Melaque fruit truck

Nice fruit display on the street in front on the Banamex bank in Melaque. I saw it but wasn't camera ready. Thanks to David

Foto by David Dagoli

Festival del Mar Sand Sclupture Contest

Starts tomorrow, Friday, December 14th around 9AM in front of Las Palmas restaurant. Las Palmas is located between Las Brisas Hotel and the El Dorado, closest to El Dorado

Festival del Mar Sand Sclupture Contest - Melaque

Villa Obregon-Melaque ArtWalk Dec 20

Enjoy an afternoon of art while strolling the calle Esmeralda on Thursday December 20 from 3-6:30 in Villa Obregon.

3 homes will open their doors to display various artwork from different local and Mexican Artists. Showing their work will be Edward Gilliam at his home studio at 35 Esmeralda with his original abstract style of Mexican scenes of women and Mexican life along with his wife, Roxane David showing her photography. 

Jeanne McGee photographs, showing Mexican village scenes at 129 Esmeralda along with Kathy Colhauer, copper beaded jewelry; John Naper, oils depicting Mexican scene; Laura Fine with Mexican Silver Jewelry; Andrea Rose, Mixed Media and a selection of Mexican artists with rugs, paintings and jewelry.

At 85 Calle Hildalgo (next to book exchange) Irma Erazo will be showing her late husband, Martin McCarrick's abstracts along with photography by Melanie Hester and the Laguna del Tule calendar.

Coffee from Taza Negra, indigenous music and refreshments will be served.

Calle Esmeralda is the last perpendicular street to the beach in Villa Obregon, 2 blocks before Bungalows Laguna del Tule. The homes of Edward Gilliam and Jeanne McGee are across from Bungalows Pacifio and next to La Tienda Vida Nueva, respectivly.

Come and enjoy an afternoon out in Melaque area. We look forward to celebrating the Holidays with you through our art.

Melaque's new skateboard bowl

I took a few fotos of the new skateboard "park" a few weeks ago but yesterday while waiting for mechanics to finish my car I checked it out again. This time someone was using it and it turned out to be an old skim-board friend. The outer rim is about 5 feet off the ground for drainage and so it doesn't get inundated when Melaque floods.

Revolution Day Melaque

The Mexican Revolution (Spanish: Revolución mexicana) was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz, and lasted for the better part of a decade until around 1920. Over time the Revolution changed from a revolt against the established order to a multi-sided civil war. This armed conflict is often categorized as the most important sociopolitical event in Mexico and one of the greatest upheavals of the 20th century. This is a major holiday in Mexico. This slide show documents the parade that takes place in Melaque every year to celebrate this important event.

Revolución Mexicana, Melaque 2012 - by Jack Brock

Body of missing Canadian found near Barra de Navidad

I just want to say there is a message in this.  Ron did not get hijacked on the highway.   He made a stop where he shouldn't have, flashed money where he shouldn't, or who knows  ..... don't get too relaxed in Mexico and especially when by yourself.   Mexico is not Margaritaville as some would have us believe

Body of missing Canadian found near Barra de Navidad

Tuesday, November 06 2012 16:31 GR Staff

Sources tell the Guadalajara Reporter that the body of a man found in wasteland near the coastal town of Barra de Navidad Tuesday morning has been identified as Ron Lloyd Mackintosh, a Canadian expatriate who was reported missing on October 22.

A source at the Barra de Navidad police station told the Reporter that a municipal patrol found the body about one kilometer from the center of the popular beach resort, near the turnoff to Jaluco.

He said either a family member or friend had been taken to the scene to identify Mackintosh, who originates from British Columbia. Other sources confirmed that a friend of Mackintosh identified him at the site, noting that the body was tied to a tree.

A forensic team was still working at the scene mid-afternoon Tuesday.

