Pueblo Magico Mascota is Just a Short 2 and a Half Hour Drive From Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Hotel Encanto De La Sierra is a Lovely 4 Star Hotel Centrally Located within Walking Distance of Important Sites in Mascota, Jalisco
Take the ATM ( Autotransportes Guadalajara Talpa Mascota) Bus to Mascota From Puerto Vallarta and Back
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Hello fellow travelers, welcome to 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 your toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends.
This week we are heading out of town into the Sierra Mountains, 2 and a half hours from Vallarta by bus and over 4,000 feet up to the lovely town, the Pueblo Magico, Mascota. We will be talking with a very knowledgeable young lady, Cristina Briseno, and her mom Ninfa, about their lovely hotel in Mascota, Encanto de La Sierra. I’ll be talking about how to get there as well as our experiences walking through the town, seeing the sights and sampling some of the local food and spirits in this very agricultural town. We have Vallarta news and more, so let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta, the 18th of January, 2024.
Hacienda Serena International Charro Gran Prix 2024, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico January 31st-Feb. 4th
If you are into horses and charros and charreria, You will need to catch this event this coming January the 31st till the 4th of February, the 12th Hacienda Serena International Charro Gran Prix 2024..from Visitpuertovallarta.com,
CHARRO GRAND PRIX 2024
Start : 01-31-2024 End : 02-04-2024
The 12th annual edition of the Hacienda Serena International Charro Grand Prix, held at the Hacienda Serena Ranch in Puerto Vallarta, will feature the 36 best charro teams and 28 top charro skirmishers from Mexico and the United States.
Don’t miss the grand opening ceremony at Los Arcos del Malecon with the traditional Mexican Verbena.
All of the charreada competitions at the rodeo will be enlivened by live music. Delicious Mexican antojitos and traditional drinks will be available for purchase throughout the event. Simultaneous commentary in Spanish and English will be provided for all charro competitions.
Ticket sales are now available online at their website, I have a link to that as well as a link to Hacienda Serena’s Facebook page for the schedule
And a link to the article from visitpuertovallarta.com, in the show notes.
- https://visitpuertovallarta.com/events/xii-hacienda-serena-internacional-charro-grand-prix-2024
- https://haciendaserena.com.mx/?fbclid=IwAR02s0VIcx1LrbNtPxNwqiku3vr5-DlnSpm373q52gQ0Nt8OfjTwrWXldWM
- https://www.facebook.com/HaciendaSerenaPV
Ceviche and Aguachile festival at Parque Hidalgo January 28th 2024
Ceviche and Aguachile festival at Parque Hidalgo January 28th 2024, here’s event organizer Edgar Rivas to fill us in on the specifics….take it away Edgar…
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Thank you so much Edgar, I’m sure this will be a big success.
And for something completely different, Vallarta’s first Michalada Festival also in Parque Hidalgo the following weekend…
Michelada Festival Feb 3rd and 4th at Parque Hidalgo
That’s right, the smells of ceviche and aguachile will have finally dissipated just in time for tomato juice, clamato juice and beer to step into the park.
From the event organizers…
free entry!
Embark on the epicenter of fun, music and extraordinary flavors at the PVR Festival de Micheladas! From February 3 to 4, 2024, Puerto Vallarta becomes the place where immersive music, contagious laughter and an explosion of flavors merge to create the most unforgettable weekend.
Mark your days on the calendar: February 3 and 4, 2024, the first long weekend of the year! Michelito and his friends will guide you through a journey full of flavor, fun and epic moments.
Discover the magic of our first edition with exquisite micheladas and a wide variety of botanera micheladas that will awaken your senses.
Don’t miss out on our exciting contests and prizes! From surprise gifts to jaw-dropping guest artists, every moment will be a surprise. Also, the best michelada contest!
Ready for the unique experience of the PVR Festival Micheladas edition? Set the date, activate the excitement and join us. This event is more than a festival, it is a feast of flavors and memories that will last a lifetime!
So, Parque Hidalgo, Feb 3rd and 4th beginning at 12 noon. It’s the first edition, so I don’t guarantee anything, especially if it’s not put on by Edgar Rivas….but hey, if you are into the purposeful alteration of a perfectly good beer, get out to Parque Hidalgo the weekend of February 3rd and 4th, and tell me how it went.
