Chapala

We figured out how to get to Ajijic from the centre of Guadalajara. Rome2Rio is a very helpful app! A taxi from the hotel to the old bus station. A bus to Ajijic and then a taxi to our friend’s beautiful house, that is on the outskirts of Ajijic. I wish that travelling in Ontario was as easy and cheap to do as it is in Mexico!

Our original plan was to visit our friend and her husband for a weekend before moving on. Since we last saw the two of them, 11 years ago, her husband had a very bad fall and is not able to get around and he also developed dementia. His wife has been caring for him for 8+ years and it finally become too hard for her. A wonderful and caring home was found for him and he has been there for 8 months. But our poor friend has had a very hard time dealing with her new life without her husband.

Our original Mexico plan was to ‘go where the wind blows us’, so we decided to stay with her and help her out as long as we could. She has a beautiful casita and we were fortunate to be able to stay there for a month, doing whatever we could to help.

We went on hikes into Ajijic or down to the lake. We saw lots of people who remembered us from the times that we had stayed in Ajijic previously. We were able to spend catch-up time with our ex landlady, Robin; Chris’ hiking pals, Larry and Jim; Antonio, a local artist; Miguel, a carpenter near the Six Corners; Jill who knew us from Ontario but sadly not her husband who recently passed away; Jim Garrow and Larry Lafromboise, two of Chris' old hiking companions.

On Chris’ birthday, our friend came with us to Chapala to have a very tasty mocajete lunch in Chapala. As a surprise, she hired mariachis to come to our table to sing the Mexican happy birthday song to Chris. We even saw the voladores that is always thrilling. It was a great afternoon on the malecon.

We were able to have a visit with her husband in the nearby town of San Juan de Cosala. We are not sure if he remembered us. His home is spacious and he has the most wonderful care. I think that only 8 people live in his house.

Since we were in Ajijic, things have changed. All in the name of progress. Some things are better and some are not. A long, safe bicycle/walking path runs from Chapala to Jocotepec. Two hospitals have been built as well as a cardiac care clinic. Grocery stores with anything that you may want to buy have been built too. There has been a lot of new construction.

We enjoyed visiting the square in Ajijic, as well as the lovely malecon by the lake. We found a little Russian restaurant that served very good borscht, cabbage rolls, vereniki and
and an eggplant dish.

But, there seems to be a lot more gringos living in town. All the waiters/waitresses speak English. So do the cab drivers and many of the store owners.

There is only one main road running along the shore of the lake and as there are many more cars and other vehicles using it, it has become very congested. It is hard to cross the road at certain times. We are not sure how this problem can be solved.

All in all, we loved having the time to revisit Ajijic and to see some of our old friends who we haven’t seen in a long time.Read more