San Sebastian del Oeste

Tired of Puerto Vallarta? Try the mountains: the road to San Sebastián

The seat sale prices for flights to Puerto Vallarta were simply too good to pass up, and the weather at home too cold and miserable to buoy our spirits. Time for a short winter break in the sun! Arriving in Puerto Vallarta in the mid-afternoon, we hired a small car at the airport and took […]

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The beach

Rincon de Guayabitos revisited: the major sights nearby

“An earlier article on the easy-going beachside town of Guayabitos focused on the services the town offers and on activities within easy walking distance. Most people staying more than a few days begin to get itchy feet and wonder if there is anywhere worth visiting a little further afield. This article suggests some possible side-trips […]

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The Inn at Loreto Bay, photo by Marisa Burton

Loreto Bay: The greenest place in Baja, and quite possibly in all of Mexico!

Loreto Bay, a 3-billion-dollar, 6,000-home development in Baja California Sur, may be the most eco- and socially-aware resort project anywhere in the country. At first sight, this is rather strange, given that Loreto Bay, eight kilometers (five miles) south of the town of Loreto, was originally conceived by the Mexican Tourism Development Agency, Fonatur, which […]

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Loreto Mission Photo: Marisa Burton

Loreto and San Javier: from sun, sand and snorkeling to museums, missions and mountains

Three towns in Baja California Sur offer a relaxing alternative to the frenetic pace of life in the pricier and more touristy Los Cabos area: Loreto, Mulegé and Santa Rosalía are very different to one another, and all well worth visiting. This is a trip that combines some sun, sand and snorkeling with some museums, […]

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Paricutín in full eruption, July 16, 1943 Copyright of photo unknown.

Did you know? Small village in Mexico wins UN Development Prize

Every two years, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) awards the Equator prize (worth 30,000 dollars) to communities that have shown “outstanding achievement in the reduction of poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.” One of the winners of the 2004 Equator prize was the indigenous community of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, in […]

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Where a lake dies, a desert is born. Photo by Tony Burton ©2002

Lake Chapala: Part 4 – 2002 follow-up to saving Mexico’s largest lake

This article is Part 4 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 5: April 2003 – A review of “The Lerma-Lake Chapala […]

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A street in Chapala

Chapala: Mexico’s Shangri-la by John Russell Clift

MexConnect reprinted, with permission, this article on the 50th anniversary of its original publication in Ford Times, the monthly magazine of the Ford Motor Company. John Russell Clift, the author and illustrator, was born in 1925 and at the peak of his career in the 1950s when he wrote this piece, one of the earliest […]

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Amate painted by Gerardo Mendoza

Did You Know? Most “bark paper” comes from wild fig trees

Besides being used as a kind of rough paper for records and correspondence, amate was also cut into human or animal forms as part of witchcraft rituals after which it would be buried in front of the person’s house or animal enclosure. Colorful paintings on papel amate or bark paper are sold throughout central Mexico, virtually anywhere […]

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CUILAPAN Basilica - Cuilapan Monastery, Oaxaca © Photo by Tony Burton

A day in Oaxaca = Two thousand years: Monte Alban and the Zimatlan Valley

Part 1: The America’s Oldest Urban Center Having reached Monte Alban and entered the site, on your right as you stand at the corner of the main plaza is the North Platform, the site of the Zapotec king’s residence and the temples of the nobility. Wandering around the hillside behind the North Platform, you will […]

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