The city of Colima is in the small inland state of the same name. The state of Colima is home to two towering volcanoes, the active and constantly steaming Volcan de Fuego (3820m), and the extinct snowcapped Volcan Nevado de Colima (4240m). Three different tribes lived here: the Otomi, the Toltecs, and the Chichimecs, all of whom left behind exceptional pottery, mostly in tombs buried with their dead. The most famous of these are the plump hairless dogs called xoloitzcuintles. These dog statues were thought to accompany and help guide the dead to their final destination. The city of Colima, even though inland, has subtropical weather like the coast: very warm and humid. Volcan de Fuego is just 30 km to the north, and the city has been hit by several major earthquakes - the most ... read more

Tapalpa is a town with a population of 16,000 at an elevation of 2100 meters in the Sierra Tapalpa mountains southwest of Guadalajara. We had to take a bus from Chapala back to Guadalajara, then a different bus from Guadalajara to Tapalpa. I ran back and forth from one little shack to another at the station in Guadalajara trying to find out which bus to take, and all the buses are different companies, and nobody speaks English, and they point from one to the other……argh! Steve’s arthritis had flared up that morning too, so poor Steve was limping around trying to follow me with a big pack on his back. Anyway, we finally found the right bus, and got tickets, and were on our way. It took us all day to get there because the bus ... read more

“Las Sabilas” is the name of the hotel where we stayed in Guadalajara, which means “the succulents”. Garden designer Robert Clark won an award for his design of this place, which, true to the name, contains many different varieties of succulents (succulents you may be familiar with are jade plants and sansaveria that we have at home as house plants). There are also many vines covering the walls - some that bloom are varieties of thumbergina - like the brown-eyed susan hanging vines that we can grow in the summer - but many different colors and shapes that we have never seen before. Palms, bougainvillea, even a pomegranate tree. We stayed in the original building that was on the property when Robert took it over - 200 years old with foot-thick walls and 15 foot ... read more

On Thursday we hopped a bus north to go to the market at La Penita, which is the commercial town that serves the town of Rincon de Guayabitos which is right next to it, connected by a walking bridge (yes, another swinging bridge). For those of you at work, Guayabitos is the place that Jason Liggett stayed when he went to Mexico around Christmas time. Anyway, the market was three to four times bigger than the one in Bucerias, with much more selection and many different items. Have a look at some of the fantastic pictures that Steve took at the market here. Once again, the colors, the sounds, and the smells almost overwhelm the senses. It took us a couple of hours to wander through this fascinating place. Then, tired and hot, we found a ... read more

Our whale watching trip was a full morning on a small fishing boat with just the 2 of us. We met the boat early, and despite the fact that they thought that we wanted to go fishing and were surprised that we wanted to go whale watching, it all turned out just fine. They had 2-way radio as well as cell phones, and after a while, got a tip from one of the other boats as to where the whales were being spotted. We motored over there as quick as we could (along with several other whale watching boats), and saw a mother and baby whale. The came up for air, and dived a number of times, then both of them breached (jumped out of the water) right in front of us! We were so close, ... read more