The flight from Houston to Puerto Vallarta was quick and easy. Got on a bus from the airport and headed up the coast to Sayulita, a small village that’s “been discovered” already but was a good starting point. The Amazing Hostel was pretty clean and decent. Filled with the usual mix of young and old travellers.

There are thousands of mango trees everywhere in Central America, and the ripe mangoes in Sayulita were falling off the trees like hailstones. For breakfast, you just pick one up off the ground and slice it up - the juiciest tastiest mangoes ever eaten. We also spotted 3 big iguana lizards climbing around in the trees, each one was about 3-4ft long.

One of the guys staying there was an American guy from Florida who entertained guests with his stories from his job as a bail bondsman. He essentially pays bail for arrested suspects that can’t afford it, and then chases them up to recover the cash for a cut. Many nights were spent trying to convince him that the Republican party is evil and evolution is a real thing. There were a few Mexicans on holiday staying at the hostel too. They spoke English and gave us some good insight into Mexican culture.

The street food is excellent in Mexico, and Sayulita lived up to the promise. For roughly $4, you can get a delicious sizable meal of fresh fish on corn taco, or a quarter chicken with rice and coleslaw.

I met a cool Auzzie named Tom, and we missioned out to the point called Punta de Mita for a surf. It involved getting two busses then a boat, but was totally worth it. Two hours of rolling rights and short-but-decent lefts made for a satisfying afternoon.

The bus system is really impressive. There are second and first class busses, and the network across Mexico is extensive and the service frequent. You can get overnight luxury busses with wifi and reclining bed-like chairs, or chicken busses that make many stops and take three times as long.

My Spanish is improving, and I can understand quite a bit now and navigate around the basics. I’m a lot better than some people who’ve been out here for over 2 months, which is reassuring. I don’t know how they do it - it’s super frustrating having to sign out everything all the time.

Tom and I made the call on Monday to team up and chase the swell down the south coast.