Puerto Vallarta- Canopy Ziplining and Baby Sea Turtles

Monday was probably my favorite day of our Mexican getaway. We got to wake up early, grab some breakfast, and then catch a taxi to our excursion pick-up spot. We almost missed our excursion bus but our taxi driver drove nice and crazy fast, and we made it in the nick of time! A lovely 45 minute or so bus ride took us away from Puerto Vallarta, along the coast and into some forests and hills. I loved this Nacho Daddy building we passed along the way.

Our first excursion, we decided, would be ZIPLINING! And not just any zipline...a canopy zip line! It included 10 ziplines over trees and rivers and wildlife, and we were so excited to embark on this adventure! It was awesome. This nice parrot greeted us when we got there.

The sign outside by the road...

Yep we looked like sleep, but we were glad we chose to do early in the day when it wasn't super hot outside yet.

It was so nice being deep in the jungle of Mexico! Sometimes it's nice to get out of the resort where everything is beachy and perfect, and have a different type of outdoor adventure.

Canopy Indio...that's the name of the zipline place we went to. We went with 3 other couples, and had 2 guides who took us on your journey. First we had to leave all our belongings in a locker, which meant NO phones! Bummer. I really wanted some good action shots, but since they sell CD's of pictures that are professionally taken (which we didn't want to buy), we didn't get any. Oh well. We put bandanas and helmets and harnesses on, and then took off on the hike.

I didn't realize it would be such a hike! The 10 ziplines were separated by some small short hikes, and some long, steep stair-ridden hikes! My legs and lungs were burning...definitely proved how out of shape I am! The whole course was over 10,000 feet long, with the last zipline being a half mile long, and the height of the course reaching 700 feet! Pretty cool. The guides were nice and funny, and had people ride with them "Superman" style sometimes, or upside down. I did all mine the regular way, except for the last and longest ride- the half mile zipline! They had me ride Superman style, which was me laying down with my stomach facing the ground, and my arms straight out to the sides like I was flying. It was crazy! I was a little scared, and felt like I was going to hit the ground at one point! We went right over a river, and I was inches from the water! (ok maybe like feet but it felt like inches). I really loved soaring over the trees and boulders and water on all the ziplines. I'm really glad Jake and I decided to be adventurous and do it!

After we had finished, we had about an hour to kill before boarding our bus. Some people stayed and ate at the restaurant, or tried tequila tasting, but we wanted to walk down the road and check out the normal life.

Look, Bree! This made me think of you. :)

We picked up a friend along the road...a stray dog who wanted to follow us around. He was cute, so we didn't mind. Earlier on the zipline course, we had come across two other stray dogs but one had a nasty bloody ear from being in the fight, so we stayed clear of them. Poor doggies. We found this really cool rope bridge going across the river, and walked across to see what we'd find.

It was a residence of some sort, with interesting metal figures out front.

I loved this wall of a building on the way back!

Matchy matchy.

We saw kids outside this building, and realized it was an elementary school. All the school kids that we saw in Mexico wore uniforms, with knee socks and everything,

School

We also stopped at a little store while we walked on the road, and bought some Mexican candy for the girls, and some Lay's potato chips for me and Coke for Jake. :) Tried and true American things. The coke came in a glass bottle that she opened for him, and he drank it on our walk and took the bottle back to the storekeeper. He knew that they are worth money to them, and every little bit helps.

When we got back to the zipline place, it was fun to see another group gliding down the lines. See that black speck in the sky? That was us just an hour before!

I spy a zipliner. Can you see them? It's the peach body right in the middle of the photo in the trees. :)

Aaaand another one! The lines criss crossed and went from one side of the canopy to the other, each time soaring over the river and trees.

On our bus ride back to the resort, we got to see more of the humble ways of living for most of the residents of these parts.

We got to ride past the coast, seeing all kinds of beautiful fancy hotels and resorts on the cliff tops, and then we rode into Puerto Vallarta City Center. Downtown was full of tiny streets, traffic, people and colors! And kids walking home from school with their parents, and sporting their cute uniforms. I noticed that Mexico is the same as in the Bahamas, in that kids love to get snacks and treats from stores on the way home! Ice cream, popsicles, drinks, chips, whatever to tide them over till they get home.

We were pretty wiped out when we got back to our resort, and just ready to get into our swimsuits and lay on the beach. It was overcast, but still nice and warm. The weather was always in the 80's while we were there. Magnificent! Here are my royal blue toes that I got from my pedicure the day before. They made me happy! The endless virgin pina colada's on the beach also made Jake and I happy. :)

Before we left on our trip, I knew I wanted a floppy hat. I had borrowed Brittney's for our Bahamas cruise and loved it. So the week before this trip, I was at Ross and just happened to check out the hat section, and there was ONE floppy hat, hanging beautifully on the rack. And it was turquoise! And it was only like $7! I was super happy...and it matches my swimsuit.

Before we ate dinner that evening, we had heard at the pool from some other people from our group that there were baby sea turtle releasings going on on the beach! At sunset, you could walk to this spot down the beach, pay a few dollars, and see this rescue group release all the baby sea turtles that had just hatched that day. Look how cute they are!!

We formed a line around them, and took all kinds of fun pictures, and listened to the lady talk about the journey these little turtles would embark on.

Sadly, only a very low percentage of baby sea turtles ever survive! They either get eaten by birds or fish or other creatures, or aren't strong enough to survive the ocean life. While we were standing there, in fact, there was a big heron bird swooping over the turtles high in the sky. Everyone tried to yell and shoo it away, and the rescuers had to collect the turtles back into a little pile so that the bird wouldn't snatch one. Such a rough start to life! The bird finally went away, and the release continued. But when they DO grow into adulthood, they can get SO HUGE! It's pretty amazing. My only question is...why can't they wait a few days more until these little babies are a little bigger and stronger? I guess they just need to get into their ocean home and hope for the best.

They didn't start crawling right away...they just kind of stood there lost on the sand. Then the tide came in and picked some up and washed them out into the sea, and we bid them farewell and a safe journey!

The lady kept telling us to keep our eyes out for the teeny turtle heads popping up out of the water, and although I didn't see any, I hope things went well for them.

The few that were left behind were the ones that didn't make any attempt to crawl or swim and just played dead. The rescuers scooped them back up and put them in the box to give them a chance another day.

After that awesome experience, we were tired and hungry and ready to eat dinner. We decided to try the asian restaurant this time, and Jake ordered a big plate of sushi, and he requested the chef to make it gluten free so we could both enjoy! Mmm candied ginger is yummy. I liked the sushi...I'm kind of craving some Right now!

I ordered a soup and a noodle bowl, but both were pretty disappointing. Not my favorite Asian experience. But at least they tried their best to accomodate my needs. Jake ordered fried ice cream for dessert. Haha that's quite the dessert!

I ordered two types of sorbet...one was ginger, and the other was lime. Both delicious and refreshing!

What a day! We were beat and ready for bed, but I think we did stay up and watch some entertainment that night. Loved our adventurous day, checking things off the ol' bucket list of life! :)