Trip to Mismaloya

On April 18th and 25th I went with Xill Fessenden to more villages on the south side of Lake Chapala.  The first day I drove Xill on a scouting trip for the second outing, which was an evening trip to photograph the rising full moon over Lake Chapala.  We stopped at the villages of San Luis Soyotlan (the turnoff to Mazamitla), Tuxcueca, and Mismaloya, further to the east.  They are all fishing villages.

San Luis Soyotlan

Tuxcueca

Whatever you call this tree, Flamboyan in Puerto Rico (where Brian first fell in love with it) and Tabachin in Mexico, its colour is breathtaking!

The local people are just as colourful

This lady is doing her laundry in front of her house

My friend Xill poses with the broom maker in San Luis

We can't resist a stop at the local fruit stand - locally grown raspberries, blackberries & blueberries.  Further on, we stopped at the side of the road where the Dole company (pronounced Dolay in Spanish) had a processing stand and girls were sorting raspberries and filling those tiny plastic containers that sell in grocery stores.  Later we passed a truck filled with cartons of berries heading to the airport and then to stores in Canada or USA.  

In Mismayloya we visited with fishermen and contracted them to take their boats out the following week at sunset to provide silhouettes for our sunset and moon rise shots.   

Unfortunately when we returned in the evening the following week, it was so cloudy that we couldn't see the moon.  Instead these generous fishermen, built a fire and entertained us with stories of the old days.