A Costalegre Christmas Tree

Not many Fir Trees around here. Almost like in honor of all the bananas that were lost in Hurricane Patricia.

Festival - Carnaval Costalegre, Barra de Navidad

Festival - Carnaval Costalegre, Barra de Navidad 2015

Lots of music, parades and Coronations

Carnaval Costalegre - February 12 to 17

Carnaval Costalegre - Festival Barra de Naviadad

From the 12th to the 17th of February 

Cisco's Amigos - Barra Clinic - Dec 3

Cisco's Amigos will be holding it's first Barra de Navidad free spay and neuter clinic starting December 3rd. and running until December 7th. This will be our 23rd clinic in the area. The clinic will be held at the Campo de Futbol as you drive into Barra.

If anyone would like to help out please send an e-mail to ciscosamigos@hotmail.com or call @ 351-5164 if you have questions.

Volunteering a small amount of time is a wonderful way of not only helping the animals, but it's a way of giving back to our Mexican neighbors.

Cisco's is dedicated to providing the much needed sterilization services to the dogs and cats of the communities of the Costalegre. During our clinics we provide experienced help for overseeing the recovery of the animals after their surgeries and we provide medicines for parasites, fleas, ticks and provide help for any other medical problems the animals might have- all without charge.

Grand Bay and Rotary fund raiser

This Rotary fund raiser will be held January 14th at Hotel Grand Bay. Prizes from our sponsors - golf rounds at Tamarindo, Las Hadas, Grand Bay and hotel stays at Las Hadas, Grand Bay, Cabo Blanco, Real de Chapala. The prizes will be for longest drive, chipping contest, closest to pin and a silent auction at the end.

Carnaval Costalegre 2013

From the 5th to the 9th of March - Barra de Navidad

Del 6 al 9 de Marzo

Costalegre Rotary's Chili Cook-Off

The 5th Annual Costalegre Rotary's Chili Cook-Off will be on January 29th at the Barra de Navidad Jardin!

Call or write for English or Spanish versions of the application form

If you have any question not covered by the application please call the Cook-Off chairman, Jess Castillo, at 314 337-9091 or 314 305-7411 (cell). You can also email rotary@costalegre-rotary.org

Carnaval Costalegre - 2010

Carnaval Costalegre Schedule
Febuary 12th - Febuary 16th
Barra de Navidad, Melaque, Villa Obregon

Click for larger copy

 

Barra de Navidad on "Wanna Go Fishing"

These guys from the ESPN show Wanna Go Fishing came down November 08 to film a show here. As is almost always the case when cameras are running the bite died and I was a nervous nellie, trying to get them a show. They were after a Roosterfish, which we'd been catching days earlier. Of course day one we caught 2 Giant needlefish, nothing else and I was looking pretty lame. However, the fish gods smiled the next day and we bagged a couple of them and got some good footage of chasers. Anyway, the showed aired a few weeks ago and it turned out okay.

Barra de Navidad, Costalegre, Jalisco Mexico

Barra before, during and after Hurricane Lane

Hurricane Lane was the strongest Pacific hurricane to make landfall in Mexico since Hurricane Kenna of 2002. The thirteenth named storm, ninth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the 2006 Pacific hurricane season, Lane developed from a tropical wave on September 13 to the south of Mexico. It moved northwestward parallel to the coast of Mexico, and steadily intensified in an area conducive to further strengthening.

These fotos were sent to me by "Barra Jorge" as a before, during and after series of the hurricane and what it's like along the Costalegre in the summer months. The first two fotos were taken at Casa Chips restaurant and the last from the Malecon

Casa Chips Before

Casa Chips during

After - with dirty water and significant loss of beach

Carnaval Costalegre - 2009

Click for larger copy

Carnaval Costalegre - 2009 - Barra de Navidad

Costalegre Rotary Chili Cookoff

Last Saturday was the Chili Cookoff for the local Rotary to raise funds for some of their projects. How much they raised and for what is still unknown but it was a fun party with music and performances from the Ballet Xalixco, the local Folklorico group. This was the most gringos I've seen in one place in Mexico.

I took the kids over and they were kind of bored except for the hot-dogs, pop and the dancers. Old time rock-n-roll didn't really do it for them. We bought Mari a 'cookoff' apron with red trim ... that ruined the wash a few days later when the color ran. I wonder if the Rotary fund can replace this Mexican famlies clothes (grin). Just and idea!

