Trees hide Playa Las Cuevas from the road, making this beach on the Nayarit Riviera a hidden gem © Christina Stobbs, 2012

Playa del Naranjo, Playa Las Cuevas, Alta Vista and the Nuevo Ixtlan Hot Springs: Hidden gems on Mexico’s Nayarit Riviera

North of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico’s Nayarit Riviera coast has a wealth of beaches to discover and enjoy. Their cool blue waters, warm sand and exuberant vegetation invite the explorer to linger a while. Each beach is truly a hidden gem set amid the green jungle vegetation. Playa del Naranjo, a picture-perfect, escapist beach on the Nayarit Riviera awaits […]

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The tables are set and ready for guests. Custom centerpieces and place settings can be arranged in Oaxaca salones para eventos. © Alvin Starkman 2008

Affordable Oaxaca as a locale for any grand fiesta

If you’re getting married, turning 50, or planning that anniversary bash… consider Oaxaca They say that Mexicans really know how to party. Here in Oaxaca we do it in spades, because it’s part of a longstanding cultural tradition. Also because it’s affordable, certainly relative to what it would cost in the U.S. or Canada. What […]

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Jalisco's traditional sopes © Daniel Wheeler, 2010

The cuisine of Jalisco: la cocina tapatia

If there is one state that can be considered quintessentially Mexican, it is Jalisco. Home of mariachis, tequila, famous regional dances and equally well-known culinary specialties, Jalisco is at the heart of the country’s culture and contributes significantly to its cuisine. Located in Western Mexico, bordering on the Pacific Ocean to the west, and surrounded […]

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Dale Hoyt Palfrey

Dale has accumulated considerable experience and knowledge about Mexico, its language and culture from 25 years residence in the Lake Chapala area. After several harrowing years of daily commutes between her home in idyllic Ajijic and bustling Guadalajara, where she worked in international relations and promotions for the University of Guadalajara, she has recently returned […]

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Camille Collins

Camille Collins lives outside of Guadalajara in a place where the cows still outnumber the humans. She has lived in and around Mexico for 20 years and now writes, occassionally, about the little things that make her life here so different from what she left back in Los Angeles, California… And enjoys every moment of […]

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The San Marcos Fair in Aguascalientes, and what to do afterwards

The San Marcos Fair, held from the second week in April to the first week of May each year, attracts thousands of visitors from all over Mexico and the United States. It dates back to 1604 when a small indigenous Indian settlement, San Marcos, was founded within walking distance of the growing Spanish city of […]

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