Lots of folks here in Mexico City take to the road on summer weekends, and one of the most popular destinations is the colonial town of San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato, about 4 hours north of the city.
“When I tell people I live inMexico City, the response is often bewilderment shadowed with trepidation.” I wrote these words in 2006 as the introduction to my guide book. Since then, a combination of bad news and misinformation has made those reactions even stronger for many people… who’ve never visited. Through my blog and book I’ve shared the joys of living here: what to see, where to go, what to eat, etc. Now, as part of my work for Mexico Today, I’m beginning a series of profiles of people who have chosen Mexico City as their home. I hope their stories will help to clarify some of the bewilderment and to reduce the trepidation. So meet Louis and Elodie Santamaria: After a 24-year career with the U.S. State Department, and having lived in seven different countries, Louis and Elodie Santamaria choseMexico City when it came time to retire last year. Louis, a gregarious man , tall and lanky, was born in Mexico and raised in the U.S. “We have family and friends here, so that was big selling point,” he said. Elodie is a pretty blonde whose elegant manner, style and accent are pure French, despite her naturalization as a U.S. citizen in Texasyears ago. They both confess that they might have preferred Paris, where Elodie still has family. “But for the price we paid here for a 3000-square foot house, we would only have gotten a 200-square foot studio in Paris—not to mention the incredibly high cost of living there.” Both speak fluent Spanish and love Mexican culture, food and music. They take full advantage of the wide cultural offerings here. "It's a big reason for choosing Mexico City," claimed Elodie. They have friends from all over the world as a result of their years at the Embassy, and they love to entertain, so the large rooftop terrace of their new home was a bit selling point. They had lived in Mexico City twice before, each time for three years, and raised two sons here. So there have been some surprises but not too many shocks. “You do need patience, but once you learn the rules—which aren’t always easy to find out—it’s a very manageable place to live,” explained Louis. “The phantoms of scary health and safety issues are way overblown. I’ve lived in a lot of cities, so I have ‘street smarts’, but I feel as safe here as I do anywhere in the world.” Elodie added, “A lot of people are concerned with medical issues. Health care is affordable here, and the quality of the doctors and hospitals is high—just as good as in Paris.” For retirees, money is usually a question. So here’s the scoop: The Santamaria’s 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom house, with living and separate dining rooms, eat-in kitchen with patio, large laundry room, garage, and rooftop terrace cost a total of US $400,000 after renovation. The property includes a shop on the ground floor that brings in a monthly rent of 7000 pesos (around US $600) which is about what it costs to maintain the house (light, gas, phone, taxes, and maid service three times a week). Their home is on a tree-lined street in the Colonia Roma neighborhood, an eclectic area that dates back to the early 20th and is in the midst of a renaissance that draws a hip, young crowd to its many cafes, restaurants, galleries and shops. "And it's near to public transportation, so we can get anywhere in town easily," said Elodie. “Mexico City is not for the faint of heart, but it’s so much more than the negative myths that surround it.” said Louis. “We’re very happy to call it home.” For information on finding a place to live in Mexico City, check out my older blog post, http://mexicocitydf.blogspot.com/2008/10/moving-to-mexico-city.html Mexico Today can be found online athttp://www.mexicotoday.org or on Facebook, Twitter andLinkedIn.
Not everybody knows this about me, but I love to dance. When I was a child I wanted to be a red-headed dancer. When I was 6 or 7, my family lived in Toluca, Mexico, and my mom used to take me to classes and I loved it! There was something magical about stomping my… feet on the wooden floors; it was loud, it was rhythmic, it was fun! It filled me with happy feelings. This is me, performing an Aztec Dance.
Mercado de la Merced and the 20 de Noviembre market, both in downtown Oaxaca, contain the best market restaurants in the city.
When I first started traveling in Mexico there weren’t many cars on the road. Seriously, in a ten-mile stretch of highway you might… pass 10 or 20 cars or trucks going the other way. Mostly you saw truckers hauling goods and buses hauling people. Not many Mexicans could afford a car. This was still true in the 1970’s and ‘80’s. In 1975, a buddy and I hitch-hiked down the trans-peninsular highway in Baja, took the ferry over to the mainland at Mazatlan from La Paz, finally ending up in Belize a couple of months later, bedazzled by all we had seen and done. But we got very few lifts by thumb and ended up on trains and buses for most of the way because rides were hard to flag. There just weren’t many passenger cars on the road and most of them you saw were barely running and only going a short distance.
