Welcome to Ajijic and Lake Chapala Retirement Area
We want to congratulate you for looking into Mexico's largest North American retirement community. As pioneers in real estate (1st one lakeside) and the publishing business, we have introduced many to our local idyllic scene. We feel this is what we do best, showing you what graceful and carefree retirement is all about. Let us share with you our excitement and knowledge on the lake area. Be among the many that have already begun a new and enjoyable life.
Lake Chapala, the Area Known as “Lakeside”
This area is known as “Lakeside” to residents from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Europe, among other places, and “la ribera” to Mexicans. Due partly to the eclectic mixture, it has developed a continental Old World charm which blends smoothly with a distinctly Mexican ambiance.
Cobblestone streets, tile-roofed homes, riotously colorful gardens blooming year around, and incredible open-air markets and restaurants are common sights, backdropped by lush green mountains surrounding the lake. The hills are laced with flowering trees and plants, and accented by waterfalls, caves, petroglyphs, indigenous sacred sites, and a variety of hiking trails and places to explore.
Over 10,000 retirees call lakeside their home, call us, we can show you around!
Lake Chapala, the largest in the Mexican Republic, with 1112 km². The climate of the lagoon is tempered with rains in summer. The rains appear between the months of June and October. The coldest periods are from December to February. Most months it's a wonderful climate. A combination of tropical location, high altitude and a large body of water, produce a climate in the Lake Chapala area that is one of the best in the world.
Other prime retirement locations cannot come close to matching the climate in the Lake Chapala area. High humidity, searing summer heat, hurricane and tornado threats and miserable winters are all foreign to the lakeside. Temperatures are consistent year round. The sun shines all day almost every day. Consistently low humidity adds to the comfort level. The wind is very gentle or non-existent. Sunrises and sunsets vary only about an hour from winter to summer.
Little Lakeside Theatre presents: Adapted from Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion / Book & Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner / Music by Frederick Loewe Directed by Dave McIntosh / Music Direction – Ann Swiston / Show Dates: February 21 – March 3, 2020 Show Sponsor: Jeff & Connie Pecsar Lerner and Loewe’s award-winning story of a cockney flower girl transformed into an elegant lady – widely considered to be one of the greatest musicals of all time. This show is the standard by which all other musicals are measured. Based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion, with book, music and lyrics by Lerner and Loewe, MY FAIR LADY is gloriously triumphant. The tale of a cockney flower girl transformed into an elegant lady features one of musical theatre’s greatest scores. Songs include “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”
THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO A review of Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Monticello—An American Family
FOREVER YOUNG The poet entitles his poem in a way that is bound to capture the attention of many of our readers.
A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD The writer serves up some amusing trivia in remembering a Broadway musical called A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine . (What a title!)
Home of The Week
"Unique Contemporary Mexican Home"
Super views! sitting in the best gated community in Ajijic in a cul d sac, very private. 2 super ample bedrooms, open in the first level, easy access to the whole main floor. Rooms have gorgeous views, big space for sitting area, TV space or offices, beautiful on-suites with beautiful big walk in closets. Imported floor tiles, big windows to enjoy the outdoors, excellent wood works, croncrete counters all over the property, chef's kitchen, super appliances. Very open, breakfast table, extra rooms for office or family areas, green island for refreshing outdoors- indoors living room and formal dining. Beautiful terrace for entertaining and enjoy the amazing unique views, even better from the mirador, yard, pool and jacuzzi. There is a big space bathroom for the pool, bodega, can be prepared for an independent casita, game room big bodega, dance floor etc... 150 mts. Muchas posibilidades!! very unique finishes throughout the property, beautifully decorated, maids quarters, fontain and lot more! MUST SEE!
By Ilse Hoffmann (Published in El Ojo del Lago, November 2000)
“I want to put a stop to the rumor that has been circulating around town. The one that says the old train station my family donated to the town of Chapala will be converted into a disco, bar, restaurant, casino, etc. It was donated for use as a local history, anthropology, and paleontology museum, and as a cultural center for art exhibits, video projection, and cultural activities,” Architect Alejandro Gonzalez Gortazar stated very emphatically. He is the son of Don Jesus Gonzalez Gallo, the renowned and respected Governor of Jalisco from 1946-1952, who provided many benefits for the Chapala area, including the road to Jocotepec.
Alejandro presently lives in Guadalajara, but spent a great deal of his childhood, and seven years of his married life in the Lakeside area; thus his love for Chapala.
Ajijic is situated on a narrow strip of land between the mountains to the north and the Lake to the South. It is flanked by San Antonio Tlayacapan to the east and San Juan Cosala to the west. It is seven kilometers west of Chapala. Its average annual temperature is 19.9 degrees Centigrade "68F".
In 1522, the Spanish Olid Expedition reached the eastern shores of what is today called Lake Chapala. When it arrived, its leader, Captain Avalos, met with little resistance. A royal grant from the king of Spain gave joint ownership of the area to Avalos, who was a cousin of Hernan Cortez. Soon other cousins arrived, and one of them by the name of Saenz acquired almost all of the land that is now Ajijic.
By 1530, the Saenz property was one huge hacienda. The principal crop was mezcal, which was used in the making of tequila. The hills were covered with mezcal plants. Coffee and corn were also planted. Later, when a tequila distillery was built, the beverage was shipped, along with the coffee, back to Spain.
"Grasshoppers Over the Water" - Nahuatl "Very Wet Place" - Coca "Place Where the Pots Abound"- Nahuatl
Chapala is located on the north shore of Lake Chapala, 26 km. (16 mi.) east of the Lake's western end, and 42 km. (25 mi.) south of Guadalajara. It is the oldest, most populated, and the most easterly of a string of villages - Chapala, San Antonio Tlayacapan, Ajijic, San Juan Cosala and Jocopetec - known locally as Lakeside.
Its altitude is 1530 meters (5020 feet). Its average temperature is 19.9 degrees C (68 degrees F).
Founded in 1538, the town probably took its name from Chapalac, one of its earliest Indian chiefs. Or perhaps it came from the Mexican "Chapatla," the "place where pots abound," referring to the primitive Indian practice of appeasing the gods by throwing pots, spotted with blood from earlobes, into Lake Chapala.
