Chapala excursion — Feb 9

A visit to the city of Chapala

We visited Ajijic’s compatriot town of Chapala which is only about two miles away to the east of Ajijic.  Chapala is the city with the governmental offices; Ajijic is a part of Chapala, so there are no city offices in Ajijic.  We went there on a Sunday afternoon and everybody else had the same idea - but we enjoyed our visit.  Thus, the town plaza was packed.  It’s also a very pretty city with a great plaza and a wonderful Malecon.

The church on the plaza.

Note the bell ringers up in the belfry.  There were about 6 of them, each one pulling a different bell cord.  I doubt they had any ear protection, and the bells were LOUD. 

The signage on the Malecon indicated that we were at the right place.

The pelicans were a draw.

When some people started to feed the pelicans, we had a crowd.

One of the many wonderful sculptures along the water on the Malecon.

Fishermen pulling in their nets.

One could walk out into the lake on a pier.

We could see another walkout.

Note the water quality.

A view of a larger-than-life fishermen statues.

Viewing the acrobats as they swing with their heads down.

Everybody gets some action!

We did a tour of a train facility that was open for only seven years.

In 1920 the route from Guadalajara to Chapala was either horses or the new train. Note the brown edges of the lake in 1920,  The current lake is the blue part.   

The train would arrive at the back of the building because the front was the water.

The frontage of the lake was in the front of the building because people would arrive by boat. The lake isn’t that close today.

We visited a garden next to the old train station.

The garden was fun - but we had to go.

We had a nice lunch at a restaurant on the plaza.  This young woman made our guacamole at our table. 

Nummy guacamole.

We wandered a bit more after lunch, then grabbed a taxi and headed for “home” in Ajijic.  Chapala is a nice city, but I’m glad we chose Ajijic.