pool under an overcast sky with the temperature hovering around 84F still has it over the alternative from where I sit - sunshine and 90+ degrees.

What Are The Rain Gods Thinking: Redux

Here we in June with the rainy season rapidly approaching.  The blue skies are showing gray and the view of the bay is becoming more obscured.  As you all are aware from one of my earlier blogs, “What are the Rain Gods Thinking”, I´d already confirmed my brother-in-laws status as a seer when he proclaimed to me one evening while we watched the sun set over a couple of tequilas (possibly better stated “while the sun set as we watched over a couple of…you get the point) that the rainy season begins on June 14^th at 4:00PM, and from my in-resident studies I´ve found that to be accurate at least, approximately, 75% of the time.

Having established that as a local Legend (ref: wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend, “A majority of legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted.”) I ask once more What are the Rain Gods Thinking?

FACT:

 

Sunday June 2, 2013 at 5:45PM (approximately since the clock backup battery failed during the resultant power outage) the initial rains of the season began at Calle Pilitas #204, Condominiums 204.  This was actually very welcome by all the neighbors who brought chairs into the street and watched and conversed about the happening, then,

 Monday June 3, 2013 at 6:00PM, the same thing repeated itself, causing 6 power outages. I finally gave up resetting the electronic clocks, then,

Tuesday June4, 2013 at 6:30PM, another repeat, causing the end of the local street soccer pickup game, and the sighting of unfurled umbrellas.

Since all this deposited less that .0125” of precipitation in the area the buzz is that the “real” rains won´t really begin until June 14^th at 4:00PM… Más o menos

A New Seasons “Trip” south of Puerto Vallarta –La Manzanilla, Melaque_Bara De Navidad

 

Nicole (Nicky) and Heather, aka, “The Kids”, revisited us last month for the second time this season.  When they were here over the Thanksgiving holiday Dolores and I had talked about showing Heather a small Mexican town named La Manzanilla (Little Apple), approximately 200K from Puerto Vallarta, just off Route MX 200, at the south end of the La Costa Alegre, “Happy Coast”.   It is a small, quaint fishing village of approximately 1700 locals employed in fishing, restaurant, grocery, and construction businesses. The town got its name from a tree which grew in the area called Manzanillo and the apple like fruits are Manzanillas

 

Next to the town is a high-tide Mangrove Lagoon that harbors Egrets, Heron, King Fishers, Ibises, and American crocodiles, plus shrouded waterways accessible with a local boat guide. The town shares a flat beach which stretches for over three miles, a small surf, fine brown sand, and many mom & pop sand-floor palapa restaurants offering the catch of the day, cold cervesa, and front row seating to view  the activities on the beach.

 

The Beach

 

 

Highway MX 200 is very good; but, curvy, so averaging around 40-45 mph for the trip was the best we could do.  After we traveled through several small towns south of Puerto Vallarta and climbed upwards over a winding road past El Tuito to near the village of Playa de Quemaro where the road finally straightens out for the next 60 miles.  A 20 mile part of this stretch is still under construction with the macadam pavement having been scrapped with a blade then covered with small gravel to hide the holes – the result a jarring ride at 25 MPH that created a dust cloud that must have rivaled the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma & Kansas during the mid-1930´3.  There was a 5 mile stretch of completed pavement at each end of this construction zone that gave us a “clue” as to what the finished product will-can-someday become.

 Being without rain for several months La Manzanilla appears the same small dusty Mexican Village that we´ve come to love during the period of 6-7 years that we´ve visited; however, we noticed that the main street has been completely repaved with bricks, including the square.  Traffic consists mostly of locals driving an equal mix of SUV´s, pickup trucks, bicycles, ATV´s, plus an occasional car. Squeezing our way down the one-lane portion heading South we stopped briefly at Café de Flores (our planned dining place for this evening) and waited while Dolores went inside to set reservations, check the menu and decide our table location for the evenings dinning.  We then proceeded to the village square (zócalo) past the church and up the hillside to our place of lodging – Brisas del Mar.

 

When we arrived the rental agent said they´d need a few more moments to finish cleaning the unit, so…we decided to go and find the cooking school location for the next day’s 11 AM class that we´d signed up to take, then go to Yolanda’s on the beach for some guacamole and cervesa.  Finally returning we filed inside to be rewarded with a magnificent view of the beautiful Tenacatita Bay.  Not only was the view as wonderful as memory serves, the rooms were immaculate, cool, and I was able to commandeer a spot for a short nap before getting ready for the evening’s festivities at Café de Flores.

