Housesitting near Lake Chapala, Mexico

Dave and Chloe on the San Antonio malecon

Our home base is in Baja Sur, but there's so much of the huge country of Mexico that we haven't seen. So when an opportunity came up to do a six-week housesit near Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico which is surrounded by mountains, we jumped on it. 

Along the San Antonio malecon
the most pastoral of the three.

The Chapala community is primarily made up of three towns on the north shore of the lake: Ajijic, San Antonio Tlyacapan (where we were), and Chapala--each with a town center and a malecon or esplanade along the lakeside. 

Ajijic malecon

Ajijic is a charming pueblo, heavy with expats, covered in murals and dotted with boutiques, galleries, open-air cafes and specialty restaurants. San Antonio Tylacapan is much smaller, with a pastoral malecon and a downtown so tiny it's easy to miss. Chapala is where Mexican families tend to come from Guadalajara a weekend or longer holiday. Its malecon is lively in the afternoons and evenings, with vendors and big, touristy seafood restaurants playing live music.

One wall in Ajijic...

...and another.

A two-lane road winds through, connecting these communities. One main road means traffic, especially since the area has experienced a growth boom. Fortunately, there's also a bike path. 

vegan tamales & cacao drinks in Ajijic

non-vegan tacos

Green drink for me, fresh OJ for Dave in Chapala.

The growth is due mainly to retired expats, primarily from the U.S. and Canada, coming to a place where prices for real estate and health care are much more affordable. The good weather (it's usually in the 70s) is a draw as well. Food, however, seemed to us to not be as low cost, unless you bought street tacos and shopped at fruterias. That may be because a lot of the restaurants and grocery stores are geared to the expats and Mexican tourists. This means, too, there are many places to eat delicious meals.

Vegan burgers in Ajijic

We flew into Guadalajara, and the hosts picked us up and drove us an hour south to their home, a lovely place with a pool and a view. We didn't make much use of the pool, however, because it never got hot enough to be appealing--and eventually because of all of the rain, the gardener was having a hard time keeping it clean. 

The lake is picturesque but unfortunately too polluted to swim in.

We were there during rainy season, a time of year many said is their favorite because there are fewer people around and less dust. Several times storms woke us in the middle of the night. Once, for at least an hour, the rain dumped like someone had overturned the lake in the sky, during which time there was no space between thunder and lightning. The booming exploded and flashes lit up the bedroom in a continuous, epic melee.

Happily there was a green space where we could walk
Chloe off-leash not far from the house 

All this rain meant we got to see waterfalls in action when we went hiking in the mountains. Nice trails are easily accessible from Ajijic. We also walked with Chloe, the sweet dog in our care, every day. The walks weren't easy, though, since we had to get acclimated to the 5,000-foot elevation and also because the streets out the door were sharply hilly and unevenly cobbled. Those charming but challenging cobbles are a feature everywhere in the area. 

our digs

back yard

Before they left, the homeowners introduced us to their neighbors who were heading out in a few weeks and who, in turn, introduced us to their housesitters, Cathie and Brian, a couple from the U.S. who were traveling throughout Mexico with their dog.

Sunset from Cathie & Brian's pad

I received a message from a friend in Baja who told me that her housesitters scheduled to arrive in a couple of months, Dodo and Sven from Germany, were currently in Ajijic. So we six housesitters met up a couple of times and shared stories about our wanderlust. 

roaming housesitters unite!

We'd heard that about an hour away furniture is manufactured in the town of Ocotlon. The beachy budget furniture in our casita, which we bought more than eight years ago and has endured dozens of renters, was in sad shape. Baja, being nearly an island, can be a hard place to find such things at decent prices. So one day we headed out to do something we rarely do: shop for non-edible things. 

We stumbled across a Pride celebration in Chapala!

Octotlon was a dreary, gray grid of dilapidated buildings. We spent hours walking through furniture stores that varied from warehouses to elaborate displays. Fortunately we didn't want traditional "rustico"-style Mexican furniture, because we didn't see a single piece. Everything was modern, and a lot of it looked alike. Dizzy, hot and hungry, we straggled into the tenth store and struck gold. In one fell swoop we bought a couch, love seat, coffee table and dining room set. We think it's going to be delivered in November when we get back to Baja, but I'm hoping something wasn't lost in translation...

