"Lesbians come to Vallarta," says Sanford. "We wanted to get them all here at the same time, doing the same things."
Steve Buczek — promoter and creator of Beef Dip, the annual bear and leather week in PV — organized events and locations for the women's week, Toronto-based queer travel company Conxity.com became a sponsor and handled travel arrangements, and voila! Buczek, along with event hosts Sanford and Michelle Smith, greeted sun-starved sisters at the inaugural Vallarta Heat welcome party on Feb 23 at the well-known Blue Chairs resort. In all 56 women enjoyed the week's events.
True to the intent, each day featured an event to bring queer women together. You can walk everywhere in Old Vallarta, so no matter the choice of accommodation (locally owned inns from $25 per night, condos from about $700 per week or all-inclusive beachside hotels starting from $840, flight included) we were close to the beach and the festivities. Some of us purchased Vallarta Heat dog tags ($130) that allowed entry into all of the events, others joined in occasionally. Some women only arrived in PV part-way through the week.
