Blogs from Michoacán, Mexico, North America - page 3

We left Mazatlan on Wednesday, Feb. 13th for Rincon de Guayabitos. Our favorite park in Guayabitos was full so we wound up at La Oasis. Most of the park residents were French Canadians but there were a few friendly folks from British Columbia. We enjoyed a romantic 50th Anniversary Valentine's Day dinner on the beach with thirty or so huge peal and eat prawns and a bottle of Chardonnay. The next day we caught a taxi north to the La Penita RV Park. This 100 plus space park claims to be the friendliest in Mexico. This is the one park where it is said that Americans outnumber Canadians tho most of the folks we visited with were from Canada. Saturday, we moved south to a little surfer town called Sayulita. The town's only RV park, said ... read more

Ten years ago Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism embarked on a program to designate certain towns around the country as “Pueblos Magicos”. So far, fifty towns have been awarded the title due either to their natural beauty, cultural riches or historical relevance. Patzcuaro was the seventh town chosen and is the first of these towns we’ve visited this trip. Patzcuaro is a pretty town with white stucco buildings and red tile roofs. The city is a popular tourist destination but we did not find much of interest here. There was some carnival activity as lent began while we were there but it was pretty amateurish – just kids having fun. The city lacks the usual large permanent central market and has few sidewalk restaurants and independent food stands. Tuesday morning the four of us caught a boat ... read more

Saturday, 18 February, we left the beach and headed north back into the state of Michoacán. This is considered to be the most beautiful state in Mexico. The forested Sierra Madre is sometimes compared to Switzerland and New England – without the snow of course. It will take a few days to acclimate from warm sunny sea level beaches to the higher and cooler elevations we’re in now but our plan this year is to do the “educational tour” through Mexico’s colonial cities. Day time temperatures are moderate but we’ve gotten out the blankets and sweats for when the sun goes down. We are camped on the site of the Hotel Pia de la Sierra above the town of Uruapan. We, Ed and Michelle and Ray and I are the only campers but the hotel is ... read more

Patzcuaro is a small quiet town. It is actually a large town that doesn´t know it yet…We stayed in a lovely RV park on the edge of town. The park was very quiet, except that we arrived at the end of Carnival. There were fireworks going off all day at night. They would start early in the morning and you would still hear them sometimes at 2 or 3 in the morning. We could walk right out of the park and catch a bus to anywhere we needed to go. We were able to walk over to the docks of Lake Patzcuaro and caught a water taxi to Isla Janitizio. The boat ride was nice; the water looks brown, however that is due to the water being shallow, not polluted. The island is known for a ... read more

Angahuan is a Purepecha Indian Village that is steeped in history. From the moment we arrived were entranced with the beauty of this magical place. The village is famous for the nearby church ruins. In 1943 a farmer was working in his field when the ground began shaking. This area developed a new volcano that erupted for 9 years. The lava encompassed 2 villages, however no one was killed. The people from these villages now live in the neighboring communities of San Juan Nuevo or Uruapan. There are ruins of a church that remain. The Church was a significant church in the Region. Baptisiams, marriages and ceremonies for the region were held in this Cathedral. As we entered the village we knew this was a special place. It was a beautiful small village and there was ... read more