Columns

Mexico recently made headlines when it was included in the U.S. Trade Representative’s “Notorious Markets List,” which identifies markets around the world that harm business through intellectual property rights infringement. It was stated that the main Mexican markets selling illegal goods are the Mercado Tepito in Mexico City and Guadalajara’s San Juan de Dios.

Visitors to Teuchitlan’s ever more popular Phil Weigand Museum eventually wander into its auditorium to take the weight off their feet and watch a 50-minute video called “An Unknown Civilization in Ancient Western Mexico.” 

The town of La Primavera is located 12 kilometers northwest of Guadalajara on the extension of Avenida Vallarta (Highway 15), the road heading for Tepic, Puerto Vallarta and Nogales. It takes only a few minutes to drive south through this pueblito, whereupon you come to a sort of forest. No, I don’t mean the woods, but rather a forest of huge, unsightly signs announcing all sorts of things to do and see, from balnearios (bathing areas) to ziplines.

When hikers gather around the campfire to share stories of their most unforgettable experiences in the great outdoors, you can be sure you´re not going to hear about trips that came off without a hitch, exactly as planned. No, it is far more entertaining to go back to those occasions when Nature proved itself most capricious and Murphy’s Law reigned supreme.

A young woman spends every Saturday working with a group of volunteers who are trying to reforest a huge empty lot in Zapopan to turn it into an outdoor school where people can learn about ecosystems. 

Recently, archaeologist Rodrigo Esparza gave a talk at Guadalajara’s City Museum on natural resources of indigenous peoples in this area before the Conquista. He mentioned to his audience the “Magic Circle” I have often written about, the confluence of all five of Mexico’s ecosystems within a radius of 250 kilometers around Guadalajara.