Learn How House Sitters in Mexico Trade Pet Sitting and Home Care Services in Exchange for Free Lodging
The Hydroelectric Dam At Boca de Tomatlan is Coming, and Environmentalists are Not Happy
JR’s Birthday Bash is Sunday the 28th at Que Pasa Restaurant
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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, Puerto Vallarta’s Oldest Restaurant on the famous Los Muertos Beach, and The El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club right next door so you can enjoy that fantastic view of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors, or during the day in its grand splendor for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with our toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
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This week I’m going to introduce you to Alexandra Gordon who has a company called House Sit Mexico, and we will learn how some people exchange house-sitting services and pet sitting services in many of these cases, in exchange for a free stay in their home in Mexico. but before we get to her, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta, the 24th of April, 2019.
Vallarta Hosts International Mariachi Fair April 22-24
María Francesca – BanderasNews.com
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – The Semana Santa and Pascua holidays are a time of celebration with plenty of cultural activities and music to enjoy in cities throughout Mexico, so what better time to host a Mariachi Festival? And since the Mariachi originated in the State of Jalisco, what better place to host that festival than in Puerto Vallarta?
From April 22-24, Puerto Vallarta will host the 2019 International Mariachi Fair, an event designed and organized to promote the tradition of Mariachi and the Mexican culture on a local, national and international level. There will be four mariachi galas: the first one will be held at the International Convention Center on April 24, where awards will be given to the best Mariachi musicians. Afterwards, a concert featuring the Mariachi Corona and the Mariachi Estrella de México groups will bring the Congress to a spectacular close.
On the 25th there will be a free concert with Folkloric ballet on the Puerto Vallarta Malecón; while on April 26th and 27th, eight of the best mariachi groups in the country will perform at Teatro Vallarta, in a show called Yo soy de Jalisco (“I am from Jalisco”).
The Mariachis Toritos, San Francisco, Corona, Guadalajara, Estrella de México, Real de Oro and Jalisco es México will participate in all of these activities. “There are private and public concerts, the free ones on the Malecón will be on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday…from 8 till 11 in the evening on the Malecon at the amphitheater at the arches, tonight Tuesday the 23rd, and Thursday the 25th.
I have a link to the article in the Banderas News in the show notes
JR’s 79th Birthday Bash at Que Pasa
JR will be turning 79 years young so Join in on one of Vallarta’s craziest events of the year! Everyone who’s in town should show up to show up for this night of mayhem!
Sylvie & The Zippers will be performing!
Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 6 PM – 1 AM
There will be 4 cases of free beer for the early birds, like that will last about 12 minutes.
It’s at Que Pasa, at the top of Aquellis Serdan, 625. I have a map in the show-notes, and it’s always a great time at JR’s birthday. I always miss it because JR and My lively wife Debbie have their birthdays two days
apart, and I need to be home with her, so I’ll be there in spirit JR, and if you are in town, stop in and have fun dancing to Sylvie and the Zippers, and god only knows who else will show up to jam along.
https://www.facebook.com/events/371354123466280/
Update on The Hydroelectric Dam on The Rio Horcones
Now last week I promised I would lay out the situation happening down in Boca de Tomatlan, let me start from the beginning. A couple of weeks back I reported on an article referring to concerned by passers
who witnessed heavy equipment doing a number on a section of the Rio Horcones Canyon, as it happened, they were constructing a hydroelectric dam. Concerned, a meeting was held with leaders of the neighboring areas along PROFECA, the Mexican EPA, with the groupo Hydroelectrica Generador, the group doing the construction of the dam. At this meeting it was discovered that the company doing the work had no permits, or sketchy ones with no environmental impact reports, there was no discussion with the residents downstream in Boca de Tomatlen, and for those of you who don’t know where Boca de Tomatlan is, it’s south of Puerto Vallarta, by about 40 miles. It’s the outlet of the Rio Horcones as it empties into the Pacific Ocean. It’s in Boca de Tomatlan, where you can get a water taxi, a panga to take you to more southern beaches like Yelapa, Las Animas, Colomitos, and others. It’s a bustling little community with a new Malecon, shops and beach toes in the sand restaurants and food stands. It’s a fishing village, sleepy and laid back.
