Manzanillo. Most people can’t pronounce it, have no idea where it is, don’t know what the city has to offer, and can’t figure out how to get there. Manzanillo (pronounced mahn-san- nee-yoh), is the largest shipping port on the western coast of Mexico, located 165 miles south of Puerto Vallarta, or roughly midway between Matzatlan and […]
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In January 2010, I wrote in these pages about our visit to Xalapa, Veracruz, a city off the Gringo radar screen, and how it compared to Ajijic, a pueblo very much on it. This time, Patricia and I decided to sample a city on the Pacific coast — Manzanillo. It is a city certainly on […]
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In the sixteenth century, when the Spanish adventurer Cortés heard rumors of an exceptionally favorable port site on the west coast of Mexico, he immediately sent men to investigate. Cortés’ information came from a Tarascan ruler who, under torture, had told of the arrival at a place called Tzalagua, years before, of the boats of […]
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Several destinations on Mexico’s central Pacific coast are now well known to tourists looking for fantasy honeymoons and vacations straight out of travel agency brochures. Puerto Vallarta to the north, Ixtapa and pricey Acapulco to the south swell with tourists from December through March eager for the gilded-cage-pampering of the resort vacation. Experienced, independent, and […]
Continue Reading Manzanillo has had many names over the last 500 years. The Nahuatl Indians, one of the oldest surviving tribes, whose language is still being spoken and taught today, called it Cozcatlan in the 1400s. Cozcatlan means “Place of Pearls.” Another tribe called it Tlacotla, while Caxitlan became its name in the early 1500s. In 1527, […]
Continue ReadingA Woman’s Perspective on Living in Mexico My friend and I just returned from a special four-day getaway. At the recommendation of friends, we stayed in the Dolphin Cove Inn, known to locals and people giving directions as Playasol Las Hadas. This is important, because only the advertising and brochures bear the name Dolphin Cove […]
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“The town of everlasting festivity.” That, we were told, is what is says on the Municipal coat of arms of Tuxpan, a town in the south of Jalisco almost on the boundary with the neighboring state of Colima, and relatively close to the Mexican Pacific coast. Haga clic aquí si prefiere leer este artículo en […]
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Index to Mexico this month (all 12 months) October 1, 1542 The decision is made to refound the city of Guadalajara in its present location, in the valley of Atemajac. Three previous attempts to found the city had not prospered, but the site chosen this time proved more propitious. 2, 1535 The first Viceroy of […]
Continue Reading “El pueblo de la fiesta eterna.” Eso nos habían dicho que dice el escudo municipal de Tuxpan, población del sur de Jalisco casi en los límites con el vecino estado de Colima, ya relativamente cerca de las costas que baña el Pacífico mexicano. Click here if you prefer to read this article in English Llegamos […]
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