Mackintosh was last seen around 5:15 p.m. on Sunday, October 21 on Calle Gomez Farias in Melaque, where he dropped off a friend in his black, B.C.-licensed 2008 Jeep Patriot. Friends say he intended to drive home but never arrived. His girl friend reported him missing to police on Monday, October 22.

Horseback Riding tour

1. transportation (11/11:30 AM Pickup at El Patio Cafe in Melaque) to/from the town of La Peña through Cihuatlan, along the Rio Marabasco up into the mountains (El Patio is across the street from Las Brisas Hotel)

2. Horseback Riding tour

3. Meal (choice of Free range chicken, craw fish or fried fish

For tickets/reservations or more information, please call Jerry @ 355-6123 (or stop by the InterMex Realty office, 14 Gomez Farias

Ecobana Event Schedule

Below is the Ecobana event schedule and contact information for turtle protection and release programs for the rest of this year in the Melaque and Barra de Navidad area. I also ran across 3 other turtle hatching pens located in Villa Obregon, Melaque. The below foto is in front of the University and I was told there was a possible release last night, but it didn't happen. Lots more eggs to hatch but you almost need to check every night (early evening) before the 9:30 releases

Ecobana schedule

Melaque hatching pen

Ferrepacifico new store

Ferrepacifico is almost finished with the office and showroom, a huge improvement over their dark little order desk way in the back. Before you had to dodge trucks and forklifts. They converted the old auto mechanic shop next to them into a large showroom of bathroom fixtures and a new order desk area. Should be ready for the busy season starting next month

New Ferrepacifico store in Melaque

Melaque Moments

Published on Aug 31, 2012 by Mickey Coughran
Photos taken in and around Melaque, Jalisco, Mexico, between 2007 and 2012.
Music by Lalo. "Artistic effects" via multiple software programs.
My first attempt at loading to YouTube

It rained again

It rained again while I was up in Seattle but this time the near equivalent of Hurricane Jova. 12" in two days. Again no problems in our neighborhood but heard that the road to Pinal Villa was nearly impassable for those two days. My house sitter used my camera to take pictures of the road in front of his house which is beyond what is normally maintained. We live in a big valley and all the water heads for Melaque as you can see below.

The Pinal Villa road is a river

We have a waterfall

Just behind the new Melaque sports field

Melaque Secondaria

Current issue with Hotel Melaque

Talking to a local friend about what's up with the hotel and he says that General Marcelino Garcia Barragan, former Secretary of Defense and former Jalisco Governor  was behind the construction along with his Tecuan property and other projects in the area.  He somehow talked a few Ejido Emiliano Zapata (Ranchito) members into "leasing" the land with only a verbal agreement and agreed the property would revert to the Ejido when he died.  Maybe everything was done that way back in the '50's.  Now it's a battle between the Barragan family and the Ejido.   He also said that whole area is fill for elevation since it used to become a river mouth in the summer.   That's the rumor anyway  ...

Melaque 1955

Here's an excerpt from the book The Magic of Careyes which is basically a coffee table foto album but does have some info on the history of Careyes and the Costalegre:

The Jalisco coast had remained pristine until 1944, halfway through the twentieth century, when the state governor, General Marcelino García Barragán, introduced an initiative called Marcha hacia el mar (“March to the Sea”). García Barragán had a road built from Guadalajara to Melaque, to allow ranchers to settle that part of Jalisco. He himself claimed ownership of a beach called El Tecuán. The story of the coastal colonization he initiated would later become the subject of Agustín Yáñez’s novel La tierra pródiga (“The Prodigal Land”), written in the late 1950s, during the years that Yáñez himself served as governor of Jalisco.

