We were a little early arriving at Catherine's today, so I took some shots of the flowers that lined the road here in Vista Allegra.

Today was a tour of Chapala. It's about 15 minutes west of Ajijic and represents the larger of the two communities. This is where you go to pay your taxes and shop at the bigger Monday market if you want. It's much more "mexican" than Ajijic but it has a lot more shops and variety.

We started off at the old Chapala Railway station - it was constructed by a Norwegian many years ago and there was only ONE train trip from Chapala to Guadalajara and for some reason it was shut down. Now it's more of a cultural centre.

From the station we went to the Athletic park on the east side of town and there were ooodles of tennis courts, a water park, soccer fields, volleyball courts and the like - more than enough to keep the gringo's entertained. This is pretty much adjacent to the Chapala Malecon. Again, as is the case in Ajijic, this is a large boulevard that runs parallel to the lake and on weekends and holidays this is packed with locals and tourists alike.

The lake here is in serious trouble. Despite recent reports that the water level has increased some 16 cm's in our current rainy season, the lake is down likely close to 750 feet from where it has been. Apparently water levels are controllable but the powers to be seem to do little to correct this serious issue.

We finished our tour - Deb did a little shopping and went by to pick up John for a quick lunch at the local taco place.