Yukoners in Puerto Vallarta ‘stay calm and carry on’ as crisis erupts
CBC
When Theresa Hayduck looked out over her balcony Sunday morning, she thought it was weird that the postcard-like view of Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta should be marred with pillars of black smoke.
“I just thought: ‘Oh. That's kind of weird to have forest fires.’”
And then she heard explosions.
Hayduck, who is from Yukon, landed in Puerto Vallarta on Friday. But her scenic vacation took a seemingly screen-to-real-life turn after violence struck several states in Mexico, including the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta, which is in Jalisco.
The unrest was triggered after the leader of one of Mexico's most powerful criminal organizations was reported to have died following a clash with special forces operatives, authorities said.
Global Affairs Canada issued a “shelter in place” order in that coastal town, while several airlines cancelled flights to and from Puerto Vallarta.
Hayduck, who is in a party of 13, said her friends were trying to keep her calm.
“This is my first time in Mexico. I feel like I'm living my best life. My first morning I just woke up with so much gratitude,” she said in a phone interview.
“And then I'm like, ‘Gosh. I've watched a lot of shows about the cartel, and now I'm in Mexico, where one of the largest, you know, drug dealers is gone.' And it's crazy to be here. So I'm just trying to not freak out.”
Vincent Esquiro, one of her travelling companions and another Yukoner, said he saw “dozens” of fires and heard explosions from his room at the Sunscape Resort in Puerto Vallarta.
“And you can see the flames above the trees,” he said.
“The streets were empty. No people walking. Nobody driving. Nobody out. It was very, very quiet. No birds.”
The hotel lobby, on the other hand, he said, was packed because no one was allowed to leave.
The group is scheduled to stay at the resort until Friday, and Esquiro said they plan to assess the situation and flights day-by-day.
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