Virtual Mexico Homefinders: Pictures

LAKE CHAPALA - The Perfect Retirement Destination

The village of Ajijic is not the most photogenic place. The streets are narrow and most buildings are very old. The scene to the left was taken of the hills behind Ajijic in the summer, when it is green and looks much like Maui in Hawaii. They do tend to go a little brown in the dry season.

The picture to the right is typical of our cobblestone streets. Every morning merchants and home owners get out the brooms and sweep the streets clean. The streets can be rough on car suspensions. Often all you see is walls when driving down a street as all the homes are behind walls.
Some of these homes are gorgeous estates, with lovely gardens.
The town of Chapala does have a commercial core and a main street.

This is the town plaza (Zocolo) in Ajijic.
The Zocolo is probably the nicest part of Ajijic, although there is a nice waterfront park that runs for two hundred yards along the lakeshore. There are several restaurants on the edge of the Zocolo, and that is a nice place for a snack or meal and watch the people go by.
Since Ajijic does not have a well-defined commercial center, the Zocolo serves as the center of town and a good place to meet people.

Here is a view across the lake taken from just in front of the waterfront park. It shows the lovely mountains that surround the lake. You can just make out the farms on the other side. Where the potographer is standing used to be under water, as the lake has lowered in the past few years.
Recent government and private announcements indicate that action is finally going to be taken to restore the lake and save it from future deterioration. The fishermen in this photo will be happy about that.

This is just one of the many flowering trees you will see in Ajijic. It seems that every month there is a different tree flowering. Most of the flowers seem to last about one month, so there is usually a tree in bloom. This one was West of Ajijic near the lake shore.
These trees bloom in the middle of the dry season, and it always amazes me how they can bloom when often they have had no water for many months.
The flowering Jacarenda trees are wonderful. They are found all over Ajijic and area. This one is on the highway just West of the main village.
These trees flower first, then they grow beautiful green frond-like leaves. The flowers last around one month, and as they drop petals over a couple of weeks, the ground below the tree is carpeted with color.
Often these trees develop nice umbrella shapes and grow to a large size, making it a shade tree second to none..

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	The village of Ajijic is not the most photogenic place. The streets are narrow and most buildings are very old. The scene to the left was taken of the hills behind Ajijic in the summer, when it is green and looks much like Maui in Hawaii. They do tend to go a little brown in the dry season.
The picture to the right is typical of our cobblestone streets. Every morning merchants and home owners get out the brooms and sweep the streets clean. The streets can be rough on car suspensions. Often all you see is walls when driving down a street as all the homes are behind walls. Some of these homes are gorgeous estates, with lovely gardens. The town of Chapala does have a commercial core and a main street.
This is the town plaza (Zocolo) in Ajijic.	The Zocolo is probably the nicest part of Ajijic, although there is a nice waterfront park that runs for two hundred yards along the lakeshore. There are several restaurants on the edge of the Zocolo, and that is a nice place for a snack or meal and watch the people go by. Since Ajijic does not have a well-defined commercial center, the Zocolo serves as the center of town and a good place to meet people.
Here is a view across the lake taken from just in front of the waterfront park. It shows the lovely mountains that surround the lake. You can just make out the farms on the other side. Where the potographer is standing used to be under water, as the lake has lowered in the past few years. Recent government and private announcements indicate that action is finally going to be taken to restore the lake and save it from future deterioration. The fishermen in this photo will be happy about that.
	This is just one of the many flowering trees you will see in Ajijic. It seems that every month there is a different tree flowering. Most of the flowers seem to last about one month, so there is usually a tree in bloom. This one was West of Ajijic near the lake shore. These trees bloom in the middle of the dry season, and it always amazes me how they can bloom when often they have had no water for many months.
The flowering Jacarenda trees are wonderful. They are found all over Ajijic and area. This one is on the highway just West of the main village. These trees flower first, then they grow beautiful green frond-like leaves. The flowers last around one month, and as they drop petals over a couple of weeks, the ground below the tree is carpeted with color. Often these trees develop nice umbrella shapes and grow to a large size, making it a shade tree second to none..