THE BEAUTY AND CULTURE OF MEXICO

Marilyn and I rented a car while in Barra de Navidad and drove inland for week visiting sights and small villages. The first place we visited was Mecca. No I didn't take a wrong turn. Mecca here in Mexico also goes by another name. The name of the village is Taquila. We unfortunately didn't have time to take a tasting tour so I was limited to one place where I tasted two types which were very good. We walked around town a bit and had a light lunch before moving along down to road to Lake Chapala. This is north of Mexico city and east of Guadalajara. This is reportedly the largest lake in Mexico. A friend back in California, Bea, has a condo there that she is renting out for now as she  studys if she wants to move there and leave California behind.

We walked around one of the towns on the lake to explore a street where there was a number of art galleries and then moved on to a town south of there where we settled in for the evening. The following day we went to a Monarch butterfly reserve to witness thousand of butterflies that migrated there waiting for warmer weather before flying north to Canada. A round trip that takes them 3 years. Joanne and I and our children saw the same butterflies in Pacific Grove, California were they stopped on their trip north.

Let me share some photos that we took during our tour inland that, as the title notes, the beauty and culture of Mexico become visible.

These are photos of some of the butterflies that we saw. To get there we had to walk about 2 miles and climb 2,000 ft. The locations was at an elevation of 10,200 feet. Surprisingly i was able to walk up there with much less effort that i had expected. I had to stop several times for Marilyn to catch up.

This young boy wanted us to talk his photo.

Beautiful flower arrangements at a market that we visited.

I had no idea what she was making but it sure smelled good.

Taken near the market where there were several wood carvings

Mayan ruins in the area. They were meant to be platforms or foundations for structures that were built upon them.

There is a town named San Juan that is now called old San Juan as the town had to be moved as the result of a volcano eruption that covered the town with lava. The only structure that is visible was a church. We walked through the lava with our sandals on. Not exactly hiking boots.

This is a photo of the town before it was destroyed. No one wes killed or insured as they had plenty of warning.

This is a photo of the church which now is buried in lava.

The volcano.

I enjoy looking at the many cathedrals that i have passes in the years i have visited many countries while traveling by land or sea. They are always beautiful.

I have no idea what this is meant to be. My guess this is, what we know today as Mexico, when it was taken over by the spaniards.

Lake Chapala

She told us to take a photo of the horses butt as it was nicer than hers.

Guess who?

Cathedrals during the evening.

Marilyn climbing the hill to see the butterflies.

Time to stop for a rest.

Carnival celebration.

My favorite wood carvings. That's me with the cigar.

Photos of the earlier ruins.

Waking through the lava.

I asked this lady if i could take her photo as i very much enjoyed her tiedyed shirt.

End of a long day sailing. Finally at anchor to rest.

Another couple sailed along with me. They took this photo of my boat.

Sorry, i tried adding a couple of videos taken during the trip but it failed because of the poor internet speeds here in Mexico. The internet down here goes by the name of go-slow.

I am currently back in Mazatlan after returning from my sail south. After revisiting friends here and doing some work on the boat i am going to throw off the dock lines and sail over to the Sea of Cortez and play around there for a few months. Then i return here again to put the boat away for the summer before traveling back to the states to visit family and friends.

My son and his family are driving down to Baja for a visit and i will be able to take my Grandsons out sailing. I can't wait to show off and enjoy their smiles when i let them steer the boat.

That's it for now.

until next time, be safe out there.