“This Saturday we’re going to hike up to a lookout with a gorgeous view—hope you can come,” said the email I sent out to people on my list of Caminantes (hikers).

The Guachimontones Interactive Center of Interpretation is buzzing with activity these days as archaeologists, museographers, artists, designers and a new corps of “Dynamic Trail Interpreters” gear up for the museum’s imminent Grand Opening.

It had been expected that the impressive building, designed by architect Francisco Perez Arellano, would open its doors a year ago upon completion of the stunning mural by artist Jorge Monroy which now graces its 30-meter long, curving inner wall. However, expected funds “failed to materialize,” according to administrator Leticia Aguirre.

At the same time, a project to widen the two-lane highway connecting Tala to Teuchitlán was mysteriously halted, meaning some unlucky tourists will still be forced to creep along the 13-kilometer stretch while stuck behind slow moving trucks piled high with sugar cane bound for Tala’s huge ingenio (sugar refinery).

Every year Guadalajara naturalist Jesús Moreno produces a desktop calendar/agenda featuring first-class photographs of Mexico’s flora and fauna. Curious to learn about this year’s publication, I caught up with him at his home on the northern edge of the Primavera Forest.

The old mining town of Mineral de Pozos, located in the state of Guanajuato, is a five-and-a-half hour drive from Guadalajara but works well as a delightful day trip from nearby, ever-charming, San Miguel de Allende.

Days of commemoration, remembrance, glorification — and questioning.

Most foreigners living in Mexico have been asked the following question by one of the local people: “Do you have a little time to help me practice my English conversation?”

Many years ago, I taught English in Querétaro, which was then so small you could easily reach every part of it on foot. The first time I crossed the town early in the morning it was so quiet I expected to see nothing but empty streets. To my surprise, I found neither the streets nor the sidewalks empty. It was, in fact, downright dangerous to walk around at that hour, because, without warning, gallons of water (clean, fortunately) might come sailing out of any doorway at any time. This was my first introduction to a curious and charming Mexican custom which, for lack of a better name, I will call the Spotless Sidewalk Syndrome.

The little town of San Esteban – located only seven kilometers north of Guadalajara – is overshadowed by a steep mountain  bristling with tall, rocky spires as numerous and as pointy as a hedgehog’s quills.

“Geoparks  are the fastest growing kind of parks in the world,” announced Ross Dowling,  coordinator of the third Global Conference on Geotourism, held in Muscat, Oman last week. Naturally, the Guadalajara Reporter was there to cover the event, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Jalisco’s Casa San Matías, distiller of Pueblo Viejo tequila.

Not long ago, I received an invitation to participate in the Third Global Conference on Geotourism. I wanted to go, but there was a slight hitch: the meeting would be held in Muscat, Oman, 15,000 kilometers from Jalisco. Miraculously, my transportation problem was solved when Casa San Matias, the people who make Pueblo Viejo Tequila, offered to pay for my plane ticket. That left only one small question I still needed to answer: exactly what is Geotourism?

Colli is that high hill located right behind the Omnilife Stadium, which  on Sunday (October 30) will be the focus of much attention for the closure of the Pan American Games. The hill, of course is actually a volcanic plug created after the Primavera Caldera’s last explosion about 25,000 years ago. In the June 4, 2010 Reporter, I described our discovery of a steep path up the south side of Colli from the prolongation of Avenida Guadalupe. The trail we followed was hot and dusty, without a square centimeter of shade, but we found plenty of tall pines, brisk breezes and of course a great view, once we reached the top.

El Río de las Animas is born in the Primavera Forest and flows past the town of Tala, eventually emptying into Lake La Vega

I used to call it “The River of Souls” until I learned that there are two words for soul in Spanish: alma and ánima. The former refers to the souls of living persons as well as those who have made it to heaven or that other place. An “anima,”  however, has not yet reached its final destination. This word covers the souls in Purgatory as well as the ones you find wandering about cemeteries, haunted houses and the new Teuchitlán Interactive Museum (where the night guards have spotted dozens of ánimas, perhaps once belonging to the skeletons unearthed while digging the building’s foundation).

Guadalajara’s annual Fiestas de Octubre has presented its coveted Silver Paintbrush (Pincel de Plata) Award to watercolorist and muralist Jorge Monroy.

A few days ago my wife and I were invited to spend a night at Hotel Villa San Francisco in Chapala. We had already been forewarned that there was “something different” about Hotel VSF, so we asked our host Tony Wilshere for a bit of his history, hoping we might get two stories: that of Chapala’s newest hotel and also the story of the man behind it.

In 1992, archaeologist Phil Weigand published sketches of several circular pyramids and a ball court he had found in the hills above Santa Rosalía, eight kilometers north of Etzatlán. Ever since I came across his drawings, I had wanted to visit these ruins in the company of an archaeologist who might explain what I was seeing. Weigand said that these ancient monuments are “in excellent condition” but also mentioned that the climb up the hill is very steep and you’d better bring along “water, food and a telephone in case of emergency.”

Having lived in Mexico for many years, I have come to believe that the word “ley” has a very different meaning here from concept of “law” I grew up with as a child. In certain countries, “The Law” is thought of in positive, and almost reverential terms. The Law is a beacon of justice, the sine-qua-non for order in society. It has the solid support of the great majority of people and in most cases is considered fair and impartial. If you come to Mexico with this definition of law engraved on your mind, you may be surprised or even shocked at what we might call “the more casual approach to law and order” which you will encounter here and you may be tempted to blame what you see around you either on lawlessness or on corruption.