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Mazatlan is known as the Pearl of the Pacific because of it's friendly people and the beauty of the beaches. It is the second largest city in the state of Sinaloa. It was founded by the Spanish and Indigenous people in 1531. In the mid 19th century, the Germans came and they settled and developed the area. It is located directly across the gulf from La Paz which is located at the tip of Baja. There are car...

The 37th Annual Mexican Chili Cook-Off was a great success. It started on Friday, February 27th and went through Sunday. It ended at five p.m. on Sunday, March 1st. It was held at the Tobolandia water park. This year the parade was very small. The Shriners were in it and the tour bus from Chapala. Instead of starting at six corners as it did on previous years, it started by the bank up on the Carretera....

This is my third year of writing about the Fat Tuesday parade. Unfortunately, I was too sick to get out of my house to see it. My friend Ramon took these photos for me with his wide angle lens. The lens gives an interesting perspective.  Since I didn't take these photos, I can't comment much on them but I will give you some background information on the Fat Tuesday Parade. I hope next year I will not have...

The Guadalajara zoo is at the edge of town, next to the Huentitan Canyon which is a natural park.   The cost is sixty pesos up to two hundred pesos, depending on what you want to do there. If you want to go on everything that takes people around to see the animals, the cost is two hundred pesos. That includes the sky ride, the safari truck, the train, plus entrance to the aquarium. There may have been...

My Christmas holiday was very special because my son and daughter-in-law came to visit. They live in Portland, Oregon where it is cold in December. They appreciated the beautiful warm days here. We all stayed at the Hotel Tapatio. It is located not far from the airport. We had spectacular views of Guadalajara from there. We only had one week, Christmas day to New Year's day. We took taxis everywhere. I was...

Have you ever fantasized about living in the lakeside area before it became popular with the expats? When it was just a small town? I have and sometimes I have wished I could go back in time for just a day to see it as it was then. Well, I took the bus to San Nicolas yesterday and it looked very much like the photos of Ajijic many years ago.  It isn't too late!  It is just a short walk to the water from...

Before I moved to Mexico I had the idea that I would settle near the smaller lake instead of Lake Chapala. I figured it would be less crowded than the popular Chapala area and less expensive.  But I have lived here for eight years and never bothered to even visit it until this last weekend. I had forgotten my previous plan of settling there. (Life was too good at the Lake Chapala area.) It was not a bad...

This parade must be one of the the most liked by the Mexican children. It is their parade and they get to play the rebels, similar to the children in the United States who enjoy playing Cowboys and Indians.   This first group of boys dressed like rebels, was an inspiration to the crowd. They showed so much enthusiasm!  What fun! Boys in the parade The girls came along after the boys. Some of them...

The thirteenth annual Feria Maestros del Arte was held at the Chapala Yacht Club on November 14th, 15th, and 16th. It was from ten a.m. to five p.m. (Ten to four on Sunday) and the entrance fee was just fifty pesos. I went the first two days and had a wonderful time. There were  many beautiful crafts from all over Mexico. I could only afford two small bowls. But for people who wanted to buy some of the...

I was a bit disappointed in the Catrina dolls this year, both in Ajijic and Chapala. You can form your own opinion after reading this article and referring back to the one I wrote last year on the same subject. The main problem--not as many as there were last year. In Chapala last year the dolls were all along the main malecon. This year, they did not start until the end of the malecon and then over to the...