Pinal Villa's yearly fiesta

Pinal Villa on the outskirts of Melaque has a yearly Peregrinacion or Pilgrimage party.   Families and organizations from neighboring communities organize the dancing and parade to the Church in Pinal Villa.   Fireworks follow the parade, dogs run and hide and children smile.   The last night, Monday the 7th of October, there will be a castillo or tower of fireworks.

The Peregrinacion, which is the interesting part, starts from the community of the group at about 6PM to arrive here at 7. General activities are from 5AM to 7PM+. Jaluco was here last night.

Schedule
Sunday - Jaluco
Monday - Barra de Navidad
Tuesday - Villa Obregon
Wednesday - Ranchito
Thursday - Melaque
Friday - Bario de la Prepa
Saturday - Lazaro Cardenas
Sunday - Young people
Monday - Floats, cars, dancers and castillo

And the road grader hasn't been out so the road is crappy

Jaluco dancers arriving

Being blessed by the father in front of the church

After Manuel

Thursday we decided to check out the mouth of the canal and see the condition of the beach on the west end of Melaque. Definitely signs the canal was at full capacity with some serious erosion near the two bridges. The beach didn't look too bad but the whole bay is brown from the Barra lagoon and the canal runoff. They have also fenced off the vehicle access to the beach on that end to keep the crazy tourist away.

Fenced beach access

Canal mouth

Looking down the beach

Tail end of Tropical Storm Manuel

We thought we had escaped the fury of Tropical Storm Manuel Sunday with almost no wind and very little rain. That was until about 10-11 last night when the heavy rain started. It rained all night and is still raining heavily off and on. The secondary school is closed and Protección Civil is warning people of possible flooding. Manuel is now Invest-91 well north of here. Below are a few photos by Dr. Roberto Pimienta Woo of the Canal on the west end this morning.

Invest-91 -- Once Manuel

Canal photo

Canal photo

Another of Melaque Centro

A Sunday on the beach

Well actually at Las Hamacas Hotel which was cool because there was a light rain all day and the kids could play in the pool.   We choose the hotel thinking the beach would be covered with lirio from the lagoon opening.   Water looked muddy but the beach was clean.

A neighbor knows the manager of the Las Hamacas so we were welcome.   The women made a big bowl of shrimp ceviche and a large bowl of sashimi salad while the guys watched the kids in the pool and drank lots of beer.   When the food came we moved out to the beach side of the hotel across from Senior Froy's.   Some people in Froy's saw a crocodile out in the bay but it was too far away for my camera.   Weather was overcast and nice and cool.   Great day!

Back stepping to how we were going to get to the beach.   Saturday we had somewhere between 6 to 10 inches of rain and the road leaving Pinal was a mess.  My car is just too low and tired so we all jumped into Juan's pickup, 4 in front and about 8 in the back.   The first foto is actually an extension of the lagoon when we have that much rain.  The second is the main road getting close to the highway.   Easy enough for a 3/4 ton that sits up high.   Mine, no.

Pinal lagoon

Pinal road flooded

Melaque beach

Senor Froy's

Migration office to open in San Patricio, Melaque

There will be an opening of a module of the National Migration Institute (INM) which manages Cihuatlán municipality and was confirmed by the President Jesús Huerta Aguilar. 

He explained that he recently held a meeting with staff from the federal delegation of Colima State Migration , agreed to open a module in San Patricio-Melaque, in order to cater to foreigners, residents and tourists who come to this point of the South Coast of Jalisco. 

According to the Mayor of Cihuatlan, the module will start work on 9 September, in the municipal delegation of San Patricio-Melaque. "We can provide general guidance regarding paperwork requirements ... preventing them from coming to Colima." 

Miguel Salazar, federal officer of the INM, confirmed the module opening in the municipality of Cihuatlán, and will receive cases of tourists and residents of foreign origin, in relation to their immigration status and stay in this country. 

For decades Cihuatlán township has become a second home to hundreds of people from Canada, the United States and Central America, including European and Asian.

Gestionan módulo de Migración para Cihuatlán