| March ends five wonderful months, wintering in Ajijic. It was both a sad and happy time, knowing we would miss all the friends we made and all the fun things Ajijic has to offer. But happy about all the adventures we are going to have as we RV up the Pacific Coast Highway from April to September. Our hope is that we can have as much fun as we did on this trip (picture above) we took to the Caribbean with friends Jerry and Gloria. Keep us informed by clicking on the email link Larry and Glorine. | ||
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| Fiestas are a way of life in Ajijic, but no time is it more exciting than Mardi Gras, (French for Fat Tuesday). This parade is a joy for both those in the parade as well as those of us that stood for hours watching it. | These two guys put the fat in Fat Tuesday. It is a tradition for men to dress up as women and the more provocative the better. They also carry bags of flour they throw on people--both to be mischievous and as a symbol of good luck. | |
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| Friends Chuck and Jean live on the parade route and were kind enough to host a brunch and get Mardi Gras started in grand style. Here are friends Quinton and Rose (right) with Terri, a great lady friend we met from Guadalajara. | That evening was another grand event put on by the community called "Let's Dance." A couple hundred attended the party and enjoyed the music of the 60s and 70s. Here Glorine is swinging with Kathy, a friend from Canada. | |
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| Jeff is one of our single friends who took this opportunity to advertise he was available (dees-poon-ee-blay) in Spanish. Don't know if it worked! | The next day was tiengas or farmers' market where Glorine and Terri went shopping. They ran into this lady who went all out to "walk her dog." Interesting! | |
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| One of the most expensive and eloquent fundraisers in Ajijic is put on by an organization dedicated to handicapped children in the area. The event overlooked Lake Chapala and included fine food, a live and silent auction and live music. The entertainment and company were well worth the price of admissions. | This was our home for a week in the Caribbean. The National Hotel is one of the finest and historic ones on the island. It overlooks the ocean and includes a great breakfast, nightly entertainment, and sits next to the Malecon (boardwalk) that stretches six miles. | |
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| While the hotel was full of tourist, we learned that our group of ten were all from Ajijic. We included Americans, Mexicans and one from Britain. It was great meeting and getting to know them in this new setting. | One of the neat things this island is noted for is its old cars--all looking great but some being held together by bailing wire and any obscure parts that keep them running. | |
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| Tourism is the primary industry on the island and with all the tourist from all over the world who come to enjoy the weather and friendly people, they are given lots of options for getting around town. | The cars are not just old American cars. Here is a 1950s European car, with seats from a Chevy pickup truck, a Peugeot steering wheel and who knows what else. Many are now used as taxis. | |
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| With Columbus bumping into these islands over 500 years ago, they are rich with history. Here is one of the oldest forts built to protect the harbor in this seaport city, which can be seen in the background. | Some the finest cigars in the world come from this part of the Caribbean. While they may be mighty fine they are also mighty expensive. They come in every conceivable flavor, color, shape and size. Thank goodness none of us smoke. | |
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| Decay would be the best word to describe the condition of many of the buildings in this city. Hurricanes are one reason, but being such an impoverished nation is the real reason. | With little manufacturing and low prices for sugar cane, tourism is looked at as their key to a new economy. These busses are the tip of the iceberg as we toured the island. These luxury busses are all over and lots of them. | |
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| This building is a replica of the U.S. Capitol, back in the day when this island nation had good relationship with the United States. It is no longer used as their capitol, but rather as one for several departments of government. | Traditional Caribbean dresses like these are rare, but these girls put them and their looks to good use. For a buck, Larry got a picture taken as one girl planted a big kiss on his cheek. | |
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| Tourism, tourism, tourism. Here is one street that has gone through a major renovation and houses nice restaurants, bars and shops for all these world travelers. | This is Hotel Ambos Mundos, renowned for its history—Hemingway stayed and wrote one of his novels here. It is in a nice central location and a beneficiary of some of the remodeling going on. | |
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| Talk about shopping, here is Glorine with Jerry and Gloria in a large waterfront market with nearly every trinket a tourist would want or need. Each of the booths are privately owned and run by up-and-coming entrepreneurs. | A tour of the countryside was an opportunity to see the raw beauty of this island. Here is an 80 x 120 meter mural on the face of a mountain displaying figures of humans combined with dinosaurs in a nice mixture of colors. The nearby bar served some of the finest Pina Coladas. | |
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| One of our stops was a hidden treasure, an underground river. We all walked down into this cave and took a boat ride back into this cave and here we are coming out. The cave was nearly unnoticeable from the outside. | The valleys and mountains in this area are so unique and breath taking that UNESCO declared it the Patrimony of the Humanity. Tobacco is one of the principle crops grown in this area. Like Ajijic, they have a wet and a dry season, and we were there during the latter. | |
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| Most of the buildings are architecturally beautiful and especially this one which was going through the final touches of a major remodel. It houses both a museum and performance arts auditorium. We got a chance to listen to a children's choir. It was nice touch. | Talk about alternative means of transportation. Here Glorine and I are getting ready for a bike ride from the market back to the hotel. Nice thing about the tourism industry is that many of the locals speak English. So this tour included a little history of the area. | |
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| A part of the hotel's entertainment included Tropicana girls singing and dancing on the back patio overlooking the ocean. They were as beautiful as they were graceful and talented. | While this acrobatic act was stunning, the entire Tropicana experience is nearly indescribable. Their huge outdoor stage was so large, we did not know which direction to look to take in the performance. It was another magnificent evening. | |
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| This is one of the stops we took after a tour of the history museum. We needed a drink after all we saw. | Our final day on the island was a stroll on the malecon, along the harbor with an old fort and a lighthouse in the background. Like the cars, many of these fishing boats fit in the "vintage" category. | |
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| Back in Ajijic, we had a Caribbean party for our friends to share our experiences of food, clothing and music. Beans and rice are the staple, with pork as a special treat. Jerry put in some extra spices we did not taste on the island and of course the Pina Coladas were also a special treat. | We had 18 guests for drinks and dinner. We lost a few when we started a movie that took place on the island. Overall, this trip was a memorable and incredible experience. | |
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| Here is Larry with Jay, his friend and harmonica instructor of a few years back. Jay was setting up to play some blues music and Larry stopped by to share a Caribbean cigar he had gotten for him. | One last Friday night social before heading back to the states. Here the group is toasting to a great summer, where ever we all end up. | |
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| Maureen invited us to another Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic (CASA) dinner. Her entry was pineapple bars, and as good as they were, they could not compete with all the chocolate desserts. CASA meets once a month and all members prepare four dishes over the course of the year and everyone gets the recipe of the winning dishes. | As she was last year, Glorine was dedicated to an hour of ZUMBA every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for five months. She made several friends, many of whom were Mexicans. They all posed for this picture as it would be Glorine's last workout with them until next Fall. | |
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| And Larry stayed true to Tia Chi three days a week again this year. Both the warm-ups and the routine take about an hour and are on the patio at El Parque. Unlike ZUMBA, this workout is done mostly by Americans and Canadian and with many of us being snowbirds, the crowd is starting to thin out a bit. This too, was Larry swan song! | Here is our '99 Grand Cherokee all wrapped up like a cocoon and stored for the summer. The cover is a gift from Randy and Marla Barnhardt, who visited us in January. With the Jeep having over 150,000 miles on it, we decided to start flying back and forth to Ajijic rather that driving, plus now we have a true Mexican car to tool around in as we continue our future trips to Ajijic. | |
March's web page includes March 1 through March 31.
