The biggest event of its kind in Latin America, the International Balloon Festival in Leon, Guanajuato, takes place in the middle of November. Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors over the four-day festival, and some two hundred hot air balloon teams from all over the world, it is a spectacle that justifies the early morning […]
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Adriano is a sixteen-year-old surfer who helps his mother run one of the many small beachside palapas in the resort community of Playa Azul, north of Ixtapa. You won’t read about Playa Azul in most guidebooks as it is a resort that for the most part has yet to be “discovered” by anyone other than the […]
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The state of Michoacán is an uncommon place. From the sugar cane fields of Los Reyes, the avocados, coffee, and macadamia nuts of Uruapan, the melon fields of Apatzingán, the rice fields of Lombardia and Nueva Italia, the pears of Ucareo, the pescado blanco of Patzcuaro, to the ruggedly pristine Pacific coast, the endless pine-crested […]
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If you are coming from Patzcuaro, a city of about 40,000, when you arrive in Uruapan you will find that this city of over 200,000 is pretty much like a circus. If you come from stately and subdued Morelia, you will find it vibrant and much more active. It is the hub of the agricultural dynamo of […]
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When the honorable and distinguished city leaders of Cocula, Jalisco select me as communications consultant for their mariachi museum, I shall recommend minor enhancements. The host who greets visitors and discreetly flips a switch to light up exhibits would also turn on background music, mariachis of course. If cost is a concern in a snug […]
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Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city happens to be situated right next to a beautiful pine and oak forest covering more than 36,000 hectares (139 square miles). For as long as anyone can remember, el Bosque de la Primavera has been referred to as “Guadalajara’s lungs” and in 1980, when big-time development plans threatened the woods, the […]
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On Wednesday, March 6, 2013, the first book ever on the geology of the Primavera Forest was launched at ITESO University in Guadalajara. La Apasionante Geología del Área de Protección de Flora y Fauna La Primavera was written by U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer and geologist Barbara Dye during her two years of service at the woodland sanctuary. Although written […]
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Beautiful beaches abound all along Mexico’s Nayarit Riviera. Here are two more gorgeous hidden gems and a historic beach town. Playa Los Tortugas is an exquisite five-mile stretch of beach on the coast of Nayarit in the still unspoiled area of Boca de Chila. This portion of the coast is often referred to as Costa […]
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Some years ago an Australian TV commercial extolled the virtues of a non-alcoholic substitute called “Claytons.” A famous actor refused his last strong one at the bar, telling the barman: “Make mine a Claytons,” over which the voice over intoned: “The drink you have when you’re not having a drink.” Since then, the word has […]
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The Quetzal Dance is one of the most colorful folkloric dances anywhere in the country. It is also thought to be one of the most ancient. Both the dance and the spectacular headdresses worn by those taking part are thought to pre-date the Conquest, perhaps by hundreds of years. The headdresses represent the extravagant colors […]
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