Let the adventure begin! The children were understandably excited as we exited Puerto Vallarta airport after flying from Seattle via Los Angeles. They were going to revisit some of their favorite haunts for the first time in several years. Smiling immigration officers were quick to deal with the sudden influx of passengers disembarking from the […]
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The area’s reputation was considerably enhanced in the 1930s, ’40s and’ 50s by a long string of visiting writers and artists, many of whom settled permanently in the string of villages along the northern shore of the lake. This brief alphabetical listing of some of the stalwarts of the Lake Chapala art and literary scene […]
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and a second picture essay: Marsha Sorensen lived in Ajijic in the mid and late1960s, and made two extended visits in 1972 and 1973. Revisting Ajijic in 2008 for the first time in thirty-five years, she was struck by the “astonishing changes” and searched out some photos from the old days as a contribution to […]
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The Quetzal Dance is one of the most colorful folkloric dances anywhere in the country. It is also thought to be one of the most ancient. Both the dance and the spectacular headdresses worn by those taking part are thought to pre-date the Conquest, perhaps by hundreds of years. The headdresses represent the extravagant colors […]
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The masses of beautiful violet and yellow flowers of the water hyacinth ( Eichhornia crassipes) add an attractive splash of colour in the Lake Chapala landscape during the rainy season but the lirio as the locals call it, is a serious problem for many of their economic activities. The hyacinth was first described in 1824, in Brazil. In […]
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Vultures (zopilotes in Spanish) are among the most conspicuous birds in many parts of Mexico. Commonly misidentified as eagles, these blackish scavengers can be seen almost anywhere, often in large flocks, either circling lazily overhead or feeding greedily on roadkill or other carrion. A few years ago, in the early morning mist at a municipal garbage dump […]
Continue Reading As they explored the New World, the early conquistadors were spurred on by the possibility of finding treasure and riches. Captive Indians told convincing stories of cities far to the north even more fabulous than the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards’ greed was sufficient to fuel determined drives into ever more remote territory in the […]
Continue Reading A chance remark recently by Mexico Connect publisher David McLaughlin has prompted me to examine the statistics on Mexican beauty. As a single, footloose and fancy-free, 20-something-year-old in Mexico City in the 1980s, I often heard that the most beautiful women in Mexico came from the state of Sinaloa. While I’m not confessing to having […]
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The oldest winery in the Americas is in Parras de la Fuente In Mexico, vineyards and wineries exist in several states, including Baja California, Sonora, Zacatecas, Querétaro, and Coahuila. Wine experts usually claim that Mexico’s finest wines come from Baja California, but award-winning wines are also now emerging from the oldest winery anywhere in the […]
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Note: This article is an edited extract from chapter 6 of Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico, by Richard Rhoda and Tony Burton (Sombrero Books, 2010). Though parts of northern Mexico are arid, the country as a whole receives an average of 760 mm of precipitation a year (slightly over 30 in). This is a considerable […]
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