I met actor Vince Edwards (television’s Doctor Ben Casey) at Las Animas in the early 1980s. I mention him here, where I do not mention others, because we became such very close friends over the years. Our first meeting, however, was a bit confrontational. Vince was a big, strong, guy, and had a huge stogie stuck in one side of his mouth. He growled, "So, I hear that you're the tough guy on the beach. My girl talks about you as if you are some kind of Superman!"
"Naw, mistaken identity Doctor Ben. I heard it the other way around. You're supposed to be the Top Gun. I've seen all your pics, and they always make you out as the mean honcho. Oh!, there was a guy here, now that you mention it, who called himself Superman, but he got killed in a parachute accident just about where you're now standing." Vince glanced over his shoulder nervously, "Huh?"
Then, realizing that I was pulling his leg, he grinned and said, "I guess we're both victims of too much hype. I just play the tough-guy parts, not live them. Let's change the subject. What do you do around here for excitement?" As innocently as I could manage, I said, "How about parasailing?" After that, we got along famously. Vince instantly fell in love with Sylvia and my monkey, Carolina, and threatened daily to steal them both. I kept a wary eye on the guy; he was a rascal. It’s hard for me to accept the fact that he is now dead. But then, who isn’t?
It was also in the early 1980s that I rented Casa Guillermo to San Francisco socialites Paul and Pat Clisura. He was in the computer software business, and she was a well-known fashion model. After that first stay at Las Animas, they fell in love with the place.The Clisuras returned and rented the beach house for three months. Soon they became such good friends that we never charged them for rental. Each visit they brought down gifts from the States, and then began to buy local furnishings for the house. It was a good arrangement for all concerned.
Paul, Pat, Sylvia and I spent some good years together at Las Animas. Paul and I got up each morning around seven, grabbed a bottle each of Corona beer, and did a ritual dance on the veranda to the tune of "White Shoes." White sneakers of course. And while Paul and I were "tuning up" in the house, Sylvia and Pat went to the beach to "model" for the tourists. This went on for some eight years, and by that time Casa Guillermo was as much their house as ours.
The Clisuras were at Las Animas during the combat period with my Indian neighbors, who were determined to get me off the beach by any means, fair or foul. They almost succeeded with a cute little gambit that only an Indian could have thought of.
Paul came to me one day with a large plastic bag which he had found hidden atop a closet in one of the bedrooms. He said, "Christ, Reed! I knew you were crazy, but do you realize what will happen to you if the authorities find some 10 kilos of marijuana stashed away in your house?" I sure as hell did, and so did my Indian neighbors. They had undoubtedly planted it there. I grabbed a shovel, ran up the hill, hacked my way deep into the jungle with a machete, and buried the bag. I never told anybody where, and I'm sure that it is still there, either very well cured, or blossoming into a magnificent acre or so of marijuana plants.
Beautiful, peaceful, uncomplicated Las Animas. It was going to hell. Paul and Pat later built a house of their own at Las Animas, right next to our place, and Pat became the official Beach Mother. She adopted all the children. Those little baby Indians are such lovable rascals.

  Last Saturday night was finally inaugurated the so polemic “Parque Hidalgo”. The City Major, Gustavo Gonzalez, his wife, different government representatives and a good crowd got together to develar the commemorative plate around 7 pm. After that Mr. Gustavo walked around the park and shake hands whit citizens and tourists, whom congratulate him for this successful project.
With a big open fountain area in the center, the statue of the Father of the Nation (El cura Hidalgo) on a side and benches to sit all around, we should remember that the main purpose of the park was the Parking Lot underneath with 156 boxes. Hopefully this will actually help for Vallarta’s parking problems.
According to Mr. Gonzalez speech, Vallarta required this kind of infrastructure in order to deserve the place we’ve got as the number one tourist destiny on the national rate. He also said that we, the people living in Vallarta, will have now a beautiful park to enjoy with friends and visitors, without ambulant stands and with the responsibility to take good care of it and preserve it.
So, why don’t you take some time and stop by the new park and let us know how you feel about it, what you think about the remodelation and the innovations? As always, your comments are very precious for us… tool

We always knew we wanted a destination wedding. We choose PV because of its traditional charm and beauty. It was a wonderful experience. Plus We would recommend it to any newly engaged couple! 

