Into the Sierra Madre Mountains

The s/v Eagle "girls" plus the ladies from s/v Timeless (Audre and Sheila) took a trip via the local bus up into the mountains to San Sebastian. To the left is a picture of the bus station in down town Puerto Vallarta , that's me in the sunlight standing at the folding table paying my $120 pesos (about $10 US) for two tickets. The ride was about an hour and a half. Below are drive by shots starting in Puerto Vallarta. The whales' statue is at the intersection for Marina Vallarata and the main street in PV. The other shot is as we are leaving the city. In case you don't know, all photos are by Phileta.
































We were dropped off in the little town of La Estancia where the lady in the only store there got someone to give us a ride up to San Sabastian de Oeste (a 15 minute drive) for $50 pesos ($4 US) each. Picture is from the back seat to show cobblestone road.

We were dropped off at the edge of town by the coffee plantation & processing plant. Where we sampled and purchased great coffee, some even ground with cocoa. Instant mocha, Phileta's favorite






Coffee being ground. Beans being cleaned in front of a fan.









Coffee beans on the bush.


Photos of avocados, orchids, gardenias, and papayas somewhere on this page. If anyone has any hints about formatting with blogger, please feel free to clue me in.


















We were enjoying ourselves at this end of the town. While Phileta kept at her picture taking & Audre helped Sheila put on her coffee bean necklace (really very nice, also could be eaten in an emergency), I went to see if there was more to this place. So, down these narrow streets I went to where it opened up into a beautiful plaza with a gazebo at the center surrounded by church, shops, municipal building (police & visitor center) and a restaurant.

















While we were waiting for our bus back to PV, we had the pleasure of being entertained by two young men who walked out of the store, set up their drums in the shade, and began to play. This was shot by me, I thought I had edited it to run upright, and is an example of why Phileta does 99% of the photos. Sorry for the underlining, but I can't seem to get it to go away.
That's our story for today.

Love to all,

D&P

FYI Info on the town of San Sebastian:
San Sebastian is at an elevation of 4,500 ft in the Sierra Madre Mountains behind PV. On the drive up we saw cattle, corn, agave, & coffee plantations. It was founded in 1605 as one of the gold and silver mining centers of Mexico. It was at one time the provincial capital of 40,000 people, now there are only about 600 people living there.
The mines were, in part, responsible for the start of Puerto Vallarta which was known as Las Peñas. In those days it was a few huts at the mouth of the Rio Cuale (which is now the divider of the "Hotel Zone" & "the Romantic Zone" of PV). The river was used to supply the mines with salt which was taken by mules up to San Sebastian and other mines in the High Sierras and used in the smelting process. in the smelting process. The silver and gold from the mines was sent, again by mule train through Guadalajara and Mexico City to Veracruz, where it was sent, once a year, to Spain. Info taken from http://vallartainfo.com/sansebasti.html