From Mexico to Vertigo cont.

No, I had never been on a canopy tour and a zip line but it sounded fun and I have come to the conclusion if you think you might like to do something...at this age you best go ahead and do it!

Yes, we were the oldest people in the group but the advantage...they were very nice to this chunky old lady:) First you go into this little staging area and in a flash you have on the harness, gloves and helmet (which makes everyone look stupid by the way). Next comes some quick instruction and a few safety tips and you are one your way..............................

Now, what I hadn't thought of that in order to get to those wonderful HIGH zip lines, you have to climb, climb, climb and climb. That indeed was the hardest part and especially since the weather was near 80 with 70% humidity, but let me tell you.....it was worth it!! The staff was so very nice to me...the pulley weighed around 25 lbs and you were to carry your own but they always carried mine for me (I am sure that my beat red face helped them feel sorry for me), but honestly the staff was really great. There was a total of 14 zip lines with each getting higher and faster. I would do it again in a minute if they install elevators haha.

After you are done you are back at the staging area and everything is removed and nice clean hand wipes helps you feel refreshed. You then go into the Cantina to have a shot of Tequila (if you are brave enough) and then free to go into the Jungle Restaurant for lunch or swim in the river with water slide and all. The bus and tour runs every hour so we had decided to have a nice leisure lunch at the restaurant Down below is where you could go swimming and a couple of the girls on our tour did. There was another area up to the left of the restaurant where they had some monkeys in cages and a python that you could put around your neck if you wanted (I passed) but you could also go into one of the monkey cages and feed these two little squirrel like monkeys.....I opted to do that. The girl that went in with me was not that impressed so wanted out but I was just fascinated with them...they would jump on your shoulder and eat and etc. I asked the man if I could stay in and feed them some more and he said no problem....he forgot to give me more food but low and behold the one little monkey decided he liked me and came and sat on my shoulder without the food...next he was on my head giving me a good grooming, he checked in my pants pocket to be sure there was nothing there, he gave me a hug and.....................................................................................................................

cuddled under my chin, laid on his back in my hand and folks.......I fell in love. He was the sweetest thing ever and if I could have I would have brought him home.

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Now I have debated whether to share the next part of this tour because the last thing I want is to leave a negative view of Puerta Vallarta or this tour but I have decided to tell the rest of the story but please read all of it...........................................................

As I was getting ready to leave the little monkey cage we heard a loud blast and then suddenly two more small ones. The next thing we knew people were running out of the restaurant in a panic and the guy was hollering at us to get out of the cage. We were all herded up a dirt road away from the buildings. No one seemed to know what had happened but it obviously was not something good. A lot of people were saying all kinds of things and some people were responding in such a stupid manner, like saying, well we are all fine so we can just relax etc.

To make a very long story short the Bandito's got information that it was Friday (payday) and there would be a lot of cash on hand so they came down from the jungle and robbed the Cantina, one of the drivers tried to stop them and he was shot and killed. From sharing this with you these are the things I want you to take with you...............................

Bad things happen everywhere

Mexico is a anti-gun country......which really means that only the bad guys have guns, not the good guys and there aren't enough cops to be everywhere.

They got the buses ready as quick as they could and drove us back to the city, as we departed from the bus one of the guys ahead of me told the driver he was sorry....the driver was near tears and said "He was my best friend". So the last thing I leave with you is that even in the mist of such tragedy they did everything to keep us (tourist) safe. This isn't something you just shake off and my heart goes out to them even now.

Now you may call us crazy but we had another tour scheduled on Sunday that was going to take us into the jungle and .....................................................................yes, we went.

(more to come)