| Have you heard the horror stories about | | | | objective of each and every Vallartense is to |
| traveling through Mexico? Worst yet, can you | | | | assure all tourists an enjoyable and safe |
| imagine living there? Well, being the | | | | time while visiting so that they look forward |
| adventurous and courageous retirees that we | | | | to returning. The young Mexicans are taught |
| are, in 1997 we bought a beautiful new | | | | that safety is the prime concern of all |
| mountainside villa overlooking Banderas Bay | | | | visitors and to harm a tourist would be |
| and El Centro, or downtown in Puerto | | | | equivalent to taking food or money out of |
| Vallarta, Mexico. The villa is actually a | | | | their own family household. |
| compound, surrounded by 10 foot walls with a | | | | |
| walk-in gate and doors for car entry. | | | | As a side note of interest, there is |
| | | | currently a film, "South of the Border" being |
| Our initial thought while closing the doors | | | | shot here in Vallarta by the Disney Company. |
| during our first evening in our new villa was | | | | It's a cute story about a chihuahua, owned by |
| to hire a couple sentries to guard the villa | | | | a Beverly Hills socialite, that got lost |
| at night. One could be positioned in front | | | | while she was visiting a spa in Mexico. A |
| and the other down below on the backside | | | | group of local Mexican chihuahuas found this |
| facing the bay, thus providing the security | | | | pup, took care of and entertained it, and |
| required in this foreign new land. Well, we | | | | then assured its safe return to Beverly |
| never got around to hiring those guards and | | | | Hills. The film will be released in 2008 and |
| furthermore, we've never heard of anyone | | | | will help promote the social, cultural, and |
| being burglarized in the neighborhood for the | | | | economic relations between Mexico and the US. |
| past ten years. Municipal Police do cruise | | | | The bottom line being, that the safety and |
| through the neighborhood a few times every | | | | security that one feels in Vallarta is quite |
| night and we do have excellent street | | | | comforting and is demonstrated in the film |
| lighting; however crime in the neighborhood, | | | | through the life of a chihuahua. |
| known as the "Beverly Hills of Vallarta", is | | | | |
| virtually non-existent. | | | | Serious crimes such as murder, rape, |
| | | | kidnapping, etc. are unheard-of in Vallarta. |
| Ten years ago, we would be pulled over by the | | | | Security is such that armed robberies are |
| local police every two or three months for | | | | virtually non-existent. One reason of course |
| any of a myriad of concocted reasons. It was | | | | is, guns are not permitted in Mexico. The |
| the typical corrupt Mexican police shake-down | | | | penalty for carrying a firearm is much more |
| where after you handed him 200 pesos or $20, | | | | than anyone would ever want to pay. |
| you were no longer guilty of breaking any | | | | |
| laws or committing any crimes; you instantly | | | | The one crime that persists in PV is related |
| became his amigo! That corruption is seldom | | | | to drugs. Although the Mexicans seldom use |
| seen anymore in Vallarta and we haven't been | | | | them, they are plentiful for those tourists |
| pulled over by the police for a number of | | | | too ignorant to understand the consequences. |
| years. In fact, they seemed to have gone 180 | | | | The penalty for drug possession and use is so |
| degrees the opposite direction being very | | | | severe that anyone dependent on drugs is best |
| friendly to all Americans and Canadians. The | | | | off avoiding Paradise. With full employment |
| city of Puerto Vallarta, referred to as PV or | | | | in PV, even the art of pick-pocketing is no |
| Vallarta by the residents, has exploded in | | | | longer practiced here; it's just too easy to |
| population during the past ten years to the | | | | find a job! The US and Canadian Consulates in |
| current level of 350,000 inhabitants. That | | | | Vallarta are well staffed and ready to assist |
| growth can be attributed solely to tourism. | | | | any tourist with just about any problem that |
| | | | could arise while visiting here. |
| Virtually every job in PV is based on tourism | | | | |
| and without the influx of foreigners from the | | | | Even though Vallarta has reached the size of |
| US and Canada, Vallarta would still be a | | | | Anaheim or St. Louis, it's still a small city |
| sleepy little Mexican fishing village. | | | | where everyone seems to know what others are |
| Because tourism is so important, the young | | | | doing. Any crime committed by a local would |
| locals are taught to treat the Americans and | | | | be known about by many others immediately. |
| Canadians with dignity, respect, kindness, | | | | Not to be picking on Anaheim or St. Louis, |
| and as friends. The very last thing they can | | | | but when comparing Vallarta to cities in the |
| afford is to have tourists encounter problems | | | | US of similar size, our hunch is that it's |
| while visiting Paradise and to return home | | | | much safer in Paradise! |
| with negative feelings about Vallarta. The | | | | |