The Workshops
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Day 1 - Saturday - Arrive Guadalajara airport. Time to get acquainted & acclimated in our wonderful B & B (www.estrellitasinnajijic.com). Walking tour of Ajijic, to the plaza and down to the lake. Stroll down the main street towards the pier and visit all the fantastic boutiques & galleries, which sell so much wonderful art of native artists, and from our large community of foreign artists. Then, cocktails & pizza party.
Day 2 - Sunday - Guadalajara, all day, starting with the Jalisco Museum, which has varying exhibits. Then, in the historic downtown, we visit the famous Cabañas Institute, an architectural wonder, world reknown for the Jose Orozco murals on the upper walls and ceilings of the chapel. Stop at the Mercado Libertad, an immense indoor/outdoor market chock full of everything imaginable. Stroll down the Plaza Tapatio past the historic Teatro Degollado, up to the magnificent Cathedral of Guadalajara. A late lunch at the famous La Chata restaurant nearby. We cap the day off with a drive around the Zona Rosa, the Guadalajara equivalent of Beverly Hills.
Day 3 - Monday - All day tour around the lake. We head west through Jocotepec and stop at the small village of San Cristobal where the women specialize in intricately crafted dolls & flowers & baskets made from corn husks. We continue to San Luis Soyatlan to shoot the lake from the opposite shore. Lunch at Tizapan el Alto with its lovely church. Finally, on to Petatan, a very small fishing village, jutting out into the lake. From November thru March, thousands of pelicans flock to Petatan, and it is an unusual and fascinating sight for photos. Dinner in San Juan Cosala or Jocotepec.
Day 4 - Tuesday - Start out in the bustling town of Chapala, walking along the Malecon (boardwalk) and pier. Drive up the hills surrounding the lake to the typical Mexican village of Mezcala and take a short boatride to historic Mezcala Island, with stops on the way to shoot the magnificent lakefront & mountain vistas. Dinner in Chapala on the boardwalk. Photo ops also at the local cemetaries as well as sunset on the lake near the restaurant area and boardwalk.
Day 5 - Wednesday a.m Get up early and walk the Ajijic local market (called a Tianguis). Three blocks long of jewelry, Huichol Indian crafts, jewelry, housewares, native clothes & textiles, food and veggies. We’ll meet at 10 a.m. to drive to Tequila. The state of Jalisco is the home of the agave plant and the town of Tequila is where it all started: turning agave into Tequila. The town itself is quite charming and looks like Hollywood’s idea of a Mexican town. There are many distilleries all through the town and tours are available to taste the tequila and find out how it is made.
Day 6 -Thursday - We leave early for Market Day at Tonala. The market at Tonala goes for blocks and blocks and encompasses anything you could want to buy. See also the glass blowing factory and the interesting old square with its historic churches. Lunch in Tonala. Free afternoon and evening.
Day 7 - Friday - Fabulous Tlaquepaque, with its "high end" arts & crafts, jewelry and furniture stores. Lunch in Tlaquepaque (and if we’re lucky we can hear some mariachis) and we’ll check out their charming square and also the food market. Tlaquepaque, now a suburb of Guadalajara, was where the rich lived in their magnificent mansions, now been converted into stores in a malled over street. It is fascinating to picture these mansions as they were as residences. Dinner at La Tasca hopefully to hear some flamenco guitar and traditional Mexican songs… or salsa dancing, when or where available.
Day 8 - Saturday - Airport drop offs and free day for those who leave later in the day. Time to wander, visit places there wasn't time for other days or take a Photoshop class.
1-4 day workshop/tours can be given any day of the week and to any of the locales described above for the week long tours. The only constraints are:
The market at Tonala is open only on Sundays and Thursdays.
The stores in Tlaquepaque open late on Sundays, so an early a.m. trip is not possible.
Cabañas Insitute is not open on Mondays, so trips to Guadalajara are better other days of the week.
Trips can be made around the lake to Petatan, but the pelicans are at Petatan only from about November thru March when they then fly back to Canada; however this tiny fishing village is interesting other times of the year and the other villages we visit give people more of an idea of typical Mexican villages and towns.
The cost of a one day tour is $100 U.S., there is an extra charge of $20 for each additional person. After the fourth person there will be an extra charge, cost dependent on the cost of the rental car rates in effect at that time, as a larger car will need to be rented. People are responsible for their own lunch expenses. There is a discount price for taking 2 days of trips and a further discount for 3 or more trips. If there is more than 4 people, please advise in advance because we will have to rent a larger vehicle.
E-mail: fotoflyer2003@yahoo.com
Phone: 011-52-376-766-3025
Ajijic / Lake Chapala, Mexico
Se habla español; On parle français; English spoken