Every now and then it’s nice to escape the city for a little while, even if just for a few hours. This past Saturday we… traveled north of Mexico City to the state of Hidalgo to visit the town of Tula de Allende and the nearby Tula archaeological site. Tula’s not an especially large site when compared with others in the region, for example the pyramids at Teotihuacán, but it is impressive and well-known. One of the things that makes it so interesting is the group of columns carved in the form of Toltec warriors that are located on the top of the main pyramid. These giant stone figures, called Atlantes, are Tula’s main attraction — and they’re huge; that’s me standing alongside them! According to signs posted at the archaeological site, this main pyramid was one of the ancient city’s most important buildings, dedicated to the worship of royalty and the ruling dynasties of Tula. In pre-Hispanic times, these giant stone sculptures would not have been visible to the public, instead they would have been used to support the roof of an ancient temple that was built on the top of the pyramid. The Atlantes are believed to represent high-ranking military officers, while the reliefs represent the kings and rulers of the ancient city. Tula was an important city from around AD 950 to 1150 and was later abandoned sometime during the early 13th century. The ruins that are open to visitors today comprise what once made up the city’s ceremonial center and they’re just a small part of the 16-sq-km site. Tula was home to the Toltecs, a culture separate from the Aztecs. Interestingly, the architecture and iconography found at the Tula archaeological site is often compared to that of Chichén Itzá on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. I noticed similarities in the pillars constructed around the base of the pyramid as well as some of the carvings. (Check out my photos from an earlier visit to Chichén Itzá.) On the pyramid’s north wall are the carvings of jaguars, coyotes and eagles. The carvings cover the entire wall and the images are quite easy to make out. Located nearby, the Serpent Wall, or Coatepantli, is a 40m long and 2.25m high wall of carvings. There are rows of geographic patterns, snakes and skeletons. The shades of color that you see here are all that remain of the once brightly painted site. While at the archaeological site you’ll also want to check out the Gran Vestíbulo, which extends along the front of the pyramid facing the plaza, the Palacio Quemado, a series of courtyards with reliefs located just west of the pyramid, the Juego de Pelota, or ball court, as well as wander through the plaza before heading back into town. If you have the time, it’s also worth getting to know the town of Tula de Allende. Tula’s central plaza, or zócalo, is a pretty place to enjoy the relaxed pace of small town life. A few pedestrianized streets lined with colorful buildings lead out from the zócalo. On the far right side of the zócalo, as you’re heading back toward the bus terminal, is a colorful mural depicting the town’s history. Across the street and to your right is the town’s cathedral. With its fortress-like stone exterior and simplistic interior, it was once part of the 16th-century monastery of San José. Inside the cathedral, in a separate room off to the side you’ll find an alter to the Virgin of Guadalupe. If You Go: Tula’s an easy and inexpensive day trip from Mexico City. Our bus left Mexico City’s Terminal Norte at 9:30am and by 11:45am we were already at the site. Autobuses Ovnibus travels direct from Mexico City to Tula. The ride takes one hour and forty five minutes and costs 80 pesos each way. Second class buses also make the journey for 65 pesos, but the ride takes longer. The easiest way to get from the Tula bus terminal to the archaeological site is via taxi. Taxis outside the terminal charge 35 pesos. You’ll need to exit the site and walk out to the highway to catch a cab back into town. Admission to the site costs 41 pesos. A couple of hours at the site is sufficient to tour the ruins and site museum. We took our time exploring both the town and ruins and still managed to make it back to Mexico City before the early evening rain showers. The current exchange rate is 11.7 pesos to the USD. México Today, in association with Marca País – Imagen de México, is a joint public and private sector initiative designed to help promote Mexico as a global business partner and an unrivaled tourist destination. This program is designed to shine a light on the Mexico that its people experience every day. Disclosure: I am being compensated for my role as a contributing writer for México Today; my opinions, as always, are my own.
I’ve just finished watching a the sunrise from the beach in Playa del Carmen. The coastline at dawn here is always eerily silent, the quietest it will be all day. For a few hours at most, no one is stirring. The dozens of bars and restaurants that line the shore appear abandoned, like a ghost… town. My lounge chair is wedged into the sugary white sand just out of reach of the crashing turquoise waves. The sky is an infinity of blue, and the sun’s rays merely lukewarm, like an oven that’s just been turned on but which hasn’t yet had begun to warm up. A seagull circles overhead, effortlessly floating in the breeze like a kite, and I wonder if he, too, is merely half awake.
