# Planning a 'reconnaisance' trip to GDL, Chapala



## JaneScriv (Apr 24, 2010)

Hello forum people - 

I've been circling around the idea of moving to Mexico to stretch my not quite retirement dollars.  :ranger: :confused2: 

Finally I decided the best thing to do would be to do a 'recon' trip to GDL and visit Lake Chapala and hopefully talk to a few expats in person. My first dilemma is how to find a safe hotel that won't charge me tourist prices. I'm starting to learn Spanish, but only have a little bit so far. And - how would I get around? Would it be reasonable to look for a reliable taxi to take me on a tour, or even all the way out to Lake Chapala from GDL? Or what about finding a place to stay somewhere at Lake Chapala? Or subletting from an existing expat?

I'm thinking of taking a trip for 4 to 6 weeks somewhere mid-to-end of this August to mid-to end of this September. Any suggestions for places to stay? Areas to check out? Transportation? I'm a woman in reasonable health, not young but not old either, and have to be careful about staying out in temperatures over 80 degrees for too long. 'Winging it' is really not a good idea. 

Thanks! 

Janet


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum.
I would suggest that you take a taxi from the airport to Chapala and make that the 'home base' for your exploration. The airport is actually half way between Chapala and Guadalajara.
You will be able to explore Chapala on foot, then take the local bus or taxi to the surrounding villages of Ajijic, Jocotopec, San Juan Cosala, etc. From the Chapala bus station, there are buses into GDL every half hour and there are tour buses in the Centro, which will take you around the city and out to Tlaquepaque, etc.


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## Liquipure (Jun 21, 2010)

Hi and welcome. I agree with RV ******. Go to Lake Chapala area. There are many B&Bs there owned by Americans in price ranges from $40 - $100 US dollars. Google Ajijic B&B or look on Trip Advisor. There are at least 15 and also a few hotels. August is slow season so it is possible to hunt for the right place for you once you are here. (But make a reservation for the first day or 2)`Then take a rental home for a month. Again it's low season and there are many choices. And often they don't care what the 1st day of the month is! Prorate! You will find many expats here, everywhere willing and pleased to talk about their experiences. Good Luck Amiga!!


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Hola Janet, you wrote" and have to be careful about staying out in temperatures over 80 degrees for too long."

If you were to visit a weather website and did a history for the areas you will be in ( GDL), you would see"
July 15 2009 through July 29 2009:
daily high .........82 degrees
daily humidity...88% and 9 days rain out of 15


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Chicios,
I hate to tell you how wrong and misleading those computer generated statistics are for Guadalajara, and especially for the Lake Chapala micro-climate. At the moment, Chapala is at 74F and 55% humidity; perfectly normal and just about average for the year. April and May are a bit warmer and much drier. Our rains are almost always during the night between mid-June and mid-September. The rest of the year is our dry season, with virtually no rain.
Here is an actual weather station located between Chapala and Ajijic, near the lake shore, run by one of our expat retirees: Lake Chapala Weather Net


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Hola RV, 
The OP stated she doesn't want to be out in 80+ temps for long periods, all I pointed out was in the time frame she would be checking out Guadalajara and the lake area that the temps could be over her comfort level...
The site you provided shows that in the time frame of Aug. 21 st. through Sept. 5Th ( when she will be doing her recon) during 2009 the average high temp. was 90 degrees....


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

It's great that you have the time to check out the area as that really critical. I also know that there is a tilt if not bias toward the Chapala area which is a great retirement place.
However with 4-6 weeks, you also have some time to compare other areas in the bajio.
If I were you, I would as minimum take a bus to San Miguel for at least a few days. San Miguel tends to be slightly cooler because of the altitude difference. Also, it is unmatched in it's combination of history & art with a very active expat population.
I really don't have an axe to grind as I live in neither but do think that there are just too many great options to initially have a narrow focus. BTW, I used my favorite bus site to find that ETN has three executive buses daily between Guadalajara & San Miguel. It takes 5hrs+ and has two stops, Leon & Guanajuato.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

All that I'm pointing out is the fact that the GDL weather station is in a paved, unshaded area at the airport and is notoriously wrong for the city and, especially, the lake, where we seldom touch 90F at all; and only in April or May in direct sunshine. Our home's record for our warm season this year was 82F in the living quarters. We have neither AC nor furnace.


