Puerto Vallarte - update #2

Ahh, it feels good to be back in the blogging world!  Here are a couple picture stories for you. 

First Picture Story
This was the most exciting day we had on our honeymoon and it involved two words...  ZIP LINING!  Have you been?  No?  You have to go!  It was exhilarating! 

In our hotel room, practicing for the big day!

They made us wear bandannas because the helmets were a bit stinky.  Here's Rich with one of the tour guides, Miguel.  We used Mundo Nogalito and I highly highly recommend them.  The tour guides were so funny and I have to admit some of them were really nice eye candy too!

Don't I kind of look like a zip lining gypsy?

Rich getting ready to fly!

Coming in for landing...  :)

Does this picture relay to you how high up we were?  As I set off, I would momentarily be hit with anxiety but then get so freakin' excited flying over the canopy that I was in total "wa-hoo" mode!  It was breath-takingly beautiful.  Added to our fun was a family of four that included a four year old and a six year old.  They were mighty brave to be zip lining!

Here I am about to get going!

And I'm off!

So happy!  We both agreed that zip lining was the best activity we did on our trip and I would do it again in a heart beat.

One of our last lines was a dual set up which meant Rich and I could essentially zip line together!  Of course we tried to race each other.  But, it was so much fun that I can't even remember who won.  Let's just go with me.  Can you see the second zip line to the left?  It's a tad bit camouflaged.

We met a really awesome Canadian couple while zip lining and ended up having lunch with them.  Such sweet people. 

Second Picture Story
The other activity that I had set up that I was terribly excited about was the dolphin experience!  Luckily the place, Vallarte Adventures, was a quick 5 minute cab ride from our hotel so we got there really early and decided to hang out with the wild iguanas. 

Spot the iguana.  Can you see him?

What about this little baby iguana?  Can you see her?

Woah.  Although most iguanas are fairly harmless given their fear of humans, I have to say that I was pretty freaked out by these guys.  Especially this one that was clearly eyeing me down.

"Do I look tough?  Do I look like I can eat you?  Do I, do I?"

We also got to see the dolphins through a viewing tank.  I was in such awe of these beautiful animals.  

 Can you make out two adult and two baby dolphins?  Baby and Mama swim in tandem with each other.  Nature is a beautiful thing.  

It was getting close to swim time and we headed to our spot.  We spotted a couple dolphins playing with each other across the net.  They would at times toss a beach ball back and forth.  It was incredibly adorable!

Here they are training one of the dolphins.

Ok, so this was the bad part of our whole trip.  We couldn't bring our cameras in.  Being the camera lover that I am, this really ticked me off.  A lady from the company took pictures of us and then when we ended our experience, we went to go take a look.  Much to our dismay each picture cost $25 or $100 for 10.  What the crap?  I tried to take a picture of the picture, and the tour ladies threw a fit claiming copyright laws and what a good deal $100 was for 10 pictures.  Urgh.  Rich and I left infuriated.  So for now...this will have to do...

Here we are swimming with the dolphins!  Other than the photograph debacle, the experience itself was pretty amazing.  It lasted about a half hour which I tell you whizzed by.  We got to dance, swim and kiss the dolphin.  Our dolphin's name was Betty and she was such a sweetheart.  These animals are truly one of a kind.  I have to admit that I did feel a bit bad about these animals being holed up in this sanctuary.  The pools were large but were of course nothing compared to the ocean.  The Canadian couple in the zip lining pic told us to watch a movie called The Cove and then we would have a better understanding of the life of dolphins that are captured or bred in man-made environments.  Apparently, it's a heart-breaking story.  So although the experience itself was one-of-a-kind I did feel somewhat torn.

So there you go!  Zip lining and dolphin swimming - pretty awesome days on our trip.  :)