In his novel, Yáñez reflected on the natural resources of the state’s coastal regions, which had been monopolized by lumber companies, land usurpers, cattle thieves and horse thieves. He was very skeptical about colonization, after seeing the destruction that the March to the Sea had caused in Melaque: “Heavy equipment kept arriving […] advancing heavily, slowly, inexorably. They tore down trees, broke down mountains, filled abysses. […] Monstrous tractors, gigantic bulldozers, colossal scrapers and enormous dump trucks. They came from the East, the North, the South, marching toward the sea.” Yáñez’s world was peopled with fascinating, crooked caciques (land owners) such as El Amarillo, the novel’s main character, based on Rodolfo Paz Vizcaíno, owner of Tenacatita ranch. Guillermo Gargollo knew him well. “The legend (of his own fabrication) has it that he was a brutal man, who had killed many people. Later, I realized it wasn’t true, but still, we were scared of him.”

On one of Gargollo’s trips to the coast, he discovered that Paz Vizcaíno had stolen their equipment in Cuixmala in order to build access roads to the beaches in Tenacatita. He built a hotel there and named it Los Ángeles Locos . Paz Vizcaíno had always been a fortunate man, but he never had the chance to stay at that hotel, and ended up losing it along with the rest of his properties, which were repossessed after he was charged with fraud involving the Banco Regional de Crédito de Occidente. The story did not end well: he was sent to prison, and then to a mental hospital, or so they say.

 
And then ... a web site I had not seen (hard to tell what is truth or from the book)
Rodolfo Paz - Tenacatita Visionary

In the fifties, Rodolfo Paz Vizcaino had a dream: to found a city in the middle of nowhere which would become the tourist destination that the country needed. This is the tale of his dream, the story of a person who had everything and ended up with nothing.

Rodolfo Paz - Tenacatita Visionary

The Prodigal Land

I was looking for more information on General Marcelino García Barragán who had a great deal to do with the development of the Costalegre when I found mention of the book "The Prodigal Land" (La Tierra Prodiga) in another article from "The Magic of Careyes".   Further searching brought me to Agustin's Blog below.   Sadly he didn't continue with his translation to English.   More later on The Magic of Careyes and other rumors.

The Prodigal Land, refers to the territory that is part of Jalisco in the coastal region of the Mexican Pacific, today this area is called “Costa Alegre (happy coast)” and is an area with great natural beauty and richness.

But the novel takes place about 60 years ago, when the area was totally undeveloped, and here we find how this tale begins:

My grandfather was Governor of the State of Jalisco between 1953 and 1959, I will explain how this happened later on, and while being governor, one of the rich land owners of Jalisco’s Coast invited him to travel with his family to see the beauties of the area, to motivate my Grandfather to build a road that connected Guadalajara with that area. So my grandfather travelled with my grandma, my dad and his sisters and brother in a small cessna plane to the airport this land owner had built in the middle of the coastal jungle.

Agustinyanez's Blog

Summer Vacation in Melaque

School was out last week and I wasn't sure how soon the tourists would be arriving but as you can see from the beach foto taken this Sunday, many didn't want to wait. Early arrival may be caused by the heat wave we've been having with temps up in the 90's and high humdity. Tourist buses in town and parking becoming a problem.

We spent the day to get away from the heat as well. Kids and I were in the ocean most of the time. That is when they weren't building sand castles of catching beach crabs. Stopped at our favorite sincronizada restaurant (the size of a pizza) and brought them home. After dinner we were treated to a great light show, big thunder but very little rain which we really need.   All fotos taken with my Iphone

A busy beach

Sand crab in a cup

Light show over Melaque

A Sunday on the Beach

A perfect Sunday on the beach. Shrimp ceviche, beer and good company. The ocean was a perfect temperature with threads of cooler water passing occasionally. Hills are getting green even tho we haven't had much rain. Probably from the humidity as everything is a little damp in the mornings.

Kids playful but well behaved. Lots of water games and taking them out 'mas hondo' (silent h) beyond the waves. Pelicans and the tern like birds are back. Lots of fishing from the beach.   Even bought my first hammock in a long time since my house is finished enough for some relaxation

The Melaque Funny Papers

Melaque and Barra de Navidad are communities and they have a community message board mostly dominated by the Gringo population.   Sad to say many of the old fart gringos have negative attitudes that they can only rationalize by calling their contributions part of the funny papers.   In other words they can be jerks, rude ... and generally disrespect the idea of a caring community message board.

