Chapala & Ajijic, MX Jan 22-24

Chapala & Ajijic

Day 1 Thurs 22

Our Uber Comfort trip took about 1hr 20 mins due to traffic (670 pesos) but it was a good trip. Chapala first impressions did not disappoint, and it was good to feel hot again. We had a lovely lunch at Restaurante Maduro (pastor tacos, Jalisco style, not red, no pineapple and orange chicken), then walked around the lake taking in the sights. We spent the evening in the cute Airbnb playing games, and despite being tired, the firmer, smaller bed, barking dogs and traffic led to a poor night's sleep for both of us.

DAY 2 Friday 23

Black Kitchen Chapala for lunch, a lakeside walk, and games on the rooftop. We visited El Padrino Sushi and Mariscos directly across the street for supper and it was excellent, including chatting with the kids of the family that owns the restaurant who both spoke English.

Highlight was the arrachera taco

Breaded tuna/avocado

Chipotle Shrimp

Parrochia St Francis

Ajijic

Saturday 24

We took an Uber to Ajijic, about 20 minutes away with busy traffic and a slow drive over cobblestones through beautiful, leafy, manicured homes in a separate suburb. We walked the Malecón, visited the church, Murale de Los Muertos, the kiosko in the central square. After Lunch at Baja Norte we Uber'd home. Ajijic is known for being heavily populated by English-speaking foreigners, many from Canada.

Back home we walked the windy Malecón, the pleasant craft market then played games and had beers back at the Airbnb.

Malecon

Very raised cobblestone

Murale commemorating residents who have passed

Octupus

Tuna carnitas

Ponzu Tuna

Our new Airbnb - expectation v reality (Feb 10-Mar 9, 2024)

Our Airbnb experiences have generally been very good with accurate photos and helpful hosts. This time was disappointing. The condo is very modern with 10ft ceilings and in a great location but it was clear that the management company is not aware or keeping up with needed repairs - sunken sofa cushions, lifting tiles, calcified faucet, stained sheets, and completely broken patio furniture that had just been left!! Their response to our messages was quite unhelpful - they didn't seem to care that much so our honest review will reflect this. Instagram ... ... reality ...replaced with two mismatched indoor chairs!! Playa as a whole has gotten busier and outside of the reality of inflation and a stronger peso, everything is much more expensive as happens in popular tourist spots. We are going to look at other more affordable places in Mexico to spend the winter months.

Painful winter travel from the Prairies

Minus 30 degrees below zero apparently causes problems for aeroplanes in the Prairie provinces. We were scheduled to depart at 6.30am January 13th Saskatoon-Calgary-Cancun but received word of cancelation the day before. They rescheduled us to depart at 7.30pm but added in an overnight stay in Vancouver (now SK-VAN-CAN). On Saturday morning we learned of yet another change, slightly better, to SK-Edmonton overnight-CAN, however by Saturday afternoon we got another notice of de-icing problems, crew delays, and departure changes upon which we would be updated within the hour. We waited for the update but no update came. Google informed us that our flight was canceled. Westjet had apparently abandoned us! At the same time, adding to our stress was that Nick was travelling with us but on a separate booking and his cancelations did not coincide with ours. First he would possibly land in Cancun before us, then with his reschedule he would lose almost a week of his vacation. It was...

Trolley Tour in Campeche

We booked this quintessential tourist activity and it was charming. It was of course, a little less amazing when the tour took us around the very neighbourhood in which we were staying, so maybe we should have done the tour earlier on! Independence Square Fisherman statue outside our local OXXO

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