I am lucky this year to be wintering in central Florida again while my little home from May through October is in glorious Western Michigan. Florida is expensive if you want to be by the water and I am a water person. So, while enjoying the soft air and the water and the sun, I’ve been thinking about alternatives for next year. In November, I was delayed coming to Florida because of hurricane Matthew, so I checked out a place in Mexico for two weeks.
Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico is a haven of expats. It is touted as having the best year-round climate or close to it. You won’t find air conditioning or heating, except by fireplaces, in most dwellings. I am a spoiled creature, however, and like my comforts, so I was glad I traveled with my heating pad a couple nights but you can definitely get by without. I am sure there are days in the hottest months that get hot enough to long for some a/c but not while I was there. The days were spectacular with temperatures mostly in the 70’s up to low 80‘s.
Lake Chapala is in Western Mexico about a 30-minute drive from Guadalajara airport. The lake is about 75 miles long and 8 miles across at the widest but has only a 15-foot average depth. The birds adore it!! It has recovered from its most polluted days and while some say it’s safe to swim in now, I didn’t witness any humans swimming. The lake is surrounded by mountains and villages dot its circumference. Truly picturesque. I am so glad to have experienced picturesque – I just love the word.
I stayed right on the border of San Antonio village and Ajijic, which is the center of the expat community, LCS (Lake Chapala Society) being based there. This is old Mexico with narrow cobblestone streets and much is hidden “Behind the Walls”.
On my arrival near midnight, I was quite worried about where I was staying. Of course, at night most everything unknown can take on a slightly sinister feel if not lit up. It was dark. By and large, the walls surrounding most dwellings in these old towns are not where dwellers invest their pesos.
When the gate opened, it was with a huge sigh of relief that I entered the beautiful grounds where I stayed. I am finding in my 60’s that some aspects of adventuring are far less appealing than when I was younger – like getting by with minimalist accommodations. I had a beautiful little casita to myself. While not “modern” in all aspects, it was charming and surrounded by beauty. A little compromise on modern versus charm and beauty was no hardship. I had TV and internet but not purified water. Care is necessary with preparing food, brushing your teeth and keeping your mouth shut in the shower if you do not have accommodations with water purification. Next time I will.
What led me to visit Lake Chapala was my search for the largest expat communities. I found a group called on Focus on Mexico that holds several seminars each year to provide interested persons with information about retiring in the Lake Chapala area, much of which is relevant to retiring anywhere in Mexico. Visas, legal issues, financial management, real estate, transportation and licensing information, movers and moving considerations and much more. I learned more from my Focus on Mexico week than I could have imagined. Better than that, I made some new friends that I think I expect to know for the rest of my life whether I do choose to spend my Winters there or not.
There are many more women in Chapala than men in the expat community and they are friendly, caring, intelligent, adventurous and fun. Women like these founded LCS over 40 years ago to welcome and help retirees transition to living in Lake Chapala. They wanted to pay forward what they had found for themselves in Chapala. This open arm welcome I felt in the shops, restaurants, open markets, everywhere I went. It permeates Ajijic especially.
Lake Chapala to be continued…