 

You could ask “Why do we make this trip to a small, obscure, dusty, village.  Several years ago my brother-in-law, Dr. Charlie Sacamano and his wife, my sister, Shirley became involved with the development of landscaping for El Tamarindo (currently closed), a beach & golf resort encompassing approximately 2,040 acres of nature preserve. The resort’s private beach and tranquil bay is unparalleled for water activities, while the lush forest environment made outdoor exploration a natural focus.  Eventually Charlie became involved with the everyday maintenance and continuing growth of the property and they invited Dolores and me to visit.  At the time the Company was remodeling an older ranchero on the property as their resident so they arranged for us to stay at a condominium in La Manzanilla.  With both families being “foodies”, as well as adventuresome, we discovered a quickly expanding restaurant scene in not only La Manzanilla, but also in the neighboring area of Melaque/Obregón-Barra de Navidad.

 

Our focus on the current restaurant scene in La Manzanilla included:

·         Figaros (renamed from Coco´s) – Italian

 

·         Café de Flores – Eclectic Gourmet

·         Jolanda´s – Asian/European

·         Martins – Mexican, International

·         Palapa Joes – Hamburgers, Mexican, Open Mic Entertainment

·         Tacos Capu “Chop Chop” – Manzanilla Original Street Taco Stand (with beach service)

 

I won´t review each restaurant; however, we did manage to visit most during this visit while photographing of few of the 300 plus population of “American crocodiles” at the Federally protected “high-tide Mangrove Lagoon”, browsing the Palapa Bars in Barra de Navidad, and attending a cooking school in La Manzanilla.

 

Heather had a fascination with the Mexican Federal Ecological Zone comprised of approximately 2.45 acres (507.01 ha.) which features over 300 American crocodiles (caimans), many of which have reached a length of 15 ft. and 750 pounds.  One named Poncho is said to be over 20 feet.  No “petting” allowed!

Overview of Lagoon

 

Poncho and Buddies

 

On a previous trip to La Manzanilla Dolores heard about “Eileen’s Cooking Classes on the Costalegre” and had called the owner, Eileen.  She wasn´t scheduled for a class during that visit; however, we determined to attend one of her classes on the next trip.  Nicky and Heather were also excited with the idea so we had scheduled the class on-line ahead of our trip.

 

Eileen of La Manzanilla

 

 At 11:00AM the next morning after our arrival we joined Eileen and 4 other local students for a class on Indian (India) dishes, i.e,

·         Vegetable Pakoras with Cilatnro Tomato Chutney

·         Sag Paneer (Spinach wtih Fresh Cheese and Tomatoes)

·         Exotic Bengali Shrimp Curry

·         Cardamom Shortbread

Each class lasts about 2 ½ hours and is “hands on”, as the students learn to prepare dishes under Eileen’s tutelage. We formed in teams of 2 and worked together creating the meal and then adjourned to the cool front terrace of her casa to enjoy a luscious luncheon complete with a Jamaica beverage.  This was an experience we will definitely repeat on future visits.

Class Ready to Eat

Our favorite restaurant in Melaque is Maya, owned by two Canadian Chefs.  On this trip we found that they had moved from the beach front to a location 1 ½ blocks away.  This new location has a beautiful inner courtyard and their new food focus is Tapas.  It’s a wonderful new approach and we were fortunate to visit them on this trip since they were ending the season and returning to their restaurant in Canada at the end of the week.

Maya - Courtyard Right

Ready to Chow-Down
 

 

 

On the third day we headed back to Puerto Vallarta, stopping in El Tuito for a brief break, relaxing with good friends over refreshments and tasty snacks, before continuing on to our condo in “Old Town” arriving safe and satisfied…with only one more chore…unpack!  

Semana Santa and Other Thoughts

The two week major Mexican holiday period of Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Pascua (Resurrection Week) comes to its ending today, Saturday, April 6.  It´s always a big week when schools and businesses take a holiday, and this year with a strong peso (hitting its highest level against the dollar since September 2011) thousands of Mexican “Nationals” visited the beaches of Banderas Bay.  The beaches have been bursting, the streets jammed, and the Malecón filled with people enjoying food, fireworks, and live entertainment.  So for the past 2 weeks we´ve experienced the excitement of a two-week-long party in Puerto Vallarta.

Today the streets are navigable at normal speeds, the expanded (and very helpful) tourist police presence is not visible on every corner – I can double park for the cash machine – and the incessant noise of car horns and alarms are not assailing the senses.  The party goer´s have done gone…my neighbors local rentals have dark windows and the party “flags” (beach towels hung on balcony railings) have disappeared.  Am I happy or disappointed…let me think!

