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.
After Naked Stage closed (Lakeside’s reader’s theatre for 10 years), Artistic Director, Roseann Wilshere and the committee of Bare Stage Theatre, stepped up to fill this gap. For the last year and a half, we have run a very successful little operation in our Riberas del Pilar location.
It was fortunate for us at Bare Stage Theatre that the community had so enjoyed this form of entertainment previously, that they flocked to our performances. And thanks to a mix of popular comedies with occasional classical drama pieces thrown in, shows began to sell out. First it was the Sunday performances and more recently, both Friday and Saturday afternoons were selling out as well.
In normal times, Bare Stage Theatre performed on the last full weekend of the month on Friday, Saturday and Sundays at 4 pm. The quality of the performances for our small community theatre had been phenomenal and ‘the talk of the town’ before we were forced to close when the COVID-19 Pandemic hit.
We miss our audience and we miss being creative so…we have begun to plan “play readings” online for free for our patrons from now until the quarantine is over. Of course, we must still pay rent and know that things are going to be hard but we feel the need to reach out to our fans and let them know that we’ve not forgotten about them and their need to be entertained. Thanks to the Zoom format, our “Coming Soon”, venue will be our Bare Stage Theatre Mexico FB page, www.facebook.com/barestagetheatre2018/.
For play schedules, please ‘Like, Follow & Share’ our Facebook Page and we’re here to address any questions - send us an email at barestagetheatre2018@gmail.com. Our final wish is that all of you stay safe and healthy and we hope to see all of you again soon.
Dr. Lorin Swinehart examines the existential effect of the relationship between dogs and their human companions.
THE WORLD LONGEST LOVE AFFAIR Dale Hoyt Palfrey shares the history of Mexico’s rich history of what has become part of the world’s great obsession with this chocolate.
NINE TENTH’S OF THE LAW Herbert W. Piekow share’s a review of Claudia Long’s latest book extolling Claudia’s ability to weave a story of mystery, history and family relationships.
WHY I THINK I SHOULD GO TO HEAVEN Pursuing a humorous point of view, William Franklin explains why he thinks he should go to heaven. Do you agree?
IT’S VIRAL Monty McDonnald, shares a script-like presentation of a couple’s morning coffee.
Home of The Week
“Downtown Chapala Fixer Upper”
Property located in the heart of Chapala, close to it all. Big land, 2 stories, perfect for a renovation project or smart investment. 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms.
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.