On Friday, 25 November 2005 the Library held a celebration to mark its ninth anniversary. Some 250 people were treated to youthful dancers and musicians skills learned in various Library workshops.
A presentation of a plaque by Comité members Sra. Ofelia Solórzano and Licenciada María José Zorrilla to Library President Carlos Munguía Fregoso, in memory of his late wife Elena Castell de Munguía, brought tears to the eyes of many of their friends.
Artist Lucille Shipley presented Bernice Starr’s last painting, completed by Lucille’s children’s painting workshop.
The evening ended with the cutting and serving of a large chocolate anniversary cake to a long line of youngsters and would be youngsters.
Once again, the Library Comité wishes to extend its gratitude to the community for its support and ongoing involvement. 

 by Frank K. Meyer

Thursday December 1, the musical “Fantasticks” became alive once more. And what a night it was! The young actors gave a performance that had all the audience raving about how good it was. It is true that the parents were there, but also were many well known theatre personalities from this area; and they were just as thrilled as were the parents.
To name a few, I saw my old friend, Arden Murphy laughing and clapping his heart out. Mikki Probst was there as was Patrice White, and they both seemed to be enjoying the presentation.
The music, as always, was provided by Nina Venalainen, their faithful pianist. Nina has been providing music for Producer--Director Renee Perez for the past several years, starting with “Cinderella”, and continuing with “Damn Yankees”, “Music Man”, “Sound of Music” and “Guys and Dolls”,and now this current show. Besides spending endless hours doing the music for Renee’s productions, she also teaches piano during the day.
After the overture, during which you see some of the characters scurrying about, Jayce, as El Gallo, comes on stage and sings Try to Remember , and what a wonderful rendition he does. El Gallo introduces The Boy, The Girl, their Fathers and the wall that separates them. He explains that The Girl began to notice a change in her ugly duckling features when she reached 15. Now 16, her sudden prettiness has led her to suspect that she is a princess and that her glue paste necklace is real. In response to her enchantment with her newfound identity, she sings "Much More," a plea for a life that is beyond the everyday and full of magic - the kind of life for a girl meant "to be kissed upon the eyes."
Jacqueline Ruesga as Luisa, sings and acts more like a professional than a 10th grade student. The fathers, Juan Ramon Gonzalez and Rodney Ingram, are quite believable in their roles, and the duets they sing, such as “Never say No”, and then along with El Gallo, “It Depends on What you Pay”, are show stoppers. Matt, the boy, is aptly portrayed by Jeffrey Bernal. His energy doing his part is also fantastic. Speaking of energy, leads me to Henry and Mortimer, the “Actors” called upon by El Gallo from the prop box; they are hilarious. Their costumes are outrageous, and their antics superb. Diego Hernandez is Henry and D’Michael Williams is Mortimer. Last but certainly not least, is the Mute. She is on stage through out the performance, doing various things, like building the wall, but saying not a word. Good job, Miriam Baumgarten.
Needles to say, I was thrilled watching these young actors perform in this latest production. I am sorry if you missed it, but do not despair, for in March or April, Renee will be producing “My Fair Lady” at the American School. I promise you that I will be there, and I hope that you will be as well.

After life-threatening head injuries as a result of a fall two weeks ago, Robert "Beto", Pugh, longtime resident of Puerto Vallarta, succumbed in CMQ Hospital this past Tuesday approximately noon. His sister had arrived from Canada this past Monday and will have his body cremated, Friends said. Bob Pugh had owned and operated the "Se§or Book"
store/restaurant on olas Altas for years. A former professor of mathematics at Stanford University, Bob, a Canadian citizen, had been recognized as a "worldclass" bridge player here and had many friends in the community. Vaya bien, amigo.

Anyone who has visited our beautiful Bay has, at one time or another, seen a Magnificent frigate bird although many didn't know what they were looking at.

