-This is the second post of many highlighting our recent road trip to Mascota and Talpa, Jalisco taken with a group of long-time friends. The first of the two towns we visited was Mascota which is about sixty five miles inland from the Puerto Vallarta Airport.-

After we checked into our hotel in Mascota, the first thing we did was go for ice cream. One of our friends who had already been to Mascota insisted we stop at her favorite ice cream shop, the Neveria Rosita, because the ice cream was so good.

We weren’t really sure we wanted ice cream. It was evening. We had just arrived from Vallarta and wanted dinner. She continued to insist that we stop for ice cream first and that we would thank her if we went.

She was right about the ice cream. It was excellent – old fashioned ice cream, made on the premises.

Read the first Road Trip post – Rancho la Esmeralda

This is the first post of many highlighting our recent road trip to Mascota and Talpa, Jalisco taken with a group of long-time friends. The first of the two towns we visited was Mascota which is about sixty five miles inland from the Puerto Vallarta Airport. Driving time from Puerto Vallarta is about 2:10 due to the winding mountain road. The drive is beautiful and the road is much better than it used to be.

Mascota is a quaint old town which has become a popular tourist destination for people looking for a taste of Old Mexico. The buildings are adobe, the streets cobblestone. The pace is slow and the people pleasant. It’s the kind of place where you can do nothing but watch the world go by for hours and enjoy every moment.

Arriving at the outskirts of Mascota, we stopped to check out a recommended place to stay, the Rancho la Esmeralda. Pulling up to the administration building, we knew we had found our place to stay. Rancho la Esmeralda is a country bungalow hotel set on 24 acres. I felt as if I were arriving on a movie set.

The administration office and the owner’s home. They have a coffee pot set up on the patio for your morning coffee. You can stay and drink it in one of the rocking chairs or take it back to the patio of your bungalow.

I never thought I would get so excited about rocking chairs. When we were checking in, I was bouncing around like a little kid telling everyone, “look everybody, rocking chairs!”

Rancho la Esmeralda has five two-bedroom bungalows and five single rooms. Rates are $480 pesos for the single rooms and $980 pesos for the bungalows. The bungalows are a great deal. They sleep six people and have a fully stocked kitchenette.

The setting is spectacular, wide open space  with an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. The weather is about ten degrees cooler than in Puerto Vallarta and much less humid.

Rancho la Esmeralda is easy to find. When you arrive on the outskirts of town you will see a Pemex gas station and a big sign for the hotel in front of the station. Make a left off the highway on go 300 hundred yards and the hotel is on the left hand side.  You can’t get lost.

Contact information for the hotel:
Telephone 01-388-386-0953
Mobile 044-388-101-2513
e-mail humbertorodi52@hotmail.com
Web www.rancholaesmeralda.com