Female turtle at the water's edge, moments before a wave took her out to sea. © Joseph Sorrentino, 2022

Canine beach patrol in Colima: Coco the expert turtle-finding dog

Coco has been finding turtle nests for two years now. “She’s a Mini pin (Miniature Pinscher) and something else,” said Eileen Hoeter, her owner. Eileen and her husband Jedd built Villa Star of the Sea, a resort in Playa del Coco, Colima, Mexico, in 2015, and, as they walked along the beach, would come across […]

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Colima dog

Dog with a human mask: The ceramic dogs from Colima

Mexicans love wearing masks. My favorite is a statue of a dog wearing a human mask created about 300 A.D, and found near Colima. Masks are part of the Christmas pastorelas, depicting the devil, the hermit and Sin, dressed in red satin. Masks are an integral part of many ritual dances (the Spanish word is danza for ceremonial dances.) […]

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Mariachis perform at a gala held at the Hacienda of Nogueras, Comala, Colima.

Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo – Universal artist from Colima

In the half-light I enter the ‘horno’ or oven room. A base of reds frames the pre-Hispanic pieces in the Museum of Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo. It is easy to imagine the fiery origin of the land and the fire that formed the ancient ceramics. Outside, the Volcano of Fire smokes above the countryside. And so I meet […]

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Beautiful yet deadly: The Fire Volcano threatens the City of Colima (Population 130,000) with a Mount-Saint-Helen's-type explosion. © John Pint, 2012

La Maria: A picturesque crater lake in the shadow of Colima’s Fire Volcano

Beneath the high walls of an ancient crater, you glide across the placid lake in a rowboat, mesmerized. “This is surely the most peaceful place in all Mexico and definitely one of the most beautiful,” you tell yourself. But just beyond those protective crater walls rises one of the most dreaded forces of nature: an […]

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