Memo Lira has a Tour Business in Puerto Vallarta Called Vallarta 101. He gives Historic Walking Tours, Taco Tours, Food Tours, Tours of Vallarta Neighborhoods and more. We Talk About His Favorite Places to Eat and About his Tours
Also, Should you Bring a Carbon Monoxide Alarm with you to Mexico?
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Hello fellow travelers, welcome this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show. I am your host Barry Kessler and I am just so happy to be
introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.
That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. Those are La Palapa,The El Dorado Beach Club, and at night for dinner The El Dorado transforms into the ever so romantic Vista Grill with those dramatic
views of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors. Of course, at La Palapa you can enjoy that same view of the Los Muertos Pier all day long for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with our toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It was so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends!
This week I have a very special interview with my new friend Memo Lira. Memo has a tour company called Vallarta 101, and we will get to that interview just as soon as we see what’s happening this week, in Puerto Vallarta, the 6th of June 2018.
Rain is On The Way in Puerto Vallarta
We had our first measurable rain of the season last night, and water is welcome this time of year. Things are really dry and dusty and a good rain cures lots of ills, but soon, we will be complaining about the buckets full that are sure to be on the way.
As you know or not, the rainy season kicks off on my birthday, June 15th. I’ll be watching that Cuates y Cuetes Web cam that evening to see if its arrived or not.
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Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Week Continues
Restaurant Week continues till the 10th of June so if you are in town, you need to take advantage of the specials being offered at some of your
favorite restaurants.
Carbon Monoxide Alarms in Mexican Condos and Apartments
I told you last week I got an email from a listener who was taking me to task over something I said about Carbon Monoxide alarms and here’s what he writes..
Hello!
I really like the show and I have listened to most of the episodes. I have been wanting to write in for a while with suggestions for improving the show.
What really triggered this was the misinformation you provided in the last episode about carbon monoxide detectors. You mentioned 3 sources of deadly gas, only one of which a carbon monoxide detector would be warn against:
1 – byproduct of incomplete combustion of cooking / water heater gas – this produces carbon monoxide. It is odorless, and supposedly what killed the people in Playa del Carmen.
2 – cooking / water heater gas – this is propane and although it is naturally odorless, it has a rotten egg smell added to warn people. If the landlord needed to replace a gas valve as you indicated, then it would be to address a propane leak. Propane is not toxic but could cause a fire. Also, it could cause asphyxiation by driving out all the oxygen – but the leak would need to be very, very bad and an explosion would be a greater concern. The carbon monoxide detector would not help for a gas leak.
3 – sewer gas – Many properties in town do not have drain traps in sinks or floor drains (p- or j-traps). This enables sewer gas to come back into the home. The danger is hydrogen sulfide, which is also poisonous at very low concentrations. The other problem with hydrogen sulfide is you stop smelling it after a short period of time, but the effects continue. The carbon monoxide detector would not help for a sewer gas problem. The only real solution for homes without drain traps is to flush a lot of water down the drain.
—In short, a carbon monoxide detector is only effective as a warning for bad gas appliances. If there’s no gas used, then it is not needed.
Then he goes on and gives me some tips on how to make the show better.
Okay, well let’s see here, I’m a little disturbed by the word “misinformation” but let’s review if I could. On April 26th I talked about a situation
where I was sure I had carbon monoxide poisoning when I stayed at an Airbnb in Puerto Vallarta. This was the episode featuring Nacho Daddy if you want to listen to it again. I did mention that there was a strong rotten egg odor in the unit when we opened up the place. And I’m sure that my mention of an odor triggered the email and response, and I concede that yes, maybe the rotten egg odor, had it been poisonous would not have been detected by the CO alarm, still, I know what propane smells like, and it wasn’t that. It could have been a number of things in the condo. The water heater was inside the unit, there was a stove and oven, so yes, there were appliances in the unit, so I’m pretty sure, the CO poisoning was a result of one of those appliances. So, I stand corrected, I suppose. The odiferous smell will not be detected by a CO detector as you write, but, are you suggesting I wasn’t poisoned?
So, I guess what I should take away, what we should understand from this email is that CO is odorless and can kill you. If you have appliances in your condo or apartment, and you don’t have a CO alarm, you can die if there is a problem. If you smell something, it may or may not kill you, won’t be detected by a CO alarm and is often caused by poor plumbing, and can be solved by running water down the drain.
Thanks for the note once again, I like getting emails and I hope that if any of you have a suggestion, or a criticism, or you catch me spouting off untruths, by all means, send me an email.
Vallarta 101 Tours with Memo Lira
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Okay let’s get to the interview and my guest.
Last May, I had an open mic event in front of Cuates y Cuetes. Actually I had planned to have the event a day earlier, but Cuates y Cuetes was closed for Mother’s day and we had to reschedule for the next day. So, I actually reached out to one of my friends in Vallarta, who does personalized tours and asked him if he could come down to the beach and talk with me, and you too of course. So he said yes, and it’s really good he did, otherwise, I would have been all alone, eating chips and guac, and drinking beer, all alone. Here’s my friend, Memo. Lira of Vallarta 101.
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Memo’s Favorite Places
Breakfast
- El Campanario, Puerto Vallarta, México
- Metate, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 8 Types of Chilaquiles
Lunch
- Lamara Restaurant Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Seafood Ceviche
- Marisma Taco Stand Emiliano Zapata and the Marina Deep Fried Mahi-Mahi
Dinner
- No Way Jose. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Their Chile en Nogada
Cool Places
Contact Information for Vallarta 101
Memo is a great guy, and what a great guide he is. I got this note from Kathleen Allen who writes, “My friends and I were the very first tour of Memo Lira and Ana Espinosa Vallarta 101 tour. GREAT tour, so informative! Thankfully we took the tour when we arrived, so we could enjoy his recommendations.”
I have pictures of Memo and of his happy customers and some great pictures he sent me to add to the blogpost in the show notes, so check them out, and I also have a link to his website where you can reserve a tour through him. Check out all the tours he gives and I can tell you, if you are a first time visitor to Vallarta, or even a seasoned veteran, Memo has a tour for you.
Okay, that should do it for this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show.
Next week, stay tuned for more on the ground reports from Puerto Vallarta Mexico, with travel tips, great restaurant and excursion ideas and more. Until then, remember, this is an interactive show where I depend on your questions and suggestions about all things Puerto Vallarta. If you think of something I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending us your message.
And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR’s website and reserve your tour through him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience and on the ground
knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you’re just doing it through him as a way of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you can come on-board and share with others what you liked or didn’t like about the tour. Again, contact me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending off a message. Don’t forget his maps, his DIY tours and his revitalized Happy Hour Board. I have links to all of those in the show notes.
And once again, if you like this podcast, please take the time and subscribe and give me a good review on iTunes if you would. That way we can get the word out to more and more people about the magic of this place. Puerto Vallarta, México. Remember I made it easy for you to do just
that with each episode I create. But if you haven’t been to my website, you really need to have a look there. I have the links to the places we talk about, interesting pictures and the more all right there in my blog-posts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.
So, thanks to Memo Lira, look him up the next time you are coming to Vallarta, hey introduce him to someone you know who is coming to Vallarta for the first time and have him take charge. I have all his info in the show notes of this episode. All right and hey, thanks to all of you for
listening all the way through this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show. This is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Nos Vemos amigos!