| | |  Vallarta Living | July 2008 
Out and About in Puerto Vallarta
 Twila Crawford - PVNN
| | From all kinds of fun things to do to the latest news and gossip, Twila has the inside scoop on everything that's going on in Vallarta, so if you want to be "in the know," be sure to read this week's Out and About in Puerto Vallarta. | | |
Be sure to visit Vallarta Botanical Gardens this summer. Cooler, greener and prettier than ever! "The Gardens are a living museum showcasing some exceptional examples of the abundant natural diversity found in the Puerto Vallarta area," founder and curator Bob Price, explains.
Bob points out, "In the morning and again in the evening, squawking groups of Lilac-Crowned Amazon parrots are active, wheeling through the skies above. Kingfishers ply the waters for tadpoles and minnows in the sparkling Los Horcones River that creates the Gardens' western boundary. At night the eeerie hooting of the Mottled Owl adds a spooky note to the cacophony of forest sounds." For more information, email: info(at)vallartabotanicalgardensac.org or telephone: 223-6182.
A group of us visited the 170-year-old Hacienda Jalisco after a beautiful drive to San Sebastian in the mountains. The setting of the Hacienda is peaceful. The town is lovely with its plaza and shops. So immaculate. For further information, visit HaciendaJalisco.com.
An appreciation dinner was prepared for some of us by gourmet chef Dolores Brittingham at her home. The food was incredible. Joining in enjoying the evening with several of us were Alma Cardena, Madelyn Hernandez and Alex Diaz. Alex, very charming, heads Fiancee Vallarta, a magazine with wedding details. For information, email vallarta(at)fiancee.com.mx.
For U.S. celebrators, what a wet Fourth of July, huh? I was out when the rain began so I fought the currents of curb-to-curb water at Vallarta and Basilio Badillo to join friends at the Treehouse Restaurant. With being rain-drenched, the barbequed ribs tasted mighty good. Jim and Sue Brockway waded home in the downpour because it didn`t appear the rain would stop for awhile - and it didn't. Reggie Malinoski showed up, talking about his exercise and self-defense classes. Email him at ahsoovallarta6(at)yahoo.com or call 044-322-116-3396.
A reminder that there are "Boundaries" classes also - email Pamela Thompson at pmt15(at)hotmail.com. I keep hearing persons talk about what has happened to them. Then an incident happened to me this week for the first time here - mercifully taken care of by responsible persons.
Got to talk some with busy Estelle Eisen. She is enjoying her real estate career selling condos at the "soon to be reborn Garza Blanca Preserve, on the site of the old beloved Garza Blanca." Estelle says the view from her office is of the beautiful Los Arcos rocks. "Not a bad way to spend the day," she point out.
Her husband Hans Holzfeind, after enjoying a year of retirement here from Carnival Cruise Lines, and "finding himself bored," went on to other exciting times. He was recruited as executive chef for a resort in Saudi Arabia. Estelle says, "When he got there, the facility was still under construction... and he and his crew of European sous chefs sat around for three months."
Meanwhile, he was recruited to work for a Banyan Tree Resort in the Maldive Islands. The islands are a group of coral atolls in the Indian Ocean south of India and Sri Lanka. He is executive chef at Angsansa Velavaru, on its own island.
Estelle says Banyan Tree is planning perhaps a half-dozen exclusive resorts in Mexico within the next three years. "Hans hopes to be able to work eventually in Mexico." Estelle is going to southeast Asia to visit Hans before high season here begins for Estelle's own work with Garza Blanca Preserve, where developer Gonzalea Corona is creating his own dream. Estelle can be reached at her office: (322) 228-1209.
Bill Dallas Lewis, who ia a worldwide educator from the computer here, and who wrote the Silly Billy children's books, lives near the beach. He computes and video and web conferences from Vallarta with schools and corporations and designs websites for hotels in Puerto Vallarta. Lewis can be reached at bill(at)sillybilly.com.
A top international film festival of short fiction, documentaries, animation and first feature length films will run July 18-22 in San Miguel Allende and July 25-27 in Guanajuato. Many invited films will be from Bollywood, the guest country, India.
More than 77,000 persons attended the film festival last year. Founder and director Sarah Hoch received support from then Governor Vincente Fox to stimulate film production. Hoch says film departments have developed in Mexican universities with growth in film production in Monterrey and Guadalajara. Hoch points out, "We want the future of the film industry to be tied in with Mexico," a goal being accomplished in San Miguel Allende and Guanajuato by good leadership.
We seem to need to stay alert about so many things these days from crime to food, and heaven knows what in between. Add another. Stay alert concerning airlines. Flights are being cancelled to Mexico, including Puerto Vallarta, so keep double-checking. Hope my flight moves out... and yours, too!
 An award-winning journalist, Twila Crawford lives in Puerto Vallarta, where, in addition to contributing articles to BanderasNews, the Vallarta Tribune and other local publications, she writes Out and About in Puerto Vallarta, an informative column that offers inside information about who, what, why, where and when it's happening around Banderas Bay.
Click HERE to read more articles by Twila Crawford. |
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