CRUISE (Part II)

1) a pleasure voyage on a ship, usually with stops at various ports
2) to move slowly through or visit

First stop -- PUERTO VALLARTA! Of the three ports, we had a FULL day here -- and you better believe, we packed in as much as we could! 

We started off our day by disembarking and hoping right on to a bus to head to Nuevo Vallarta, the home of Vallarta Adventures and the moment I had been waiting for! 

Swimming with dolphins was even more amazing than I could have dreamed. Vallarta Adventures has an amazing facility -- the grounds are well kept (in fact it feels like a jungle as you walk around the different parts of the facility), the dolphins (and sea lions) are not only well cared for but LOVED, and the food might actually have been the best/most authentic meal we ate.

The entire shore excursion lasted about three hours (including transportation time), which meant we had about 45 minutes in the pool with the dolphins -- yes, we swam with two! We had one "teenager" and one mother-to-be. Each time the girls did a trick for us or participated with us, they would get a small fish and have a moment to swim around and receive some love from us. It was so awesome that we not only got to experience them through kisses on the cheek, splash fights, dorsal fin swims, etc. but we also just got to pet them in a casual, unscripted environment. After our swim, a larger group of dolphins put on an awe-inspiring show for us! After the grand finale, the trainers spoke about how important it is be good to dolphins in their natural environment. It was very refreshing to see these trainers speak openly about how much they love this species -- and not that they simply use them for their commercial value. If you are ever in Puerto Vallarta, I HIGHLY recommend Vallarta Adventures!

After we got back from the most amazing morning EVER -- we headed to the beach. No sooner were we on the beach then we were up in the air. Parasailing! I truly cannot put into words how stunning the view was from just under the shade of my parachute. How are there so many different shades of blue -- from the sky to the sea? Seeing the bustling city from the air was a wonderful contrast from being on land. 

The rest of the day was spent heading into el Centro and slowly wandering our way back along the beach (side note: when get got home, I used Google Maps to see how long the walk back was...5 miles! Ooops, no wonder we were exhausted!). We saw some famous sights in Puerto Vallarta, such as Our Lady of Guadeloupe, Los Arcos, the pier, etc; did some souvenir shopping; and best of all eating/drinking (can you say $1 beers?!). Once we were back to the ship, we headed to dinner and then slathered on the aloe vera. 

The next day was back to sea, and then the next stop: Loreto -- as we continue the CRUISE!