What am I going to write about Lake Chapala Ajijic Today?

Hi Sid We are since last winter long term winter renters. Sorry no buying for us but I have friends who are interested. We are responsible for 9 new travellers to come into the area this winter alone. All of whom are staying from 2 to 6 months. We are very enthusiastic about the whole area.

Anyway we are heading down this year in time for Days of the Dead. Can you fill us in on what goes on in the area. Like Joco, Chapala and Ajijic.

Other suggestions for articles. Have you done an article about the market on Wednesday, and the smaller markets in San Antonio etc.? What about the cultural stuff that is only a short ways away in Guadalajara. PLus Tonala and Telacapaque can be accessed either by tour or using the local buses. We saw Juan Diego Flores at the Telmex last year for a mere 400 pesos each. You might suggest inexpensive Guadalajara hotels and the places to see and things to do. We will get our opera and symphony fix this year in Guadalajara. We enjoyed many events in Ajijic last winter too.

We take the ETN buses and enjoy the colonial cities within 6 hours. Mexico City is a huge city but we have found it to be one of the greatest to explore and we recommend it to all our friends. We head to the beaches east and west using the buses. A cheap trip. We actually have travelled extensively within Mexico and can recommend many places. A mini vacation within the vacation.

What about the great fund raising efforts of many folks in the area to help the Mexicans, young and old. What about the Red Cross and their good work and the help they are to everyone.

What about the fact that if you do not have a car down there when you go to an evening event it might be good to get to know a taxi driver who will patiently wait for you. We noted on our first evening out that the taxis and buses are not roaming after about 9.30, causing us to walk back to out San Antonio digs in the dark. Now street lights along the carreterra are not bad we had dark spots where we picked our
way only home.

What about the great food shopping places, like Tony’s meat market, the good fish stores in Ajijic, the many good dentists you can have faith in , the caring doctors, the fresh berrries available for a good part of the winter at such super prices.

Anyway just a few ideas You may have touched upon these in the past. I only discovered your site about 6 weeks ago.
I have forwarded the site to many folks . It’s a good thing you are doing. I know how much time it takes….Thanks Carol Rome Canada

Hi Sid, I love your website with its great articles. Being a person poised on the brink of selling everything out up here in Arizona, my business and home for the past nine years, a 7-suite large B&B, and moving to Chapala next spring after the new owners have totally taken over and are trained in, I am highly interested in articles or interviews with Lakeside residents who would like to tell their story of how they got there. Actually the articles that would be really helpful would be the ones focusing on how each person/couple researched and chose the area they wanted to live in at first, how it panned out, and what caused them to move to another area after a while if that happened. Did they buy too much house and cart way too many “things” they just couldn’t be without all the way down there, just to find out that some of the “burdens” they were trying to escape had actually come with them in that expensive moving van? Who chooses an American-style gated community and who totally avoids that lifestyle for more immersion in the village culture of Mexico? Who gives up his vehicle in exchange for walking everywhere, using the bus and an occasional taxi when needed? A great example would be Rob and Lorie at the QQ B&B in Chapala who totally run their business without a vehicle and haven’t owned one for 12 years. Interviews with interesting people who tried something new and found out how it did or didn’t work for them can be very helpful to new residents who would be looking for help in deciding where to live or how to approach their retirement as you could identify with one of the folks who’ve already done what you’d been thinking about. After I get there and try my version of retirement out for a while, you can interview me too!

Hola, Sid, While watching the recent video of the driving down the Caratera, there were certainly many familiar scenes to see. However, after most much of video, I found the music so loud and distracting that I couldn’t even hear what you were saying, so I just turned it off. In future endeavers, please keep the background music toned down a little, please. Thanks, and I hope to get back down there sometime in the next 4 or 5 months for another housesit. Regards, Kent

How are women really treated by the local males?
I have heard from someone who now lives in Chapala that she felt disrespected and ignored while trying to accomplish contracting work in her home and repairs in her home. She is seeing it as a male chauvanist society at this point.

Also, what is really the deal with petty crime in Lake Chapala areas?.
We live in an area in Calif.(Thousand Oaks) where we don’t have to always have our doors and windows locked, and have not had breakins in the neighborhood that I know of. We live in a middle class neighborhood close to a wealthy neighborhood. I see bikes out in yards etc. Although we have had the unlocked truck gone through and things taken. I must say though that our town was considered one of the safest towns in the US so maybe we are the exception. It’s just that if we do not get a loan modification as my husband was forced into retirement, we need to move somewhere cheaper…but I do not want to be always worrying that if I leave soemthing unlocked that someone would come in my house. Does it mean no windows open for evening breezes? I do not want to live in a gated community as I want a large yard for a garden and want some elbow room. But what is the crime really like?