Leaving Mazatlan, Mexico

From one resort city to another, we'll get to Puerto Vallarta in no time. My earliest recollections of hearing this city's name come from game shows during the 80's. "You've won an all-expense-paid trip to PUERTO VALLARTA MEXICO!!!!!" Can't you just hear it now?

Perhaps the most interesting thing that I learned about Puerto Vallarta is that "Guadalajara and Acapulco were common vacation destinations for gay men and lesbians from Mexico City and, especially, the United States and Canada in the 1980s and 1990s. However, since that time, Puerto Vallarta has developed into Mexico's premier resort town as a sort of satellite gay space for its big sister Guadalajara, much as Fire Island is to New York City and Palm Springs is to Los Angeles. It is now considered the most welcoming and gay-friendly destination in the country, dubbed the "San Francisco of Mexico." Previously quite conservative, the municipal government has become increasingly supportive in recognizing and accepting the LGBT tourism segment and in supporting LGBT events such as Vallarta gay pride celebrations which launched in 2013 and is now held annually to coincide with US Memorial Day weekend. It boasts a gay scene, centered in the city's south-side Zona Romántica, of hotels and resorts as well as many bars, nightclubs, and a gay beach on the main shore. Puerto Vallarta has been cited as the number one gay beach destination in Latin America, with city officials claiming a 5% tourism increase in 2013."

Next stop, Tecoman.The main economic activities of the area are:

• Agriculture: Limes, coconuts, tamarind, mango and bananas.
• Livestock: Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and apiculture.
• Industrial: Citrus and coconut agroindustry
• Mining: Dolomite, limestone and silver

Tecoman is known as "the World's Lime Capital." (source)

I couldn't have been luckier with the location for tonight's stop over. Colola, Mexico. According to LonelyPlanet, "An estimated 70% of the world’s population of black sea turtles, along with olive ridley and leatherback turtles, lay their eggs on the long flat sands of Playa Colola." How cool is that? MUCHO~!

Several international organizations come together to support efforts to make sure the turtle babies make it to the ocean. Most participants spend their time in encampments such as these grass huts.

If  you are interested in learning more about these efforts, please visit these sites (I have no affiliation with any of these websites/programs).

• Cadip
• GoAbroad
• ViveMexico