I remember when the Sunday "funny papers" were no longer funny ... back in the late 60's or early 70's.   There was not one 'column' that wasn't making political comment.   So much different than the 'read along with us' that I remember as a kid with maybe parents helping us with the words.   That innocence is gone!

This evolution is somewhat unexpected as I can't fathom why gringos in their retirement years aren't more relaxed and having a good time.  I can only guess they never figured out what their unretired life was about and need to continue the search into the latter years.  Some of these people will be searching into the afterlife I'm afraid

Maybe it the 'crabby' season in Melaque like it is in La Manzanilla.   They are inundated with these things this time of year

Melaque's water pressure reservoir

Someone on the local message board mentioned Melaque didn't have a water tower in a conversation about water supply and pressure. I'd heard a number of times there is a large cistern on top of the hill just off the highway - the one with the cave. Nobody seemed to know if it was still being used so I decided to walk up the other day.

The access road, with locked gate, is off the road to Pinal Villa. Easy to slip thru the barbed wire. The road makes about 3 switchbacks before you see the pipe heading for Melaque. You can hear water running in the pipe as well as one of the large water tanks. There could be some nice views from up there but I would suggest shoes, long pants and maybe a machete.

Pipe headed for Melaque

One of the two tanks

Water entering one of the tanks

Progress on El Naranjo II

Manzanillo, Colima. - The director general of Colima National Water Commission (Conagua), Aaron Modesto Mendoza, reported that to date, the construction of the Dam El Naranjo has moved long 25% after hurricane " Jova "(October 2011) destroyed much of what was up. The work is on the border of Colima and Jalisco.

The head of Conagua noted that after the passage of Jova they have practically started from scratch to build the dam El Naranjo, which will irrigate more than 7,000 hectares and will provide water to neighboring municipalities. Its construction began in 2010 when it had projected an investment of $1.058 million pesos.

Elaborating on the issue of dams, announced in 2012 plans to complete construction of the "Hervidero" in Colima and Veladero de Camotlán in Manzanillo.

Post removed in favor of

... people that just don't get it. Humor is better than the truth

Jaluco Centro de Salud and the PRI

I took some neighbors and their 84 year old grandmother to the Jaluco Centro de Salud yesterday because grandma is not doing well. The doctor there said she needed to go to Emergency at the General Hospital in Manzanillo. After gathering things together and informing family off we went. Grandma spent the afternoon on an IV and it was later determined she needed better care so will spend a few days in Euchari Clinic. I sure wish her the best and the family is coming together to pay the bills.

While in Jaluco we were surrounding by the PRI supporters with their local candidate. Yes it's that time of year. They were passing out trinkets for the kids and singing a catchy tune. Somehow one of the women I was with got a 100 peso gas voucher from the candidate which we made use of on the way to Manzanillo.

Melaques new sports complex

I'd seen some construction but didn't know what it was until someone mentioned it on a message board. Dropped by yesterday for a look. If they don't build a skate board area the sidewalks will be popular. They were raking what looked like ground rubber over the AstroTurf.

San Patrico Festival 2012 Fireworks

San Patrico Festival 2012 Fireworks in the Melaque Square

Dalila Morales Castro

Ha me Visto? Have you seen me?

MISSING - 19 year old Dalila Morales Castro (wearing pink top and white shorts in this photo), last seen Wednesday night, January 18th, at the Melaque Square after she arrived from Colima. If anyone has seen her or know of her where about or can help locate her, please call 315-355-5309 or 8919.