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## JaneScriv (Apr 24, 2010)

*Thanks for your great and useful replies . . . .*



conklinwh said:


> It's great that you have the time to check out the area as that really critical. I also know that there is a tilt if not bias toward the Chapala area which is a great retirement place.
> However with 4-6 weeks, you also have some time to compare other areas in the bajio.
> If I were you, I would as minimum take a bus to San Miguel for at least a few days. San Miguel tends to be slightly cooler because of the altitude difference. Also, it is unmatched in it's combination of history & art with a very active expat population.
> I really don't have an axe to grind as I live in neither but do think that there are just too many great options to initially have a narrow focus. BTW, I used my favorite bus site to find that ETN has three executive buses daily between Guadalajara & San Miguel. It takes 5hrs+ and has two stops, Leon & Guanajuato.


These are great posts and exactly the sort of thing I'm hoping to find.  I'm interested in the Lake Chapala - GDL area of course -- but Mexico is a large country. I like being near open water of some kind - not right on, but near. Cool breezes are always good. GDL may be too much of a 'big city' for what I'm looking for. For where I ultimately stay, I would like a garden, good water access, and an area with culture and history and a very good mercado. I mentioned the 'over 90 degrees' issue because I don't want to be somewhere that is excessively hot a great deal of the time. But hey, right in the East Bay in California we get a fair number of over 90 degree days and even some over 100 days and that's in Berkeley. Just over the foothills it gets way more hot than that. So any other suggestions for an area that might merit a visit will be most welcome.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Well if you are here that long and feel like making trips less than a day away ... I'd suggest Patzcuaro. It's on a good sized lake, lots of arts and crafts in the area, Colonial in the old style, good sized ex-pat crowd and at 7000ft is cool in the summer and almost cold in the winter


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I also like the Patzcuaro area, but it is too high for my lungs and too cold for my old bones in the winter. With age, walking the hills becomes more difficult. Here at Lake Chapala, I only walk East and West within three blocks of the lake.:welcome:


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

The water discussion is interesting. Lake Chapala is certainly the largest lake in the bajio and the one with more expats along the shore. BTW, the bajio is only one area to consider but since your base seems to be the Guadalajara area, I'll stick with that. Patzcuaro & Lake Janizio is an alternative. In that area, I actually like Lake Zirahuen better and they have just put in a new road that has opened up much more of the shore line. San Miguel has the very large Presa Allende but it is more for viewing across the town from the hillsides, especially at dusk when the flights of birds return. Guanajuato also has a large reservoir and a number of people live in that area. Even Quetaro has the large Juriquilla reservoir.
My net is that if interacting with the lake is important, probably Lake Chapala. If seeing and being able to get to the water suffices, San Miguel & Patzcuaro would be next. I'm assuming that your 2nd water comment "access to water" refers to public or private water for your house & garden. San Miguel now has dual water, potable & not. I assume that Chapala has good water access as well. I've never heard of water issues around Patzcuaro. It could be more problematic at Zirahuen but I have no knowledge.
It's interesting to have this discussion because water views was important when we 1st moved from NC and we truly enjoyed having drinks and looking out over Presa Allende the 4 years we rented in San Miguel.
However when we decided to build, we went a completely different direction. We bought about 6 acreas a 10 minute walk to Mineral de Pozos. We are part way up a mountain and the views are spectaculer but they are of 100+ year old ruins, grazing horses and the Sierra Gordas rather than water.
If of interest, I wrote an article, "Mineral de Pozos: Magical Tranquility" on our decision and building experiences that you can google. I would never recommend Pozos as a 1st place to visit in Mexico but it certainly is an alternative to the more normal expat decisions in the bajio.


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