SailingKnitter

First - the progress photo of my "Guernsey Pullover" which is from our Knitalong on the Gansey List Yahoo! group. They yarn is Cottage Craft wool in the color Fundy Fog which is a heathered lavendar color. After endless stockinette (plain knit) it will be a relief to get into the patterning on the yoke!

I love the fake side seam - it is really just a purl stitch in the sea of stockinette, but looks like a seam doesn't it? And I'm using some of the stitch markers on the fake seams that I made the other day - new knitting jewelry.

Finally! I talked some (six) fellow cruisers into driving up into the jungle to the Vallarta Botanical Gardens! I've read about the native vanilla orchids they have on display and have been itching to go see.

The gardens are on the south side of Banderas Bay, just a short drive south of Puerto Vallarta. The drive around the bay and up into the mountains was absolutely stunning (yes, I looked up from my Guernsey Pullover knitting often). As we are nearing the end of the 5-month rainy & hot season, the jungle was in full glory.

Because these mountains are almost always in the clouds/thunderheads, waterfalls decorated the steep walls of the ravines along the road - all gushing wildly. We passed the little towns of Mismoyola and Boca de Tomatlan - great places to hang out for beachside seafood & beer under thatched roof "palapas".

The gardens have several different eco-environments to expore - a lush ravine with ferns & fungi, a raging river over giant boulders, sunny hillsides with tropical fruit trees, blue agave (source of tequila) and flowers. Our little troupe explored it all.

Because this is an area where it rains almost every day, the trails were wet & quite slippery! In some steep areas we were provided with some nice railing to hang onto. I'm happy to say that nobody fell down. The sounds of birds, rippling, dripping water, insects, amid the quiet of being in a remote area was mesmerizing. We felt so priviledged to be able to be there. For $3 US a person, we had this paradise all to ourselves.



There were a few places where we had to "billy-goat"up and over boulders along the raging Los Horcones river. Yep, we walked that trail up until it ended. Then we hiked back and climbed back up the hill to the Welcome Center.

Of course, this being Mexico, there was a dog who decided to travel along with us. Here's a photo of John from the sailing vessel Batu with our escort. This sweet german shepard mix actually became our guide when the trail was washed out and we didn't know which way to turn. Simple. Follow the dog - she's done this probably a thousand times!

Here's a photo of Terry & Michelle from the sailing vessel Coastal Passage II crossing over a creek where the trail had been washed out. Terry wore long sleeves & pants to avoid bug bites. With the heat and humidity I decided to just overdose on bug spray and go sleeveless.

Along the way we encountered giant Banyon trees, interesting fungi, ferns, bromiliads, and vines of every type. Many had signs which told us what we were looking at - in Spanish and some in English.

Occasionally we would see these trees that had bark that sparkled like red metallic! They shimmered in the filtered sunlight and really caught the eye. Unfortunately, we never figured out what they were called. The photo just doesn't really show how spectacular these trees were in the surrounding green of the jungle.

Whew! All of that strenuous activity kicked up our appetites. Good thing there is a restaurant in the Welcome Center! We focused our eyes on the large structure up on the hill. With thoughts of oven-baked pizzas and mexican specialties, we managed to climb the grassy brick steps up to the building.

Goodbye river - we gotta EAT!

Photo of Jonesy at one of the areas we had to climb over boulders - that's the backside of Clista from the motor vessel Shilo scrambling up the rocks. Not to tattle on her, but she's in her 70's! This is how I want to be at that age; agile & bright! Go girl! Photo of me by the river.

And here's a photo of the boulders and swift moving river.

Wow! The facilities are amazing! The Welcome Center is a multi-leveled open-air tropical paradise. Comfortable chairs, native Mexican artwork furniture, and colorful table coverings invite visitors to sit and relax while gazing out across the jungle. I crashed, hot & exhausted onto a daybed as soon as I saw it. It was a hot day as usual this time of year, so the damp breeze coming off the mountains was refreshing and very welcome.

Our little group collapsed at a table up on the veranda. Immediately, a fellow brought out a tray of FROZEN washcloths! The cooling on our faces, necks, arms, legs, wherever was immediate. What a marvelous idea!

With large glasses of limonada (limeade), jamaica (a sweet tea made with bright red hibiscus flowers) and beer, we relaxed and simply soaked in the beauty of the mountains.