Internet wait

Mercado

SJK Doctor

Dinner at Julia & Jorges

Their House!!

Feng Shui

Steve Biked around town looking for birders

Matt the coffee guy loaned tent

Groceries

Laundry

Mercado

Hot days

Basura & Burning

Bruce & Julia

Parking Wayyyyy up

Avacados in the pack

Coffee & Bananas

Trogans

Parrots

SpringHouse water-drip

La Bajada Road & Bus!

Singayta

Bugs 

Eco-Village

Birds

Birding groups

Coffee & Gardens & Well -- Camilo Paz Sanchez

Met Bruce & Julia

Rooster

Definitely some of the best fish tacos I've had....you must ask for the homemade mango salsa!

Wow, this was a great experience! After going thru a difficult time personally, I decided to get out and learn something new. I've always wanted to surf as good as my ex, or at least be able to jump in the water with him when we were dating, but found surfing to be the most difficult sport I've tried to learn. It doesn't help when I'm learning in Huntington Beach, which isn't called Surf City for nothing. There are mostly guys who have been surfing forever, very intimating, very rude. So I did a little research on all women surf camps online and found Las Olas to have the best reviews and to be best suited to what I was looking for. I wanted to learn to surf from the best in an encouraging, non judgmental way. I called and was put on the waitlist as the camps usually book up a season or year out. I was a little bummed but took a chance on clearing and lo and behold my number popped up the week before the departure date!! I jumped at the opportunity and immediatlely booked my flights to Puerta Vallarta... SEE...this is why I have a freelance job.... to be able to capture these last minute opps. The second I got off the plane and met up with my group I just knew I was going to enjoy this trip. We had about a 30 minute van ride north of Puerto Vallarta to Sayulita. Upon driving into town, I was smiling ear to ear...the roads are a mix of cobblestone and dirt, the town square was about one block by one block, and the little shops were mostly closed due to siesta. So cute and charming. We were put up at Villa Amor - mostly outdoor villas with incredible views, outdoor showers, open air bedrooms and some with private dipping pools. I was so relaxed and happy to be able to call this place home for the next week. Our instructors were, some world champion women longboarders and some local Mexican champs. Each morning we woke at 6:30 AM for yoga in the garden followed by a delicious family style breakfast at Rollies for all 18 women in the camp. Not everyone woke for the yoga everyday, I managed to make it 4 days! Our daily agenda went something like this... after breakfast, morning surf lessons 9:30 to 12, followed by lunch, and finished up by a free surf session in the afternoon. Throughout the week, each person was assigned a massage by, I'm not kidding you, the BEST massage I've EVER had. I get massages often but Sophia has to be hands down THE BEST. Please contact me if you ever go to Sayulita and want a massage. Of course, we could get another massage anytime throughout the trip....which I did. Nothing better than a massage to work those sore muscles that you probably have never used before in your body! There was also an opportunity to go on a boat trip to Punta Mita which is a nice point break and reef break down there. The waves were perfect, the water warm, clear and inviting. The people in Sayulita were soo sweet and always happy. After a few days in this small fishing village, I felt like a "local", greeting the local vendors each day. This was also a great trip to practice my highschool Spanish! LOL. I have to say in the first two days I laughed more than I had in the previous nine months. The women were so amazing, the teachers incredible and the stories we all shared will be embedded in my memories for ever. There were women from all walks of life...cancer survivors, mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, wives, etc... each with their own compelling reasons for wanting to surf. We laughed, we cried, we ate, we slept and we drank many margs together. I learned so much more than surfing on this trip. (Some women even tried surfing once and decided it wasn't for them, and THEY too claimed it was a great trip) I learned an alternative way to live life. I learned to find happiness again. I forgot how traveling can be such a great soul healer. Each day when I left my villa, on the door hung a sign reading "I am living the life I love"... and that became my motto. As you can see I am a huge fan of Las Olas. I hear Manifesta started another surf safari somewhere in Baja and that they also have a golf safari in Carmel, California. No doubt I'll be at one of those very soon. Shoot me an email if you have any questions about Las Olas.... I'll be more than happy to respond.

This place was a lot of fun and worth the hype. Any travel guide to Sayulita recommends going to Chile Rellenos and they are entirely true. While we were there an excellent guitarist and singer came in and sang to us while we ate. The food was really superb and I ate this thing called 'Molcajete Azteca' and it was probably the best meal that I ate while I was there. It was a molten bowl, filled with chorizo, chicken, beef, onions, cilantro and cactus, with a tomato based sauce and a side of beans and guacamole.

We met some people at a restaurant on the beach and had some huge margheritas, then they told us about this place called 'Sayulita Fish Taco' which apparently had some pretty good and inexpensive, you guessed it, fish tacos. I however was not in the mood for fish, so I opted to try the so called "Shoe-box Burrito" which was supposedly quite large. This burrito was in fact exceptionally large and I recommend any with a large appetite go there and try it. I only gave it 3 out of 5 stars, because I've had better burritos, but it was still an experience eating one so big.