The Sunday Traveler ~ Lake Chapala and Ajijic, Mexico

A traveler receives extra blessings when staying with family who also loves travel and road trips. Trips within trips; it couldn’t get any better. We got our travel on one Saturday, jumped in the car, and took off for Lake Chapala and Ajijic (pronounced aheeheek) and all the little towns between Guadalajara and there, some 45 km. southeast from Guadalajara where I was staying. The Sunday Traveler was intent on going there, a return to a lot of memories built as I was growing up, and also of a honeymoon spent there some 46 years ago.

Roadside vendors were in abundance with all kinds of fruit and vegetables from the fields nearby. Several stops were made on our way home to stock up with the fresh and delicious produce. The watermelon was the sweetest I’ve ever tasted. The cut pieces here were covered in bees that told us this was going to be good. We covered a lot of ground that day, hitting Lake Chapala as our first major stop. The lake has seen good days and bad, water levels and pollution up and down over the years, but more awareness now as to conservation, and levels are up; it’s a major water source for Guadalajara. The lake is protected by the Virgin of Zapopan, a much beloved Virgin of the entire area of Guadalajara to Chapala

Most of our afternoon was spent in Ajijic, an area The Sunday Traveler wanted to explore as a potential place for periodic and lengthier stays in the future. I was not disappointed. The town is very artsy, pretty laid back, and is on the lake

We ended our day at the top of a hill in San Juan Cosala overlooking the lake to have a coffee; another little town that is quite lovely

The lake is large, 50 miles long by about 8 miles wide, covering 420 square miles. The many little towns that surround it are each unique and enchanting. Road trip possibilities abound.