Crocodiles Have Been Spotted Along the Mouth of the Rio Cuale
It looks like a couple of crocodiles have been spotted at the mouth of the Rio Cuale over the last few weeks. It’s not an unusual sight to see an occasional croc in Marina Vallarta, in fact they have their resident crocodile there at the Marina and north of town near the airport you will find their natural habitat, the estuary, the Estero El Salado it’s called. It’s the green, heavily wooded area you fly over when you make the final approach to the landing strip in Vallarta. But it’s very rare to see one down in town along the Rio Cuale. They’ve been pushed out by all the development at Vidante, across the Ameca River where they have nested for many, many decades. In fact AMLO, the president of Mexico just declared parts of the Rio Ameca and Puerto Vallarta, Nayarit included to be all part of an protected as a Biosphere Reserve. These are Sierra de Vallejo-Rio Ameca in Nayarit and Jalisco, in Puerto Vallarta.
According to an article in Mexico Business News,
“The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) recently designated 20 new sites as Natural Protected Areas (ANP). This brings the total number of ANPs in the country to 225, with 43 of them having been declared as ANPs under the current administration.”
And from Noticias PV,…
The article goes on to say…
“In February 2023, AMLO announced that he had signed an agreement to turn all lands owned by the National Tourism Development Fund (FONATUR) into protected areas. This initiative encompassed approximately 15,000ha in various states including areas in Oaxaca, Baja California Sur, among others.
And back to the article in Mexico Business News, “ANPs encompass territories within the national jurisdiction where the original environments remain largely unaffected by human activities or that require preservation and restoration due to their integral ecological functions. The recent designation of 20 new ANPs adds up to a total of 2.3 million ha across 16 states of the country.”
President López Obrador emphasized that creating new ANPs represents a crucial endeavor. “We are betting on life,” he stated during a morning conference.”
So, take that you displaced crocodile…help is on the way…. I guess. That is until the tourist authority has had enough and grabs you by the tail and escorts you out. You know that’s going to happen, right?
No mail please…
I have links to both articles in the show notes.
https://www.noticiaspv.com.mx/amlo-decreta-anp-sierra-de-vallejo-rio-ameca/
Another Honest Margarita in Puerto Vallarta
I have another honest kick ass margarita I totally forgot about, but was reminded about by some Instagram friends, and that’s the margarita served at Restaurant Rio Grande over on Avenida Mexico in Cinco de diciembre. Excellent large honest kick butt margaritas. Get yourself an order of popcorn shrimp while you are there. Its air conditioned too for those really hot days.
Emails From Listeners
A couple of emails here, one great suggestion from Donnalee and Mitch from Alaska….
Hello Barry. Your show is inspiring to us Alaskans. We’re frequent visitors who stay in Cinco de Decembre area. We love to walk and explore. Today we found a small but delicious vegan restaurant called Elixir Spot Vegan Centro. The owner is Anvar Aburo. +52 442-281-3620. You may have interviewed his dad who runs the one in Zona Romantica.
She adds that …Now that we’re here, we’re trying to search your site for certain places. Cannot find a way to search. Am I missing something? Thanks for all you do Love the show….
So, I need to get to Elixir PV. I’ve heard a lot about the mixology that goes on there but haven’t had a chance. This February, for sure. And thank you Donnalee for the email and suggestion. This is what it’s all about. Sharing the cool stuff.
So I just want to remind you that if you are on the website looking for something I’ve talked about. The way to do that is to go to www.purtovallartatravelshow.com, or pvtravelshow.com, I own both domains and both point to my website. Scroll down to the bottom of a page and look for the search box. Type in your search, like best margaritas, or La Huerta Barbecue, and the podcast episode blogposts where I talk about them pop up. It’s a pretty robust tool.
I recently received an email from Donnalee regarding replacing a lost US passport, and she promised she will be reporting back to us about that particular process of getting a passport replaced and all the hoops you had to jump through and all the lines you had to endure. It will be a real lesson for all of us. So, Looking forward to hearing about the trials and tribulations, and hoping for a speedy resolution to you problem there. And thanks again for listening, and for the emails Donnalee.
Hotel Encanto De La Sierra in Mascota, Jalisco, Mexico
Okay, let’s get to the trip to Mascota and to our conversation with Cristina Briseno at the Hotel Encanto De La Sierra.