Nissan Mexico has been selected by New York City to produce the “Taxi of Tomorrow.” The futuristic-looking Nissan NV200 will make its official debut in NYC’s taxi fleet in late 2013. Nissan Mexico has been selected by New York City to produce the “Taxi of Tomorrow.”… The futuristic-looking Nissan NV200 will make its official debut in NYC’s taxi fleet in late 2013. In a competition that started in 2007, Nissan Mexico beat out designs from Turkish manufacturer Karsan and Ford. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission chose the Nissan NV200 for its durability, safety, comfort, passenger amenities and other features. This commercial vehicle, presently available in Japan, Europe and China, will be customized for NYC. Each cab will cost $29,000 USD. The new cabs will replace the present fleet, which is composed of a hodgepodge of Crown Victorias, Ford Escapes, Toyota Priuses and other vehicles. This means that in a little more than two years, all New York taxis will be the same model — at least for the next decade. The Nissan plant, located in the state of Morelos, has pledged to use 80% Mexican parts on the new model, which will be a huge boost to local auto manufacturer suppliers. The contract to build the new taxis has given the Mexican plant a guaranteed 10 more years of work. In order to meet the demand for the taxi project, the plant will be hiring 200 to 300 workers to complement its current workforce of 3,000. The Morelos plant currently exports to over 59 countries. Nissan is the best-selling auto manufacturer in Mexico, with over 25% market share. Mexico’s automotive sector has seen tremendous growth lately, as auto manufacturers are taking advantage of Mexico’s skilled labor and ideal location as an export market.
One of my favorite parts of my trip my recent Oaxaca trip via Mexico Today turned out to be the visit we made to the small town of San Martín Tilcajete. When John & I visited Oaxaca back in 2009, we’d heard from friends about all the little villages specializing in various handicrafts… that are located within an hour’s drive from the city. To be honest, I was skeptical. You’ve seen one Mexican handicraft, you’ve seen them all, right? But this was before I had a true appreciation for Mexico’s manyincredibly-specialized small towns. For instance, are you interested in seeing every piece of home decor that could possible be made out of onyx? Tecali de Herrera in the state of Puebla is your answer for all your onyx lamp needs! Hoping to buy as many trendy leather shoes for $200 pesos each as can fit in your suitcase? Head over to Leon in Guanajuato state, hub of all things leather (except for women’s shoes in size, ahem, 12 or 13). So three years after being introduced to my first alebrije (including some extra-large ones scattered along Reforma in Mexico City), I was more optimistic about visiting the small town that’s bursting at the seams with alebrije action! For those wondering “what is that word she keeps using?”, alebrijes are colorful fantasy animals that are traditional folk art in both Oaxaca & Mexico City. There’s one history on the origination of alebrijes here– those in DF were papier mache, but those from Oaxaca are carved out of wood. Fellow blogger Alvin has more great detail on the unique tree that Oaxacans use for their alebrijes– the copal–and their sustainable farming practices. Many of my other blogger pals have highlighted the gorgeous finished alebrijes that we saw at the workshop of Jacobo and Maria Angeles. But I wanted to share my favorite part– the shelves of naked alebrijes, categorized by animal & awaiting their coats of paint to make themselves presentable to the world. If you’re ambitious & are driving, Moon Travel Guides has a great, fairly detailed map of all the villages around the city of Oaxaca. You’ll take Highway 175 south from the city, and San Martin Tilcajete is about 23km out. It took us about an hour to get out there when you include some slow-moving traffic in the city + a festival of topes (killer speedbumps!) on the way out of town. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a tour guide, I can only speak to the experience I had with the tour company with whom the Mexico Today folks made arrangements– Turismo El Convento de Oaxaca. Ulises Bonilla Martinez and his mother Maria Esther Martinez Ricardez both did a great job, and she in particular had the gift of story-telling that added a lot to the experience. The prices outlined on their brochure I received for various tours around Oaxaca state start from $180 pesos for half-day trips to Monte Alban or the nearby artisan villages, and $300 pesos for full-day outings. You can emailinfo@oaxacaexperts.com for more details. If you want to do some shopping around, here’s a list of some other tour options to consider. Finally, there is a great list here (in Spanish) of recent/upcoming events in Oaxaca, so be sure to monitor that for 2012’s Feria del Alebrije schedule as you plan your travel– you know how much I love a good niche festival!! Disclosure: I am being compensated for my work in creating content as a Contributor for the México Today Program. I was also invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Oaxaca as part of my role and for the launch of the program. All stories, opinions and passion for all things México shared in my blog are completely my own.