Work was stopped on the project, but it seems things got moving again, sparking protests which I reported on last week. And last week I promised you I would lay this all out for you. So I have one of my friends in Boca, on the line to talk about the present situation which is always changing down there. I won’t tell you her name to keep her safe and as anonymous as possible. So Let’s go now to that phone call to Mexico….
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Okay, what an interesting situation. We will keep our eyes out to see then next steps both sides take. I have links to the AZ Noticias article in Spanish where the ex-mayor of Vallarta and owner of Garza Blanca Resorts says I know nothing…. nothing…Also another article regarding the hydroelectric company and an interview with them as well .
Okay enough of this bad news, let’s get on with the interview.
House Sit Mexico.com
Have you ever thought you wanted to spend some time in another part of the world and live like a local? Live in a far-away place, in a home in a faraway neighborhood, with far away neighbors, and even farther away relatives and imagined what it might be like to actually live there?
I have. But let’s take it a step further, let’s say you can do this for free? Well, for the price of an airplane ticket free. The food you handle as well, and transportation for the most part, well, we are talking about a free place to stay…Free yes, but in exchange for something of value to the homeowner. Like taking care of Fido or the pudder cat, or cats or fidos. I’ve thought about that, in fact, I think about that all the time.
So what if that far way place is Mexico? What if you could sample different parts of Mexico, and check out the area for a possible future location, of a place to hang your sombrero and while away your retirement there in Mexico.
Maybe you are a digital nomad, moving from place to place anywhere in the world, performing your daily tasks from a foreign land with no real roots tying you down.
Perhaps you are curious and want to see if an expatriate lifestyle is for you but don’t want to go all in. Well, there are opportunities out there for you. Especially if you are a lover of animals.
Today I’m going to introduce you to a matchmaker of sorts, her name is Alexandra Gordon, and she is the owner of the website House Sit Mexico. A site dedicated to matching up homeowners in Mexico who need someone to watch over their home, and perhaps their pets, and care for the place while the homeowner is away, and in exchange for their services, the sitter stays for free. Does it sound interesting? It is.
There are many sites such as Housesitmexico.com out there serving other parts of the world. There are bloggers who write about house sitting, about how to land a good sitting job, also about keeping from becoming a slave to the homeowner. Like when is the work you are given to perform, become more work than the sitter is willing to take on. I’m going to get to some of the most frequently asked questions on the House Sit Mexico website, but I think we ought to meet Alexandra now. Let’s go via Skype call to Lake Chapala, Jalisco Mexico, and meet the matchmaker of Mexico, Alexandra Gordon of House Sit Mexico…..
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That was a very interesting subject for sure.
As far as the travel insurance is concerned, even though Alexandra wouldn’t commit on if that is a good idea or not, I’m going to go out on a limb here, and suggest you purchase travelers insurance during your stay at the house sit. Okay?
Now if you are thinking this might be for you, Alex has allowed me to offer you your first year’s subscription to House Sit Mexico at a 15% discount. Just go to www.housesitmexico.com, and when you register, just enter the code PV15 when you sign up, and you will get the 15% discount. I also have a link to the affiliate page, in the show notes, or if you want me to send you the link, email me from the website, and I will send you the link for the discount, but just remember and type in PV15 for the promotion code for the discount, and save on the first year’s subscription.
And if you do land a house sit in Mexico, let me know how it went for you. Everyone here wants to hear about your house sit experience. Anyway, I have links and I have pictures in the shownotes.
House Sit Mexico Website Click Here!
Okay that should do it for this week.
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, Mexico. 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.
And thank you to my buddy in Boca de Tomatlan. Thanks for filling us in on the goings on with the dam. All of you stay tuned for updates on the situation as time progresses. And thank you to Alexandra Gordon from House Sit Mexico. Sign up for your next assignment south of the border, then tell us all about it.
And 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!
