Wildlife Sightings

We are on the Pacific coast of Mexico, near Puerto Vallarta. We spent three nights, as previously reported, in Mismaloya, then 4 in Sayulita, and now have been in Chacala. Each is more rustic and off the beaten path than the last, heading north. We had planned to only stay a couple nights in Chacala before heading home, but the rain came the day after we arrived so we waited it out and now have found ourselves delaying day by day. Among the various stops, we have spotted some wildlife, so here it is in list form, to avoid having to create transitions:

1. Iguanas, as previously posted.
2. Geckos, as previously exulted.
3. One night when I went into our bathroom in Sayulita, I found a 2-inch long cockroach hanging out on the counter. It was not one of the more pleasant wildlife sights. After that, I would always reach in to turn on the light, wait a few seconds, and then enter.
4. Some sort of small parrots, 4 of 'em. Ok, we thought these were lovebirds, but I just read that they live in Africa, not Mexico. So we don't know what we saw. They were up in the trees and backlit, so hard to say. Still, it was incredibly exciting.
5. Humpback whales: after putting off the boatride out to see them due to rain, we finally went yesterday. Our host took us out in his boat, along with the Canadian couple and their baby, who are also staying there. We saw the whales come up to breath and saw their tales flip up as they finally plunged below. Most surprisingly, we heard the whales. Their songs seemed to reverberate through the bottom of the boat. We all sat silently and listened, except Lachlan the baby, who seemed to start responding to them with his own calls.
6. Mosquitos: seeing, feeling, ugh. I am bitten all over.

In the flora category, there are groves of Guanabana trees up on the hill, and a bunch of Durian trees on the road here -- they're called Yaka in Spanish (I still have neither smelled nor tasted this fruit, even though it is sold at Berkeley Bowl). Coconuts abound.

Random note about Berkeley Bowl for those familiar: yesterday I was reading an article on the NYTimes Bay Area blog about Berkeley and the author refered to the Bowl as the "supermarket at which I worship" which I thought was a pretty accurate rendition of all of our feelings about the institution.