These awesome pterodactyl looking birds can be seen hovering in circles near the coast and over islands and beaches.

There are 5 species of Frigate birds world wide, the Great frigate bird being the most common for it's wider distribution Here however, we have the Magnificent frigate bird (Fregata magnificens).

These latter are found usually along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas and the Caribbean. Just like with the Boobies, the two species of Frigates, even though they may reside in a same area, will not compete for food as the Great frigate birds will forage for food further out over the ocean while the Magnificent frigate birds will stay closer to shore.

How did they get their name? Well, just like the frigate ships the pirates used, they are fast and maneuver quite impressively. And just like the pirates, they can be thieves. Although these birds are quite good at fishing, they produce very little oil and therefore, landing in water can be risky for them. Once wet, they are weighed down and because they have up to a 7.5 foot (2.2 meters) wingspan, getting out of the water can be a challenge. For this reason, they seem to prefer pestering other birds such as Boobies and other of their own kind, causing them to spiral around in the sky, until the other bird is so upset as to disgorge its catch. The Frigate will then drop with amazing speed and catch the dropped food in mid air or just pluck it off the water or land. The same blob of food may change mouths, or should we say beaks, many times before being finally swallowed for good...Yuk! Glad I'm not a Frigate bird. Their menu consists of fish, squid, and even other unattended chicks and sea turtle hatchlings just to name a few.

Frigate birds build their nests in low lying shrubs and produce only one single egg. Both parents take turns feeding the chick for the first 3 months, then the female continues on her own for the next 8 months. Wow, that's 11 months! For this reason, it's not unusual to see a chick, almost the same size as its parents, cry while waiting for food. With these birds, it is quite easy to distinguish males from females and even the juveniles are easily identified. The males are completely black (although their shoulder feathers will give off a purple shimmer under the sun) with a bright red patch of skin under their chin called a gular sac. During courtship, a male will sit and blow air into this sac causing it to inflate over a period of approximately 20 minutes. This startling red balloon is spectacular, especially considering that many males usually display it at the same time. Then the males sit quietly in the low shrubs, and wait for a female to fly overhead. When she does, the male will waggle its head from side to side, shake its wings and call.

If the female finds him attractive enough, she will land and sit next to her prince charming.

The females are identified by their white breasts and the juveniles, have white heads and white breasts. So now, you can show off to your friends and let them know the sex of the bird flying overhead or even tell them that its actually a young immature bird, a Magnificent frigate bird of course!

There are many wonders in this world. One only needs to look around to see such beautiful displays of adaptation and survival.

"Nature could be such a wonderful teacher if only we saw it for what it really is" ~ Monachí.

We take this opportunity to invite you to witness these wonders with us. We specialize in small groups and take pride in our personalized, informative, quality service. We offer an array of outdoor low impact activities to suit your needs and desires. Your participation will contribute to the conservation of these important natural resources.

APOLOGIZE, v.i. To lay the foundation for a future offence.
Ambrose Bierce

My stint as a restaurateur lasted about 18 months; just long enough to make my partners rich -- by their standards.

All of their kids now had shoes and decent clothing, the burros had been traded-in on pickup trucks, and everyone had learned quickly how to keep a set of double books. There was even a bank account, into which excess monies kept pouring in daily. What more did they need? Certainly not a gringo partner any longer. Tacho came to me one day, APOLOGIZED profusely, and "returned" my investment.

The peso/dollar exchange rate had changed from 22.50-1 to something like 220-1 by this time, so of course they elected to pay me back in pesos rather than the dollars I had given them. Just like that. They had talked it over, and decided that the business should be kept in the family - Tacho, his sons, and a nephew.

Tacho said that his family complained that I was getting 20 percent of the business, and I didn't work in the kitchen, didn't wait tables, serve as a bartender, clean fish or prepare vegetables, or anything! I just sat around in the bar and played guitar and sang songs, and drank rum. They didn't think that was worth 20 percent.

I said, "Tacho, do you realize what you're saying? Don't you understand that the reason that you have over 200 people a day in your restaurant is because I put them there? I deliver them to your restaurant daily, and encourage them to buy food and drinks.

