The Guadalajara Reporter
Guadalajara's Largest English Newspaper
The small towns around Lake Cajititlán are famed for their skilled artisans and you may have seen leaflets and brochures depicting, among other things, the beautiful basalt sculptures, colorful ceramics and rodeo-quality lariats produced in this area, which is only a 40-kilometer drive from Lake Chapala.
Guadalajara has several very well organized clubs specializing in outdoor activities like hiking, camping and mountain-climbing. These clubs offer excursions every single weekend of the year and their members get to see natural marvels that most tourist guidebooks never mention (except my book, Outdoors in Western Mexico, of course!). Some of these groups have been around for a long time, so today’s members benefit from discoveries of little-known sites made by other members decades ago. This year, three of the biggest clubs are celebrating their anniversaries. CEO (Cuerpo de Exploradores de Occidente) is 75 years old, Grupo Montañista Colli is 50 and Club Excursionista Huicholes Jalisco is celebrating its 41st anniversary.
A mere 23,000 years ago, the Primavera Caldera housed a big lake and was the site of frequent volcanic eruptions and pyrotechnical explosions. Today the lake has been replaced by woods, but the Primavera’s hot rivers remind us that there is plenty of thermal activity just below the surface.
Having discovered – to my amazement – that there is only one place in the MegaGuadalajaropolis that issues driver licenses to foreigners, I decided to rise bright and early the day I set out for Transito, imagining I was at the start of an arduous and lengthy trial: the quest for my very first Jalisco licencia de conducir.
When I signed up for a night-time walk in the Primavera Forest, I knew I would encounter the unexpected and that’s exactly what happened.
Friday, June 15 marked the first public screening of “Phil Weigand, an Explorer for All Times” at Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara. The historical documentary was created by the team of Pascual Aldana, Daniel Aldana and Alberto Fuentes of Explora México under the auspices of El Colegio de Michoacán and TV UNAM. The film focuses on the life and discoveries of the late archaeologist Phil Weigand (1937-2011) who, together with his wife Acelia García, spent more than forty years unraveling some of the mysteries of a great and hitherto unknown civilization which flourished in western Mexico 2000 years ago.
Recently my canyoneering friends – members of the group Jalisco Vertical – decided to rappel all the waterfalls of the Jalpa River as it passes through Aquetzalli Canyon, close to the town of Chiquilistlán, located 65 kilometers southwest of Guadalajara. Although I’m not a canyoneer, I decided to tag along hoping to catch up on my writing in full view of a spectacular cascade where I could periodically cool off in a deep pool of deliciously refreshing, clean water. After all, the word Aquetzalli, I was told, means “crystal-clear water” in Nahuatl.
