SolMate Santiago Logs
 Log #70, July 2008
Wednesday, 23 July, 2008
Weather Report
At 5,000 feet, it's hard to convince myself that I'm in Mexico and that it's July. Except for that solid week of gray and rain, the weather here has been ideal; puffy white clouds keep it cool and darken and spit only at night ... usually.
Rain clouds over Lake Chapala
Perched on the western edge of the Sierra Madres, April and May are the hot months up here. Then the clouds bunch up on the upslope and it rains.
Stan's sweating it out at sea level, tracking hurricane after hurricane (he's got a great hurricane page - here on the left coast we're up to #7, Genevieve),watching them march out to sea. While he's got his weather eye out in Manzanillo, I'm enjoying high country cool nights, balmy days, and a raindrop pallet...
Thursday, 17 July, 2008
Ajijic Welcoming Committee
Met at the Guadalajara airport, about half as far from Ajijic as the bus station, a very convenient dropping off point, we three were then met only four blocks from their home by one of the city's (not so) finest, a notorious traffic cop.
Transit police
Hidden behind an old beat-up pickup, and with a plain-clothes lookout stationed at the corner of the main road, the cop was just hanging out, waiting for an opportunity to make a little extra cash. When an unsuspecting driver turned off the highway, but missed the very small, very confusing, one-way sign, the spy signalled the uniform, who then jumped out from behind the truck and gleefully flagged down the offender.
That's how it happened to us, anyway, when we were pulled over. While our driver dutifully provided all the crucial info requested, we two ladies hovered inside the truck, taking surrepticious pictures through the back window. We were kind and courteous to the cop, but didn't offer to buy his lunch, and didn't pay any mordida, either, foiling the whole stinking setup.
According to the local scuttlebutt, this shady little money-grubbing cop is notorious for stopping drivers, esp. the rich tourists who frequent this area, and then trumping up non-existent charges to scare them into paying him off, not just an illegal turn, but, oh, your paperwork isn't right, or your import permit has expired (stuff a traffic cop has no business addressing). That's the rumor, anyway.
Since I'm here in Ajijic wheel-less, it's a non-issue to me, thank goodness. I don't think I could have been as diplomatic and polite at my host was!
Wednesday, 9 July, 2008
Back to Ajijic on Lake Chapala
My good friend, Georgina, was going to be alone for a month while Lou and Dianne wandered off to Alaska. Having played surrogate mom for G. before, heading up to Ajijic as a stand-in was a given (with the bonus of providing Stan unlimited tool-spreading, construction-messing, maintenance-cussing latitude at home).
Ajijic on Lake Chapala, four hours north of Manzanillo
I hopped an ETN bus at 9:00AM, watched two movies, read my book, ate the snacks ETN provided, and arrived at the Guadalajara airport at 1:30.
What a slick deal. The airport is about 30 minutes closer to Ajijic than the bus station is. ETN doesn't advertise the fact that they deliver straight to the airport because the taxi drivers are supposed to have a monopoly on airport deliveries. That's true all over Mexico, and explains why one can never find a bus out of the airports. But the airport taxistas really can't control who brings passengers in.
And speaking of the rotten taxistas, two things have helped protect the unwary traveler from their money-grubbing. One, tourist agencies, and even guide books, broadcast the fact that taxi rates are too high and riders should never, ever tip them; and two, a kiosk has been set up at most airports where the fare is paid in advance to keep the drivers from naive-foreigner-gouging. Airport taxi fares are still higher than elsewhere in most cities, but it's nice to know there are some controls.
In Manzanillo, the quoted price from the north end of town to the airport is around MX$280, but we've heard of the un-informed paying as much as MX$500. Our local taxis charge between MX$20 to $60. From Ajijic to the Guadalajara airport, the rate was just raised to MX$350 (on the otherhand, door-to-door service is a nice luxury when one's schlepping multiple bags).
Gas pricing is not an issue, as yet, with taxi rates. President Calderon approved a price freeze of 150 commodities, gas being one. Our price at the pump is still hovering around US$2.70/gallon (but tortillas have risen slightly above MX$10/kilo).
SolMate Santiago contact: mj(at)solmatesantiago(dot)com
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