I keep them in your restaurant by playing guitar, so they will not wander up the beach and eat at Pichon's restaurant. If you tell me that I am no longer your partner, then why should I do this? Perhaps I will take them to Pichon's, then where will you be?"

Tacho smiled at me as if he were talking to a child. Couldn't I see that he was already successful beyond imagination? People came to his restaurant because they loved the food and the service. His family provided that. If a few tour-boat customers strolled up the beach to

Pichón's, so what? There were more than enough tourists to go around, and more coming every day.

In short, they didn't think that they needed me at all.

The money should be split between the real workers in the family. I was amazed! Tacho and family had absolutely no concept of what public relations meant. They had no idea of what I had done for them. I had to go. So I did. Well, two could play at this game. The following day I carefully briefed Captains and crews of both Bora-Bora boats about what had transpired, and they agreed to anchor at Las Animas directly in front of Pichón's restaurant, some distance up the beach from Tacho's. As we disembarked, I instructed every person aboard both boats, by bullhorn, to go directly to Pichón's restaurant, right next to my beach house. Of course that's what they did - all 200 of them. Perhaps six people wandered up the beach as far away as Tacho's.

About two weeks later Tacho came to me almost in tears. What was going on? Why was I not bringing clients to his restaurant? Why was I taking everybody to Pichón's? Was I no longer his friend? Was it the money? Perhaps they had been hasty. Perhaps we could work something out... I told him to forget it. I was familiar with his exchange rate and sense of fair play in business. He had taught me.

The impressive Sierra Madres. Many mountain ranges in the world can be considered as impressive. Aren't we lucky? We have the Sierra Madre Occidental right here in our own backyard! So let me take you through this spectacular trail and perhaps, you'll want to experience it for yourself.
This walk through virgin nature begins at a certain altitude above sea level. This allows us to reach heights that allow for a bird's eye view of part of the Bay. The beginning is like a walk in the park. Really easy walking. You encounter vegetation of a variety so wide that I would find myself between a rock and a hard place if I had to name them all. You can see trumpet trees, palms, bulled-horned acacias, red paper trees in plenty, bamboo and shrubs of all kinds.

Along the way, you pass a typical Mexican ranch like house in the middle of nowhere. Extraordinary that some people can live so far in the middle of nature. A few dogs will happily greet you as you pass in front, excited to have company.

The area is filled with birds of all kinds as well. You can hear doves, chachalacas in great numbers, yellow-winged Caciques, San Blas jays and many more.

Then, it goes up and up and up.....not too bad, but a few may want to take a break here and there, just to catch their breath. The climb doesn't last long and is well worth it. The view it affords is quite breath taking.

From there, it's all downhill and extremely pleasant. You encounter many little creeks, flowing in the rainy season, creating an enchanting lullaby, and dry otherwise, allowing passage for wildlife. There is a nice canopy for shade and the air is cooler around these parts; just what you need after the short climb. The peacefulness of this semi-deciduous sub tropical jungle is heaven on earth.

There are many places where you can stop to have a sip of water of even a snack while listening to the chanting birds and watching life go on all around us. Butterflies go by, birds fly overhead or are in the process of making their nests, and lizards lazily sit there in the underbrush keeping cool. Ants are hard at work creating moving highways of natural detritus and you, well, you just sit there and enjoy the opportunity of being blessed enough to just be there.

The great part of this trail is that in about 2 to 2 1/2 hrs, you'll reach a little town where you can have refreshments in a beautifully landscaped restaurant. you start at one point and end in another, no need to turn back and go through the same trail again.

In all honesty, this is my favorite trail so far, but don't just take my word for it, come see for yourself. So take a hike, not figuratively speaking of course, but rather literally. A hike within the impressive Sierra Madre Occidental.....you'll be happy you did.

Almost everyday, as I take my dearest customers out on a tour, and discuss with them the immense biodiversity that can be encountered in our bay; I find them to be surprised when I mention crocodiles. "There are crocodiles here?" they ask, with a look of astonishment on their