Click for larger view

Getting a drivers licence in Cihuatlan

I asked about getting a drivers licence on a local message board and later I got a PM from a friend that had not completed the process some time before. He knew where to go and wanted to do it again so we went together. Mine would have probably taken 30 minutes but he lacked proof or residence so we tried the municipio office for a Constancia. For a Constancia in Cihuatlan they now need birth certificate and fotos and he had no birth certificate.

Anyway the finance office is on the side street a block towards the plaza from Coppel, uphill. $495 pesos. Take that receipt, visa, passport and proof of residence (Constancia or CFE Bill in your name) ... with copies of the last three to the Validad office. You also need to know your blood type and have a name and number of someone to contact in case of emergency. Validad is about a block towards the plaza from Farmacia Guadalajara.

First a simple eye test on the computer and then a 20 question quiz. The terminology was a little strange but with a little help from the overseeing officer I got 95%. No driving test was required. I suggest knowing quite a bit of Spanish or take an interpreter. I think they are more receptive to people who can hold a conversation but not necessarily get the test terminology. I now have a very professional credit card style licence. Bike licences are different

Finance department where you pay

Validad where you get the licence

Almancenes Parisany new store

Even tho it's called Herradura it's owned by the same part of the family that ran the Almancenes Parisany across from the Secondaria. Nicely laid out and a little needed competition for Hawaii (same street). Not as large as their old store but much cleaner. It cross corner from the Plaza and across from the Municipio/Police office.

Herradura Parisany Melaque

Bulk foods

Casa Grande Hotel Melaque

Every now and then I search for info on the Casa Grande Hotel in Melaque that was destroyed in the 1995 earthquake. Just change your key-word on Google and you come up with a whole new set of info or pictures.

Anyway, a few days ago I came across the first foto below on enFotos.com. The caption says from the '60's but I've always heard it was built in the '70's. Then I remembered Blogger Steve sent me a foto dated 1970 and the hotel is considerably larger than the new picture.

I introduced the foto on TomZap and with many opinions (gotta love opinions), it was agreed it is the same building not long after it was constructed ... in the 1960's. We also found out that the hotel started out as Hotel Melaque, changed sometime in the '80's to the CoCo Club and ended it's life as the Casa Grande. I took the last foto today

1960's picture of the Hotel Melaque

1970 is still Hotel Melaque

Casa Grande bar bill

Current condition of the hotel

Cihuatlan Hospital

I've become the taxi driver for a few families in our community when someone in the family is sick. Yesterday they asked me to take them to the Cihuatlan Hospital to get some medicine that wasn't at Seguro Popular here in Melaque. Grandma was having a hard time breathing.

I'm not sure why they didn't call first. Just a Mexican thing, don't trust the system or just didn't have the number. Anyway, Cihuatlan didn't have it either. Seems Seguro Popular is often out of lots of medicine. Back we came and they are off to the local pharmacy to buy the medicine for grandma.

Seguro Popular and Centro de Salud - Cihuatlan

Melaque Skim 2012

X3M will be hosting the 2012 Melaque Skim Contest, taking place March 9-11. The event began in 2007 and is the biggest skimboarding contest in Mexico; competitors will be coming from Ixtapa, Oaxaca, Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Cabo, Guadalajara and of course Melaque, as well as the United States, France and Brazil.

On Friday the 9th of March final sign ups will take place on the beach after a free skim, followed by a meeting with the contestants. On Saturday and Sunday (the 10th and 11th of March) the contest will be held.

Melaque Skim Contest 2012

Melaque my home town

Nice little video from someone that lives here or used to ... not sure which. I am honored that they used some of my fotos.

Alvero Obregon Paved

This paving project started almost a year ago or at least seems that long, probably more like 8 months. Getting across town for the duration has been interesting not knowing from day o day which parts will be open.   It was usually easier to go to the highway and drive around.   New sewers and sidewalks included.   The ramp to the highway was just finished this week.   One more street without potholes and dust!

Early construction

Early paving near the ocean

Coming to the highway

Highway ramp

Melaque, San Patricio