Contact Information For Hotel Encanto de la Sierra in Mascota, Pueblo Magico, Jalisco, Mexico
- Address: C. Francisco I. Madero 45, La Consti, 46900 Mascota, Jal., Mexico
- Phone: +52 388 688 0330
- Email: reservations@encantodelasierrahotel.com
- Website: https://www.encantodelasierrahotel.com/?fbclid=IwAR1yoQUDJvFnYgyQy6Qc-63DD4PqzG_b6IuaFEImTYIorBbLk0lmD8v5N5Y
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Encantodelasierrahotel/
I’ve been wanting to visit Mascota, a town up in the Sierra, above Puerto Vallarta. If you have followed the show you know we’ve traveled a couple of times up to the town of San Sebastian del Oeste a couple of times, but if you travel a little farther up the mountain, you will discover the town of Mascota, and if you continue a little farther, you will arrive at the town of Talpa de Allende.
The name Mascota comes from the root “Amaxacotlán”, which means “place of deer and colubrids”
According to the Wiki Pages….
In prehispanic times, Mascota was the head of a cacicazgo, which ruled over the populations of Talpa, El Tuito and Chacala. In 1525, the Spanish explorer Francisco Cortés de San Buenaventura arrived to Mascota, who was commanded by Hernán Cortés to conquer the provinces north of Colima, which was subsequently renamed to “Valle de Banderas”. 10 years after, in 1535, a rebellion of indigenous people was held in Mascota, along with other villages nearby.
After the time of the Mexican Independence, in 1824, the Department of Mascota was created and the town of Mascota was declared Villa de Mascota. On 10 April 1885, Villa de Mascota received the title of city.
In 2015, the city of Mascota was declared a “Pueblo Mágico”.
And I have a link to that in the show notes as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascota
Mascota is about 64 miles by road from Puerto Vallarta. It’s approximately 4,160 feet above sea level, and the population according to the 2020 census is 14,451.
The town of Mascota itself is small, only about one and a third square miles, but the municipality spans 712 square kilometers.
How to Get to Mascota From Puerto Vallarta?
Many of the folks you meet in Puerto Vallarta, the real Pata Saladas, have relatives who migrated down the mountains of the Southern Sierra Nevada’s, to live in Puerto Vallarta. Many from Mascota and Talpa.
I was talking with a taxi driver about our trip to Mascota, and he told us that in the 50’s and 60’s, there was a 26 passenger plane that would fly daily, one from Mascota and one from Talpa every day. It was known as the Turkey and it would take 15 minutes to fly down to the Puerto Vallarta, Airport.
Today, to get to Mascota, you can do it one of three ways. Get a private ride from a driver, a taxi or Uber, or take a bus.
The most popular way is by using the ATM bus Company. It’s not the same ATM bus you find in front of Walmart heading up into Nayarit, That’s a different operation. In this case, ATM stands for Autotransportes Guadalajara Talpa Mascota, and those busses travel back and forth to Mascota and Talpa 4 to 5 times a day, each way.
Website for the ATM Bus to Mascota From Puerto Vallarta
- The ATM bus stop, is in Colonia Versalles. The Station is located at Lucerna 128, Díaz Ordaz, right around the corner from Pizzaria Fiama, if you know where that is. Their bus lot and office is right on the corner of Harve and Lucerna.
- Tickets are sold in the office in the yard there in the corner lot, the place you wait for the bus is in front on Lucerna. There’s a bathroom in the office there but the station is pretty plain and not pretty.
- Office hours are 6 AM till 2:40, siesta time, and they open again 4-6:30PM.
- The tickets sell fast so buy them in advance if you can, and you need to go to that box office in the yard to buy them at Lucerna 128.
- You are allowed two suitcases if you need to pack heavy, and by the way, you will pay extra for more luggage. The fare is around 200 pesos per person up to Mascota.
Busses leave for Mascota and Talpa at 6:30 am, 09:00 am 2:40 p.m., 4:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Buses return to Vallarta from Mascota at 7:00 am, 9:00 am, 1:45 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 pm. The ride up the hill takes about 2 hours and 30 minutes to three hours to Mascota, and 3 hours to 3 and a half
hours up to Talpa. The ride downhill, from Mascota back to Vallarta takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. The climb is 4,000 feet up a sometimes windy road, so if you have a tendency to motion sickness, you will need to prepare yourself for that with motion sickness meds like Dramamine or whatever you take. Make sure to check how the meds react to tequila, just to be safe. You don’t need to check how they mix with weed….it’s not an
issue….expert witness here….booze has a tendency to give you motion sickness as you know…like I need to tell you that.