Courtesy: PV Mirror

Mexican Joe´s Calle Pilitas condo project “Bella Loma” was put on hold approximately 4-5 weeks ago after we saw 6 inspectors huddled across the street in front of our Condo Building talking with him and his construction foremen.  Seems he had combined “poor” construction techniques with bad spacial (measurement) judgment, thereby encroaching on other existing buildings space.  He did retain a small crew “cleaning” the site, then two days ago, Dolores, observed the yellow “poop” truck creeping down the street and said something to the effect “I´ll bet a$$angements have been made and construction will be restarted very soon.”  Rebar and mesh arrived yesterday and today concrete pours are still proceeding late this Saturday evening.  Hopefully the job will be allowed to complete before the rainy season begins in June.

The "Bella Loma" Project

T2P @ PCC

Sorry for the acronyms, just couldn´t help myself.  The following is an article (promo) I wrote that is in the current PV Mirror CITY PAPER.  For those of you who haven´t been able to read the recent issue I´m putting it in my Blog.  Its a fun concert and the pesos go to a wonderful cause.

"

Paradise Community Center Presents

Love ? by TIME TO PLAY

 The pre-Christmas concert “Always in Season” held at the Boutique Theater introduced to Puerto Vallarta an amazing musical group, TIME TO PLAY.  This was an exciting evening filled with an eclectic musical genre of folk, rock, pop music plus a touch of favorite seasonal carols.

Brought back by demand this coming February 13^th and 14^th , the Paradise Community Center will present TIME TO PLAY, in a new concert titled, Love ? “Selections from the groups growing repertoire will focus on both traditional and more colourful dimensions of love and romance themes exploring love’s other colors and obsessions; courting, seduction, love gone badly, and so on”.

Inspired by the musical vitality of Mexico, TIME TO PLAY’s founding members, Garry Carson (guitar), Mary (violin) and Don MacLachlan (bass), decided to rekindle an aspect of their lives long put aside for professional careers, and adding the talents of Lois Rogers (vocals and keyboard), Joy Lehman (vocals), along with guest musician Enrique Jimenez (drums) brought forth TIME TO PLAY to the burgeoning Vallarta musical scene.

 This talented, amazing group sports strong musical backgrounds:             

Garry Carson grew up in a musical Irish family surrounded by instruments and performers.  During his teens and twenties he played as a soloist and sang with numerous musical groups prominent in the western Canadian club and television scene. In 1969 he played with “The Lovin’ Sound”, a vocal group he started with Don, and hosted a National Canadian CBC television series, “Welcome to Our World”.

Don MacLachlan, after graduating high school bought a string bass on a whim… three days later he was on stage with a 'garage band' folk group, eventually, forming his own group - 'The Lovin' Sound', the start of a long association with pop and folk music.

Mary MacLachlan received her degree in Music Education from the University of Alberta, taught instrumental music and performed for years with the Edmonton and Calgary Philharmonic Orchestras.  She helped found the Puerto Vallarta Chamber Orchestra and acted as concert master for eight years.

Lois Rogers musical background includes teaching and performing on classical piano and conducting national championship high school choirs and for 20 years ran her own piano studio in Edmonton, Canada.

Joy Lehman for over 20 years sang with worship bands and provided backup vocals including the local Paradise Community Center Band. Also in Puerto Vallarta, before joining Time to Play, Joy sang with the amazing Quesadivas, the Banderas Bay Chamber Choir, and Classic Choral under the direction of Nick Salmans.

Enrique Jimenez was introduced to music by his famous Cuban guitar playing Grandfather, Armando San Vicente, and by 13 yrs old, he was sharing his passion for drums with others.  After gigs in Veracruz, Monterrey, Guadalajara and the Hard Rock Cafe in Mexico, Enrique came to Vallarta and played at Hard Rock here until it closed.  He now plays in the Paradise Community Band and can also be heard backing Kim Kuzma at the Palm and at Nacho Daddy's.

A romantic evening in paradise – BE THERE!"

TICKETS & INFO – Paradise Community Center                           •Show 8:00pm

Tickets Available at the Door or Online       Advanced General Seating $200 or

Online Box Office Open 24/7                         $250 at  door; VIP  Seating  $350       

127 Pulpito, Zona Romatic                             Social Hour 6:30pm

                          Special Valentine 4 Course Dinner and Concert $395 pesos

                                           www.ParadiseCommunityCenter.com