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Jugle Bazaar Spring-summer/2000 Finally free to go as fast as our car will take us (no mucho), on the smooth, wide, brand-new highway from PV to la Cruz de Huanacaxtle, we visited Los Veneros Beach Club. With its rich variety of plants, trees and flowers landscaped by expert botanist Charles Sacamano, the refreshing swimming pools and lovely beach, the place is worth the trip. Truly unforgettable are the flaming red and high-voltage blue macaws that perform in an area surrounded by tropical huts. These quaint bungalows, with palapa roofs covered in vines profuse in large pale-violet blooms, house a fascinating array of shops. Espíritus del Mar is the gallery where Jeff Blair, an Englishman who arrived in the area years ago, has gathered a fanciful collection of animals, faces and other creatures 'discovered' by his imagination in pieces of driftwood. The shapes of branches left on the beach by the changing tides dictate Jeff exactly what they want to become. With a little paint and a lot of ingenuity, Blair brings out the hidden spirit in these otherwise inanimate objects. Inside El Venado Azul you will find original pieces of Huichol arts and crafts, exquisite jewelry made with the tiniest color beads as well as t-shirts displaying motifs originally painted by these Indians. The Huichol are among the purest Indigenous groups alive today and their traditions and cosmogony remain almost untouched by Western civilization. But the Huichol is not the only culture represented here. Waylan, the English owner of El Venado Azul, who years ago single-handedly constructed a boat and came to America with wife Aruna, built a loom and installed it in the shop. Here, a family from Oaxaca with a long history in weaving now makes beautiful rugs for sale. In Jungle Urbana, Kimberley Wilson's dolls are everybody's delight. Also adorable-and practical!-are her bikinis that come in a 'bag' which in turn can be worn as a sarong. Of her own design, the line of little handmade sundresses is complemented by a wide selection of jewelry and other accessories. Tlaquepaque, a truly Mexican store that opened 47 years ago in downtown Puerto Vallarta has found its way to Los Veneros where it has chosen to sell only the best of their traditional selection of handcrafted decorative and practical pieces. In order to make this shopping experience complete, Los Veneros will be featuring the works of a different local artist every month. With the easy pleasure of driving up there, we will for sure be checking it out.

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