We are off to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico again in February for 2 weeks - it's our favourite vacation destination for many reasons - perfect weather, wonderful friendly people, good beaches, reasonable prices, improved sanitary conditions, lots to do and lots not to do, excellent restaurants and shopping, good health services, proximity of airport to the city, etc.

We can leave Toronto first thing in the morning, fly non- stop and be on the beach before noon the first day of our holiday. My dream is to spend about 3-4 months of the winter in Puerto Vallarta but I also have a dream of traipsing about the whole country of Mexico by bus. It's a most interesting country with a lot of history. Many of the practicing doctors have been trained in Canada or the U.S. and many of the residents speak English if you are unable to speak Spanish. In most cities where tourists tend to congregate, you can take Spanish lessons and there are also lots of volunteer actitivities available. For instance, in P.V. a group of Canadian and U.S. snowbirds volunteer to conduct home tours to some of the most beautiful homes in the area to benefit the local children who require cleft palate operations.

Because of the heavy influx of tourists, the country has improved sanitary conditions considerably since we first began traveling there some 20+ years ago. And the guacamole, sangria and margaritas are fantastic!

Pat, Ontario