The bus makes a stop on the way up in La Estancia for a potty break, and also for those who want to head over to San Sebastian. That’s where they get off and find a cab up to that Pueblo Magico.
There’s no bathroom on the bus, so use the stop time wisely or forever hold your pee.
The bus will arrive and stop in the center of Mascota. Right in front of the Hotel Copa de Oro, where you can find a little ticket office, well a closet, where you can buy your return bus ride to Vallarta.
The buses, like I said, fill up fast, so get there early, at least a half an hour early, because they also leave on time. I think they assign a seat when you buy your ticket.
I have embedded in the show notes a map of the two bus stations, the one in Vallarta, and the one in Mascota. Again, you’ll find them in the show notes.
ATM Bus Station in Puerto Vallarta
Hotel Copa de Oro ATM Ticket and Station
I will make this suggestion to you. If you are planning on taking the ATM bus up to Talpa or Mascota, go to the station the day before and buy your ticket for the time you want to depart, and make sure that you get to the station early enough to get on that bus. Also, when you arrive in Mascota,
make an attempt to purchase your return ticket at the booth at the Copa de Oro Hotel right then. That way you will be able to leave on the bus of your choice. Remember, these buses fill up really quickly.
Now for this particular trip, my plan was to have my driver in paradise Erik Calderon Sanchez drive Debbie and me up to San Sebastian for lunch, and to show her around the cute town. She had never been, so I wanted her to see it, just for a couple of hours. Then, I had Erik drive us up, further up the road to Mascota, where we had a room reserved at a cute place called Hotel Encanto De La Sierra, where he dropped us off, and headed on back, the 2 and a half hours to Puerto Vallarta.
What do you do in Mascota?
- You can start with the Plaza Principal & La Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.
- Mascota also has their own Mirador de La Cruz, about 300 feet on a hill overlooking the town there is a cross you can hike to, bringing yourself to 4,412 feet. It’s a ¾ mile hike, and you will get a great view of the town.
- Then there’s the crown jewel of the town, the Templo Inconcluso de La Preciosa Sangre…the Unfinished Temple of the Precious Blood. This is a church, a cathedral that was begun in 1897, and that funding for the temple dried up during the Mexican Revolution, leaving it unfinished. It has beautiful soaring columns, arches, clock walls, but no roof, no flooring except rolling green lawns. It’s just stunning to behold. Be ready to spend time taking photos. Absolutely breathtaking.
- They have several museums. The archeological museo, and the Stone House Museum.
And of course, the streets are clean in this Pueblo Magico, and the homes and businesses are very nicely laid out and constructed. There are
cobblestone streets, and you will find many buildings with the cream colored walls and 4 foot high brownish red painted wainscoting, typically seen in San Sebastian as well. They must get a great bulk price on that paint. You’ll see what I’m talking about if you don’t already. Talk about HOA regulations…
And of course, many people stay in Mascota, and travel to little towns and villages within easy driving distances, and we’ll hear a lot about those places while we are talking with our interviewees, Cristina Briseno and her mom Ninfa from Hotel Encanto de la Sierra. Places like Yerbabuena, Talpa de Allende and Sierra Lago Resort.
There are some lovely restaurants as well as some street food. Although limited, you will see an occasional taco stand too. Our favorite restaurant was right next door to the Hotel Encanto De La Sierra, it was called, El Tapanco. Italian food, American and Mexican food. Really tasty menu. And bars,
well, they have bars, but not like we are used to. I mean they have a bar in restaurants serving drinks to the diners. But the bars we found, these bars don’t serve mixed drinks. They give you a set- up, and let you mix your own drink. So, a shot of tequila or raicilla, then a glass with Ice, and some cans of
soda. Like Coke, and Sprite. Then, they would make a little botana for you. They’d peel and cut up a cucumber, put it on a plate with some Tahin and lime wedges. And there you would be, chomping on cucumbers and mixing your own drinks. You can ask them to order you some food too. That’s
actually how we found our first bar. I walked into a pizza place to ask the owner where I could find a bar, and he says hang on, he looks around and grabs one of his workers and hands him a bag with pizza and says to him, “take this to the bar and take these two with you to show them where it is.”
