Purepecha fiesta in Ajijic, Jalisco “Way back when”, in the mists of history, Lake Chapala was a frontier zone, a Mexican equivalent of the Wild West. Neighboring tribes of pre-Columbian Indian tribes fought over its shores, and its resources, with control swinging from one tribe to another over the centuries. To the west were the […]
Continue ReadingEarly in 1980, exploring various off the beaten track areas of Mexico looking for potential geography fieldwork sites, one fateful Saturday morning found me standing in the main plaza of the small Michoacán mining town of Angangueo. I was chatting to people and desperately trying to formulate some theory or hypothesis which high school students […]
Continue ReadingAn earlier column described several Guinness records and their connection to Mexico and Mexicans. This month’s column examines four more very different Guinness records which do not involve quite as much physical activity. In movie images, Mexico is almost invariably associated with cacti and it should, therefore, come as no surprise to find that the […]
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A young Belgian botanist established a business exporting Mexican cacti to Europe back in the 1840s. Henri Guillaume Galeotti was born on September 10, 1814, in Paris. In early childhood, he moved, with his Milanese father, to Belgium, where he studied natural history at the Establissement Géographique de Brussels. This school had been founded in […]
Continue ReadingBOOKS (and chapters in books) MAPS ACADEMIC JOURNALS TRAVEL ARTICLES ECONOMIC NEWSLETTERS TRANSLATIONS CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 2022 Si las paredes pudieron hablar: edificios históricas de Chapala y sus antiguos habitantes (translation of If Walls Could Talk) 2022 A postcard history of Lake Chapala 2022 Foreign Footprints in Ajijic: Decades of Change in a Mexican Village 2021 […]
Continue ReadingThis article is Part 5 of Tony Burton’s series: “Can Mexico’s Largest Lake be Saved?” . Part 1: May, 1997 – Can Mexico’s Largest Lake be Saved? Part 2: March, 2000 – The State of The Lake. Part 3: March, 2001 – The Future of Lake Chapala–Suggestions For Discussion Part 4: May 2002 – Lake Chapala–Fish Farm, Farmland or Bungee […]
Continue ReadingPart 1: May, 1997 – Can Mexico’s Largest Lake be Saved? Part 2: March, 2000 – The State of The Lake. Part 4: May 2002 – Lake Chapala–Fish Farm, Farmland or Bungee Jump? Part 5: April 2003 – A review of “The Lerma-Lake Chapala watershed: evaluation and management” In recent months, an increasing number of […]
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State Map Link The city of Zacatecas in northern Mexico is not only a veritable labyrinth of winding streets but also a fascinating labyrinth of artistic and cultural treasures. Built between hills and on steep slopes, Zacatecas (the name is derived from zacatl = grass and tecatl = people) is one of the few Mexican […]
Continue ReadingMexico’s pioneering “telesecundaria” or “television secondary school” system began back in 1968. It now provides junior high school classes in remote areas, serving about one million students in grades 7 to 9, 17% of the total nationwide enrolment in these grades. Many of the telesecundaria lessons are now available on the Internet, and before long, […]
Continue ReadingFather Alonso Ponce and Friar Antonio de Ciudad Real were probably Mexico’s first ever tourists. Father Alonso Ponce de León arrived in Veracruz in September 1584 and spent the next five years traveling to every corner of New Spain as Visitor of the Franciscan Provinces. In this time, he visited all 166 Franciscan monasteries in […]
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