Lake Chapala with the village of Ajijic in the foreground   - photo by Mike D'Cruze

             

No advertisements--that's my policy--so I'm not going to break that rule now.  Instead, I'll tell you about the place I used to live and some friends of mine who just happen to have opened one of the loveliest bed and breakfasts on Lake Chapala. 

Ajijic, a village nestled in the Sierra Madre mountains, clings to the banks of the largest lake in Mexico.  Although thousands of expatriates from all over the world live on the shores of Lake Chapala, Ajijic is still very much a Mexican village. It's a place where a peddler plays a tin flute advertising his services as he strolls through town; where friends (and you will always run into a friend no matter where you go) stop on the cobblestone street to chat; where the market, offering a dozen roses for a few pesos and produce so fresh it's still warm from the earth, is a weekly event no one misses.  Yes, crime has touched parts of Mexico, but it's virtually unknown here.  This is a place that time seems to have forgotten although you'll find that hard to believe when you dine in one of the cosmopolitan restaurants catering to expats.

It's also the place where friends of mine have opened one of the loveliest boutique bed and breakfast's, with three very private suites, in the Lake Chapala area.  Mike, from England, met America, from Mexico City, when she was studying in London; after traveling the world, they relocated to Ajijic to fulfill a dream.  That dream, which took almost four years to create, is named Las Cupulas.

Their bed and breakfast, where beauty is only trumped by comfort, is just a few miles from Ajijic.  Here in this quiet retreat,  you can relax in the saltwater pool or watch the birds that congregate near the lakeshore.  Or you can do nothing at all but bask in the sun of Ajijic's perpetual-spring climate and wish that America's delicious breakfast arrived sooner than tomorrow! But no matter what you do while you're there, I do not think you will regret for a moment your decision to stay at Las Cupulas.

Practicalities - If you'd like more information about Ajijic or Mexico, my book, Retire in Mexico - Live Better for Less Money is available on Amazon.  See more book details in the column at right.