Cheap mariachi imitators and thieving customers are threatening a century-old tradition, reports Mexicanwave contributor Elizabeth Mistry for the Sunday Herald.
Filed in Art, Culture & Music, Mexican Life & Society
On the road between Sayulita and Punta Mita
Originally uploaded by Ed Fladung
At this time of year – with a long dry season looming – many small landowners choose to incinerate some of the lush foliage that has wildly accumulated during the rainy months. It it slashed away, gathered up and burned. “As I float on my [surf]board,” writes Ed Fladung in his blog, “…and look back at the shore and the town behind it, I can see hundreds of small plumes of smoke drifting up above Sayulita, as if the entire town and surrounding hills are on fire.”
Historically, the use of fire has been the tool of choice for reshaping the landscape in the tropics. By March and April, towards the end of the dry season, the combination of carelessness and dry tinderbox scrubland can result in localised burning escaping into forested areas causing wildfires and thick palls of smoke. Human activities cause 97 per cent of these wildfires.
There is a palpable sense of excitement in the tropical air as haciendas and elegant high-ceilinged city mansions are being transformed into chic bed-and-breakfast hotels.
David Keeps captures the moment beautifully in the December issue of Travel + Leisure magazine: Mérida’s Moment.
In particular, one new B & B worth a mention is the delightful Hotel Marionetas (doubles from US$70 dollars) run by Sofija and Daniel Bosco.
Filed in Mérida, Yucatán & Mayan Mexico
Originally uploaded by Ed Fladung
This image captured my attention while reading Ed Fladung’s blog.
It was taken during a night out in Sayulita, a little Pacific fishing community an hour’s drive north of Puerto Vallarta.
Ed’s parents design-and-build vacation homes around the northern rim of the Bahia de Banderas.
Note: Sayulita, in Nayarit state, is in a different time zone (an hour behind) Puerto Vallarta, which is in Jalisco.
Filed in Michoacán & Western Mexico, Puerto Vallarta
The Christian Science Monitor reviews the Guggenheim’s “The Aztec Empire” exhibition.
Filed in Exhibitions in the US
Originally uploaded by Juan Rene
Ron Mader of Planeta.com has written an excellent and up-to-date guide to visiting the ‘floating gardens’ of Xochimilco in the current issue of Transitions Abroad magazine.
Ron highlights the efforts to conserve the agricultural beds called chinampas – “not mere historical artifacts but living examples of sustainable agriculture”, and a visit to support a breeding programme for the axolotl, an endangered salamander.
Filed in Mexico City, Mexico's World Heritage Sites
Today, Mexicans have been commemorating the 94th anniversary of the start of the Mexican Revolution.
Filed in Events & Festivals, Mexican Life & Society
Kudos to our dear friends Ian Mursell and Graciela Sánchez of London-based Mexicolore, who have added loads of stunning new resources for teachers and pupils to their website.
Over the past 25 years, Ian and Graciela have used music, dance, drama, costumes, artefacts, crafts, slides and more than a dose of infectious enthusiasm, to bring Mexican history and culture alive to over 100,000 wide-eyed and curious school children the length and breadth of England. An incredible achievement.
The richness of the educational material on their website is, I believe, without equal and I cannot do it justice here. You’ll need to hitch a ride with their very own Aztec character, Tecpatl – ‘Tec’ for short – for a journey into Aztec life using Flash games & puzzles. Enjoy!
Filed in Uncategorized
The new 1,000 peso bill, unveiled earlier this month, began circulating on Monday. Central bank officials said they created the new note – the largest denomination available in the currency – after noticing increased use of 200-peso and 500-peso (pictured) bills.
The purple-and-green-hued bill (equivalent today to US$88 or GBP48) will feature the likeness of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who led the fight for independence from Spain.
If you get one from an ATM, head for the nearest posh hotel or swank restuarant to change it. You’ll get short shrift trying to break one buying a Coke at a tienda de abarrotes or miscelánea – convenience store.
Filed in Mexican Life & Society
The Mexican tourism authorities are trying to steer more tourists to small towns through a new program called “Pueblos Magicos,” (“magic towns”). One of them is Talpa de Allende, a remote Jalisco town high up in the Sierra Cacoma, famed for the creations of its many gum artisans. Kevin Sullivan, the Washington Post’s correspondent in Mexico, wrote about Talpa yesterday [free registration may be required].
Talpa is also famous throughout Mexico for its colourful pueblo ambiance and the stately church that shelters the revered “Rosario de Talpa,” one of the renowned “Three Sister” virgins of Jalisco. It is visited by thousands of pilgrims each year.
The town is also the backdrop to one of Juan Rulfo’s most highly praised stories, “Talpa”, in which an adulterous pair – a man and his sister-in-law – carry the man’s plague-wracked brother, Tanilo, on a godforsaken pilgrimage to the Virgin of Talpa, trying to reach her “before she runs out of miracles.” This and other gritty but beautifully written stories became “Llano en Llamas” in 1953, translated into English and published as “The Burning Plain” by the University of Texas Press in 1967. All Rulfo’s tales develop in a dusty, desolate and sunburned rural post-revolutionary Jalisco.
Filed in Michoacán & Western Mexico
