From San Pancho to Grand Velas

The last 2 weeks have been quite busy and a ton of fun, full of many adventures...

Although each day seems to be a carbon copy of the one before...Pure sunshine, light breezes and 80 degrees....it is easy to have all of the days run together and to forget what date is actually is...(we hear that the temps do cool down a bit in December - February, where the high's might be in the high 70's and low's in the high 60's...not complaining...)

We decided to venture out and take the local bus from Sayulita, North to the next village, which is called San Pancho (or some maps have it listed as San Francisco)...we had heard great things about the village from some gringo friends in town and were anxious to check it out...It was a Sunday and we knew that the town would be more busy with locals and we would get to experience some true Mexican culture...
We walked to the bus stop from our casa (about a 10 minute walk) and arrived to find another couple sitting at the bus stop waiting for the San Pancho bus as well...we started chatting with them and found out that they were from Bozeman Montana...we waited a while and when the bus arrived at the bus stop, we found out that this bus was going South to Puerto Vallarta and not North to San Pancho...and that the next bus North would be approx 40 more minutes...we decided to ask one of the local taxi's sitting at the bus stop how much he would charge all 4 of us to go to San Pancho...he gave us a quote of 100 pesos total (50 pesos per couple)...so we decided to take the taxi...it is only a 10 minute ride on the jungle road and our taxi dropped us off in the center of town...from there it was a short 5 minute walk to the beach...what a beautiful beach it was...long, sweeping, quiet and very few people...the surf at San Pancho is not the best for swimming or surfing because of the undertow...so it is not as popular as Sayulita's beach...
We decided to take a walk along the beach (and Alex & Susan decided to go for a swim and wander around town)...the beach was at least a mile long and it was a great walk...we found our way back to the beach road (which was a cool, old cobblestone road) and happened upon a golf course (who knew?)...it is only a 9 hole course, but what a cool location, set in the hills, with plenty of trees and flowers...we walked up to the club house and found out that it had just re-opened 2 months ago, after being closed for a very long time...new ownership...anyways, we got the scoop on the cost to play 9 holes, club rental and continued on our walk, we loved the quiet peaceful neighborhoods and the local markets, almost no tourism at all in San Pancho...we stopped at several restaurants to check out menus and decided on Maria's for lunch...Shrimp and fish tacos were their specialty...sat out on the patio and had a nice lunch...when we were leaving the restaurant we ran into Alex & Susan, who were just about ready to have lunch at Maria's as well...we said we would wander around town some more and then walk to the bus stop to check out the bus schedules back to Sayulita...The walk from the bus stop to the beach is approx 1 mile...so needless to say we did a lot of walking that day...back and forth...Alex and Susan wanted to have a drink on the beach before heading back to Sayulita and asked us to join them...we spent the next 2 hours just chatting with our new friends and having a drinks...The unscripted adventures are always the best...you never know who you are going to run into and where the days journey will take you...
We walked back to the bus stop, flagged down a big city bus, asked them to drop us off in Sayulita and the cost was 15 pesos each...however, this bus was not one of the very local buses and would only drop us off on the highway exit at the Pemex station (gas station)...we would have to walk from there to the village of Sayulita (again about 1 mile walk)...no worries...we had good walking shoes on and arrived back in to town just as the sun was setting...we invited Alex & Susan up to our casa for cocktails later in the week...however, Susan ended up cracking her ribs while surfing and Alex threw out his back while surfing and neither of them could walk up our hill...I saw them down on the beach later in the week (before they had to fly back to Bozeman) and talked to them for a while...what a fun couple...they love Sayulita and will be back for vacation again someday soon...

Local Bus

Sayulita bus stop

San Pancho Beach

San Pancho Beach

Las Huertas Golf & Beach Club

Beautiful golf course

Maria's Restaurant San Pancho

Still a very a happy couple!

San Pancho is a very eclectic village

Small casa in downtown San Pancho

Streets of San Pancho

A work in progress

Fresh Mahi tacos

Drinks with new friends Alex & Susan

Our Next Adventure was not so much an adventure as it was a work trip (sort of...I guess it really was like a mini vacation)...part of my job of being a travel agent is to go to different destinations and resorts to check them out, so that I know all of the details to sell them correctly...Since I specialize in selling vacations to the Caribbean, Mexico and Hawaii, those are the main areas that we get to travel to most often ...

Before moving to Sayulita, I had not visited the Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta areas that often...we usually visited the Caribbean side of Mexico (Cancun & Mayan Riviera , since they were more popular destinations for my clients)...this past February was Mark's first visit to the Puerto Vallarta area and he fell in love with the beaches, the mountain scenery and the people...that is part of the reason we decided to move to the Pacific Coast of Mexico...anyways, when the opportunity came up for me to go down to Nuevo Vallarta (approx 25 minutes from Sayulita) to stay at a beautiful 5 star all inclusive resort (called Grand Velas Vallarta) for 3 nights to check it out...I couldn't say no...so we locked up our Casa in Sayulita, jumped on the local bus and headed South towards Nuevo Vallarta...what a trip...we took the bus to the exit ramp for the Nuevo Vallarta area, got off the bus and flagged down a taxi and the taxi took us to the resort...total cost only 36 pesos for the bus and 50 pesos for the taxi...when we arrived at the resort we were met with a welcome drink, a cold towel and a neck massage...great service from the friendly staff...we were given a beautiful oceanfront master suite (our room was right on the sand, steps from the ocean) and the food and drinks were amazing.  The resort has 3 infinity pools that all ran into each other, a world class spa, a first class gym and 3 gourmet restaurants...We walked the beach for miles and saw many other all inclusive resorts that I sell in the area...It was a very relaxing and productive work/vacation.  When we checked out of the resort, we wandered down the street to the Paradise Village Yacht club, where we met up with a clients of mine (Brad & Kathleen) from Newport Beach California.  He and his wife had just cruised in their yacht down from Cabo San Lucas and happen to pull into the Marina just as we were leaving the resort... we were able to meet up with them and have a drink on their boat and trade lots of travel stories.  It is crazy when you are thousands of miles away from home and you can meet up with a familiar face...

Lobby at Grand Velas Vallarta

Infinity pool

Beach beds to relax on...

The sunsets on the Pacific Coast are the best!

What a Beautiful resort

Celebrated our 560 week wedding anniversary!

Christmas in Vallarta 2012

Paradise Village Yacht Club...

Best sunset so far...

View of our resort from the Presidential suite...

A great dinner in the French Restaurant

We continue to be amazed at how much fun we are having living in Sayulita... the village, the people, and the adventures have all exceeded our expectations.  Each morning I step out on our terrace and look at the Pacific Ocean, smell the flowers and feel the ocean breezes and pinch myself...I can't believe that we get to live here....and although we really miss our family, friends and co-workers back home a ton...we are so thankful for this opportunity to live our dream.