For those tough types... get on yer bike.

Well, we had a spell where it didn't rain for 6-7 days, but now it seems to be set in with the rain mostly at night.

Everybody is either building, rebuilding or renovating for the coming season, which will start around the beginning of November. Some restaurants give their workers a month off and close even though, by law, they still have to pay them.

Among the new places being built is a cheeseburger place on the Malecon. come to Mexico, enjoy the culture and have a burger?.....Nah! Not for me.

Archie's Burger, best in Vallarta!

I'm not against 'burgers', if fact one of my favorite places is Archie's Burger a block up from the Malecon on Pipila (it's a great hang out for SURFERS, and Archie has all the local knowledge). But burgers on the the Malecon (the ocean front promenade)? This town is presented as preserving it's 'Old World Charm' and we already have a 'Burger King' and a 'Subway' facing the main plaza. I wouldn't mind if they had an exterior that blended in a bit. Enough already!

Hate to say it, and I'll probably get no end of flack about it, but these places succeed because the tourists use them. I'm afraid I don't have a very high opinion of the crowd that makes up our present visitors. What we need to do is attract the more discerning tourist, like you lot reading this. If the more traditional and unusual places succeed, the others will fade away - I hope.

New Restaurant in Town

Yours Truly and Alejandro at La Bodeguita del Medio

There's a new restaurant-bar in town, all the way from Havana, Cuba. "La Bodeguita del Medio" was the favorite watering hole of 'Papa' Hemingway and we now have a branch here. The food is Cuban, the live music is by Cuban groups and the classic drink 'Mojito' was what 'Papa' drank. They also sell authentic Cuban Cigars. 'El Patron' Alejandro can guide you through the world of cigar appreciation.

Well, I included in my 'Facts & Fables' page a rumor that the local electricity company was going to bury underground all those ugly wires that festoon this fair city. I treated it rather lightly knowing how things work here - talk is cheap, getting it done is a completely different thing.

Several of our local papers report that the powers that be now say they will actually start work putting in underground wires...in 3 months time! (in the middle of our busy season) and will start to take down the 'ugly wires' starting.......November 2000! (again at the start of our busy season). But, of course this is still all talk!

Now, now, don't start to say how much I'm moaning. Of course you'd like things to be perfect, but living in that sort of world would bore me to death. I really enjoy the uncertainty of everything here. It's like being part of Quantum Mechanics or living in an Eastern mystical religion.

So, the more of you who come to hike or bike the jungle and surf, dive or fish the ocean, and leave your desires for Planet Hollywood (bankrupt, I hear - a good sign) behind, the more chance we have of defeating the likes of McDonald's, Hooters and The Hard Rock Cafe in this town.

News
We now have CNN News on the radio, broadcast every hour on the half hour, thanks to StereoRay 99.9 FM. Just hope CNN cleans up it's act. Many times in the past it has reported some sort of disaster has hit Vallarta - hurricane, earthquake and so on - that has been totally inaccurate. Also on StereoRay on Saturday morning, from 10-12, there is a talk show in English about Vallarta hosted by my friend Richard Kaplan with Local News by another friend Wayne McCloud.

Check your E-mail
At last count there were more than 10 places in town where you can now check your e-mail. Cyber cafes are a growing industry here, some are even in bars so you can enjoy your favorite brew as well as a coffee.

Typical cost about 15 pesos for 15 minutes and some will let you check for free if you take less than 5 minutes.

Thanks to NAFTA, we are no longer denied those little luxuries that were once impossible to find. There is now a Sam's Club (part of Walmart) here and such things as tender, high cholesterol, American steaks and French wines can be purchased. I remember the old days when people were smuggling in suitcases full of Snickers Bars and frozen lamb.

Turtles
It seems that this year is a bumper year for turtles here in Vallarta. On one small beach at the Camino Real Hotel there are already 25 nests containing nearly 2,500 eggs. Some nights up to 5 turtles have been observed laying at the same time. These eggs are carefully removed to a protected enclosure and 45 to 50 days later, when they hatch, the baby turtles are carefully taken to the sea. These protected nests have a 75% success rate as opposed to 20% in nature. The estimated date for the first nest at this beach to hatch is September 5th and everyone is invited to participate in the releases. Great for the kids!

Puerto Vallarta Resident

One last note about a unique feature of Vallarta. That is its people, they are, by far, the most friendly group of people you will meet in Mexico. In fact, of all the places in the world that I've lived and visited, they are the best. I'm maybe excluding some of the upper crust, but they're the same all over the world. The 'common' people are exceptional in their friendliness and generosity. I think I can count on one hand the number of arguments I've heard or seen in 8 to 10 years of being here. Usually it's laughter and music.

Bench Sculpture by Alejandro Colunga

Hasta Luego.

Questions?
If you want more information about this area you can email the author or check out our North America Insiders page.