Cathedral de Guadalajara in Centro

Chicos playing in the fountain in Guadalajara

Another day we took the bus to Guadalajara to meet up with our friend Leah, who now lives there. There was no bus schedule (get used to it, it's Mexico) so we stood in the drizzle at the place we thought it was supposed to arrive, and eventually it did. It was great to see Leah, and in our short time together she toured us around the city she loves. We started in Centro, gaping at the grand colonial buildings and murals. And then we took the bus to the outskirts, through neighborhoods lined with towering trees. We had lunch on the sidewalk of a seafood place that looked unremarkable but the food was incredible.

Back at Chapala, we geared up to leave, doing a big house cleaning and getting our last massage. Did I mention the masseuse came every week at about $20 USD per person? She was a true healer and also a single mom who told me she used to work for a company who took half her earnings. She took a risk and went out on her own--and is now doing very well. I share this because I love hearing people's stories and, better yet, we spoke mostly in Spanish.

I'd gotten pretty attached to Chloe, so it wasn't easy to leave her. I was also verklempt when we said goodbye to Cathie and Brian, but with nomads you never know when you'll collide again in another place. With Dodo and Sven it was "hasta luego" because we will see them when we get to Baja!

But first, we were headed to Panama. Next up: Adventures in Panama City, Bocas del Toro, and Playa Morrillo!

*****************************

PS: Want to stockpile some good fall reads? All my books are price reduced right now...and they are also available as audiobooks:

Call it Wonder: An Odyssey of Love, Sex, Spirit & Travel (award-winning memoir)

For the May Queen (coming of age in the dorms in 1980, with lots of sex, drugs & rock n roll)

Complementary Colors (what happens when a straight woman falls in love with a lesbian)

Revolutionary Kiss, co-authored with Mary Janelle Melvin under the name Mary Kate Summers (love story set during the French Revolution)

Return to Baja

It was 2014 the first time we drove from San Diego all the way down Baja to our casita at Cerritos Beach. We've done it many times since, and I've written about it here, here, here, and here.

Santa Rosalia

You'd think with our experience we'd have it down. But this time we couldn't figure out where to get our visas-upon-entry at the Mexicali border. Everything looked different, and indeed it was. We'd zipped by the new building where we were supposed to stop and had to turn around, cross back over the border, and re-enter the country--a painfully slow trek because we couldn't figure out how to get in the fast last using our new SENTRI pass. [Insert tongue-out, googly-eyed emoji here.]

Tacos with Susan and Gilly, whom last saw here.

Fortunately the rest of the trip down was beautiful and seamless. Usually we pass right through the small town of Santa Rosalia, but at the last minute we discovered our friends Susan and Gilly were there! For years we'd talked about meeting up in Santa Rosalia, since they own property there, but the stars didn't align until now. 

Until they toured us around, I hadn't realized what a charming town it is. The architecture is French style because the French operated copper mines here until the 1950s.

Gilly & Susan on their property.

We also saw their seaside property next to the small college where Gilly is involved in building a marine biology research center. He's a squid researcher and she's a John Steinbeck scholar, the perfect Cannery Row match.

A few days later, pulling into our neighborhood near Cerritos Beach after nearly two years away gave me the tingles. Ahhh...that desert air mingling with the sea. But we were only spending three nights there--and not even in our casita so as to not disturb the longterm renter. Instead, we stayed in a palapa (thatched roof) studio with outdoor kitchen, organized our stuff in our bodega (big garge) and headed out to find food.

With Art at Good Vibes

Lucky us, our friend Art had recently opened a Caribbean-food restaurant called Good Vibes within walking distance, where we feasted on super delish dishes. They have jerk chicken but also offer jerk cauliflower, which was divine.

Squeezed in a beach walk

We had time to meet up with friends and family in Todos Santos and got over to my sister Ann's property, where she and Gary are building a new house. It will be magically completed by the time we return.

With nephews Beau & Brock, Ann & Gary, and Paul

It was strange after only three days to board a plane. Part of me yearned to stay, to burrow into our house and community, while the other part was excited about what was up next: housesitting in the area of Lake Chapala. Stay tuned for that!

PS: Want to stockpile some good fall reads? All my books are price reduced right now...and they are also available as audiobooks:

Call it Wonder: An Odyssey of Love, Sex, Spirit & Travel (award-winning memoir)

For the May Queen (coming of age in the dorms in 1980, with lots of sex, drugs & rock n roll)

Complementary Colors (what happens when a straight woman falls in love with a lesbian)

Revolutionary Kiss, co-authored with Mary Janelle Melvin under the name Mary Kate Summers (love story set during the French Revolution)