The Crocodile Farm

According to the Ramsar Convention*, Bahía Tenacatita is one of the five most important bays on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Estero La Manzanilla, an estuary on the east side of the bay, supports a mangrove forest in good condition. It is one of three estuaries on the coast with a large population of American crocodiles. During our stay in La Manzanilla, we often walked down a dirt road by the estuary to the restaurants on the beach. A sign said the area was a crocodile farm (cocodrilario) and a sagging chain-link fence was all that separated pedestrians from large crocodiles basking in the sunshine.

Be careful. Crocodiles in this area. Do not swim. Do not feed the crocodiles. Do not walk your pets. Do not fish. 

Ajijic

We left the Pacific coast before Easter and headed inland to Lake Chapala. Semana Santa (Holy Week) was approaching and the beaches would be filled with vacationers, a kind of Mexican spring break. The drive from Barra de Navidad to Lake Chapala was uneventful. We took Mexico 200 south along the coast skirting mangrove-flanked estuaries and the port of Manzanillo. Turning north on Mexico 110, we passed through Colima, the capital of Mexico’s fourth smallest states, and picked up Mexico 54 to Guadalajara. Gaining elevation, we passed the impressive Colima Volcanic Complex, including Nevado de Colima at 4,300 m (14,000 ft), at the western end of the 900-km (560-mi) trans-Mexican volcanic belt (link).

Ajijic and Lago de Chapala