Rotary Chili Cookoff poster

Chili crowd watching the dancers

Ballet Xalixco dancers

Ballet Xalixco dancers

Ballet Xalixco dancers

On the Barra de Navidad plaza

Barra de Navidad Malecon

Is it really as white-hot as it looks - well almost. It was a very warm day and this was just after I'd walked the beach from Melaque. This was first day using this camera and all my exposures were off. A little photo adjusting came up with this and I think it's pretty cool but different

Barra de Navidad, Costalegre, Jalisco, Mexico

A drive behind Jaluco

This is the road to Tequesquitlan with the little town of Almolon along the way. Marcos had not been out in this direction so we were just going to go as far as the new highway under construction and look around. All farmland and even pretty this time of year with irrigation. The highway has not been worked on in this area for well over a year - as you can see.

We were surprised to see a large brick yard just beyond the highway and I attribute it's size to all the construction in the area. At least 8 groups were working on their own bricks and ovens. It's located in a river bed that must have some clay in the dirt used. All materials used are found there except the Cocos to fire the ovens

Road behind Jaluco

The new highway wasting away

The brick yard - building an oven ( horno )

Drying tiles before they are fired

Jaluco, Costalegre, Jalisco

400 Años Centenario del Puerto

"The new monolith on the Malecon is the old monolith from the Jardin. It was a gift from I believe our sister city in the Philippines commemorating Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's 1564 voyage from Puerto de la Navidad (now Barra) to the Pilippines."

1564 - All the zone between ports of Navidad and Salagua (Manzanillo) (In line for supply routes to; Autlán, Ameca, Zapotlán, Amula, Tuspa, Tamazula, Guadalajara, Towns of Avalos, etc.) existed from the activities connected with the construction of ships for the trip to the Philippines. On November 21st, 1564, Miguel Lopez Legazpi, with the title of "Adelantado," along with the friar Andrés de Urdaneta, sailed from Puerto de Navidad to colonize an archipelago in the Far East. Legazpi named the archipelago FILIPINAS in honor of Felipe II, then king of Spain. In 1571 he founded Manila as its capital.

Rebuilding

Finished product

View from the jetty

Costalegre Jalisco Mexico

Tianguis day in Barra

Thursday is Tianguis day in Barra following Wednesday in Melaque. Dora bought the wrong sized pants in Melaque so we went to exchange them and she ended up with two more things. That gave Ron and I time to wander around and get a beer. Later visited Armando and picked up Mike for an early dinner. Ron and Dora's last night in town before heading back to Seattle.

A Tianguis is a traveling market and pretty interesing if you've not been much. I'm kinda worn out on them. The have more tourist stuff over winter but get back to basics in the summer.

Barra de Navidad, Costalegre, Jalisco, Melaque

SeaWay Development in Barra shut down - for now

This is a quote from the La Manzanilla message board about a development in Barra de Navidad that is way out of scale for the area and could seemingly care less about the health of the mangroves on the Barra Lagoon. There was not much information given about the group(s) opposing this and other coastal developments but please consider supporting groups that are trying to protect the wetlands of the Costalegre.

Dear Citizens,

Following is an article that recently appeared in Guadalajara´s Milenio newspaper. It describes the halting of a development that was slated to destroy nine hectares of mangrove in Laguna Navidad. In fact, the developer in question had destroyed about 1.5 hectares before they were stopped by authorities. Thanks to the municipal government of Cihuatlán, the Association of Hotels and Developments of the Costa Alegre, the Federation of Regional Fishing Cooperatives of Jalisco, and an army of NGOs (including Tierralegre, the non-profit organization I have founded to protect the natural resources and biodiversity of the Costalegre) this critical mangrove was spared from destruction. A coalition of representatives are currently working with the developer to find a way for the development to continue without destroying crucial mangrove. I see this as a very positive sign for sustainable development of the Costalegre--which is in everyone´s best interests.

Here is a link to their website that gives you an idea of the scale of this thing
Seaway Development Website No longer exists

Odin y Perro

Odin surfeando con su perro en Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico

Secret lagoon road

We were out looking at lots the other day and came into Barra on the back road that angles in from near Aguacate. I thought of the secret road out to the lagoon near the high school and we decided to take a look. The road is pretty bad and you really should have a truck. It's a narrow two wheel track and you just hope you don't meet anyone coming the other way. It would make a nice country bike ride. There used to be a large catamaran hull sitting on the beach but a few kids said that they finally hauled it away. It was a real eye sore. A few locals have put up a fence to keep their goats together. There's no problem going thru but just close the gate after you in both directions.

The beach at the end of the road


Goats at the gate


I came across this older sunset foto from Barra

Scenes around Barra de Navidad

Some friends were here for 2 weeks over Christmas that had lived in Barra about 5 years ago. We spent the day walking and eating our way thru town. A couple of hours during the long happy hour around the Hotel Sands pool, driving around the canals with all the fancy homes and checking out all the new shops, bars and restaurants. There is much more competition in Barra than neighboring Melaque to make things fancy and upscale and expensive - but there is a lot to choose from and definately more music and nightlife

The lagoon


The canals


The streets


Seamaster at night