"Go go go!" the captain yells and we throw our bodies off the side of the boat, landing in the sea and coming face to face with the gaping maw of an 8 meter long shark. "Go go go!" the captain yells and we throw our bodies off the side of the boat, landing in the sea and coming face to face with… the gaping maw of an 8 meter long shark. "MMMMM" I yell through my snorkel (everything sounds like "mmmm" in a snorkel, the translation here is something along the lines of "Holy Cow!"). Though the enormous mouth coming at me is about 1 meter wide, I do know that this whale shark is really only interested in eating plankton. I manoeuvre myself out of her direct path and try to remember to breathe, it is an intimidating mouth regardless of whether I am considered lunch or not. We follow along with her, using our flippers like mad to race to stay alongside her rippled and dotted body. Her mouth opens and closes and the cleaner fish cling to her side and she finally outraces us and we pause for a breath. This is whale shark season. Every year between May and September, whale sharks gather in large numbers off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. While whale sharks are found in a few other places in the world, the aggregation in the Mexican Caribbean is by far the largest and most easily accessible for scientists and adventurers. Visitors to Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Isla Holbox can find themselves in the midst of hundreds of these gentle giants, known locally as "dominoes" for their spotted and dotted skin. Scientists regularly visit the region to investigate this still mysterious animal, tagging the animals in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of their migration routes and mating habits. The whale shark is indeed a member of the shark family, the biggest fish in the sea. The largest recorded whale shark was more than 12 meters long and the heaviest weighed 36 tonnes!. They live in warm-temperate and tropical waters and feed on plankton, algae and fish eggs through filters in their large mouths. Whale sharks are "ovoviviparous" animals, meaning they reproduce through eggs, then give birth to live young, perhaps up to 300 offspring at a time. Whale sharks reach sexual maturity around 30 years of age and it's estimated that they have a lifespan of between 70 and 100 years. I am an incredibly fortunate woman to live where I do. This was my third time swimming with the whale sharks and it doesn't get old. Today's adventure was once again "unbelievable, out of this world, unreal, super chingon!" The sky was blue with white fluffy clouds, the sun shone down, the guides from Ecocolors were superb as they always are and our boat mates were a lot of fun. We found a group of about 100 sharks today and we each got five "jumps" and pretty much unlimited time sharing the underwater home of these incredible creatures. I really don't think it's possible to express the power of the experience through mere words or photos or even video, it's something you'll just have to try for yourself. Swimming with whale sharks in the Mexican Caribbean is just one of a million reasons why you should visit Mexico, a unique, natural experience that you will remember for a lifetime. This is definitely "bucket list" material.
In June, Travelocity Mexico announced the first new Green Hotels Directory in Mexico and signed a cooperation agreement with Rainforest Alliance. (See press release below following Q&A). …
When it comes to vacationing in Mexico, people often ask me where they should go. There are so many choices within Mexico, each offering something different and unique to its region. It’s just like if someone from Mexico asked where they should vacation in America.
Mr. Ernesto Coppel Kelly is a leading voice in Mexico’s tourism industry and is the founder and chairman of six internationally acclaimed Pueblo Bonito Resorts and Spas (Cabo/Mazatlan). He has worked for decades with the private and public sectors to improve and expand Mexico’s tourism industry. As a… philanthropist, he contributes to a wide range of community and environmental organizations.
I can’t let go of an article from the July 2 edition of the Economist. “Who’s Overheating” proposes an “emerging-markets overheating index” that crunched six factors:
During last week´s #MexicoToday Twitter party I co-hosted, I noticed that many tweeps (myself included) were using the words “magical” and “mágico” to describe México and their experiences in this country. It´s difficult not to include the word magical when… talking about a country that exudes so much mysticism because of the force of its natural beauty and the juxtaposition of ancient, colonial and modern cultures all at once. The unexplainable and unattainable becomes magical for a loss of a word that can encompass it all.