We found 2 places in town like that, one was a raicaillaria. I have pictures of the places in the show notes as well as the set-up.
So, it’s a sweet little town with a beautiful backdrop of mountains and pine, surrounding this quaint, very clean and organized Mexican Town. Like a page from a tabletop picture book.
Hotel Encanto de la Sierra in Mascota, Jalisco, Mexico
Speaking of clean, I went to my go to guy in that area, John Benus, who I’ve had on the show. John, as you may remember was the war on trash guy, the
Guerra Contra Basura. He has a Guerra Contra Basura program up in Mascota and in Talpa. So when I was heading up to Mascota, I called him up and asked him where we should stay in Mascota. And without hesitation he said with Ninfa at the Hotel Encanto de la Sierra.
So, when we arrived, John had already called in to the desk and reserved a room for us, just in case. So nice. It was late afternoon, so we checked in to our room, and then did a little walking around town where we found our first bar, and then eventually ended up at the restaurant next door to the
hotel, El Tapanco, where we had the most remarkable hamburger, and margaritas. No mail please. We got there late, around 8, and by the time we left,
the place was full with locals, families and couples, enjoying a meal out. Very nice spot, and very convenient.
The next morning we went downstairs for a continental style breakfast, everything was home made from the bread, muffins, cookies, the yogurt, coffee, tea, fresh fruit and cereal.
Then we went for a walk to the unfinished temple, where we walked around and gawked, pointed and took pictures of the most beautiful place. You will find them in the show notes of course. We spent an hour there, then walked through the finished church. They have one of those too. Then we walked around the town, taking pictures of the cool wrought iron windows and doors around town. The interesting way they pave the streets with cobblestones, but with flat tracks in the cobblestone so you can drive through the town without the bumpety bump of the cobblestones. Check out my pictures again in the show notes to get the gist of what I’m talking about.
When we returned from our walk I asked for Ninfa, hoping I could get an interview before we left town, and she suggested I interview her daughter, Cristina. So we sat down in the middle of a beautiful courtyard, and we talked about the Hotel and it’s history as well as about the town of Mascota and the surrounding points of interest. Let’s go right now, to that courtyard, … and let’s hear from Cristina Briseno at the beautiful Hotel Encanto de La Sierra, in lovely Mascota, Jalisco, Mexico….
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Contact Information For Hotel Encanto de la Sierra in Mascota, Pueblo Magico, Jalisco, Mexico
- Address: C. Francisco I. Madero 45, La Consti, 46900 Mascota, Jal., Mexico
- Phone: +52 388 688 0330
- Email: reservations@encantodelasierrahotel.com
- Website: https://www.encantodelasierrahotel.com/?fbclid=IwAR1yoQUDJvFnYgyQy6Qc-63DD4PqzG_b6IuaFEImTYIorBbLk0lmD8v5N5Y
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Encantodelasierrahotel/
Thank you so much Cristina, and Ninfa. What a fount of information. Some real Mascota and local history as well. I have some of those guide
companies they talked about in the show notes, so you can plan ahead, when you chose to take a few days off from the beach in Vallarta, and come up into the fresh cool Sierras. It’s a change, and I think you will get a nice look into places where the people of Vallarta, migrated from. Many of them I should say.
From there we checked out of the hotel, and walked a couple of blocks to the hotel Copa de Oro, and purchased our bus tickets for the ride home. Unfortunately, we had to wait for the last bus because we waited too long to buy the tickets. Just a reminder to you to secure your bus tickets early. But hey, that gave us plenty of time to wander, have a little bite to eat and find a bar.
The ride down was quick and uneventful, but full. Stopped in La Estancia for a potty break, very much appreciated, then on to Vallarta, the ATM station in Versalles, then a taxi ride home to Pitillal. Easy peasy.
I have all the how to information in the show notes as well as pics of the lovely Hotel Encanto de la Sierra, of Ninfa and of Cristina too.
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 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 follow share with a lover of Puerto Vallarta or give me a good review wherever or however you happen to be listening. 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.
Thank you to Cristina Briseno and Ninfa Briseno for taking your time to introduce us to Mascota and your lovely Hotel Encanto De La Sierra. Check out all their Facebook page, their website, I have all their contact information in the show notes at www.puertovallartatravelshow.com
I have links and the maps in the show notes.
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.
