I’ll start from the city of Chapala, which was established many years ago. Chapala has a lot of history. Most of the houses in Chapala are older, since it was the first area to be developed. Chapala has big houses and you would notice that it is a bit different than the rest of the developments in the area. Chapala is mostly Mexican.
Next going west along Lake Chapala is Chula Vista, which is a development up on the mountains. Chula Vista means a “beautiful view.” There, you will find big and beautiful houses up in the mountains. It is a beautiful area but it is fairly steep. Some of the houses in Chula Vista have big yards and some don’t. Most of them are around Chula Vista Golf Course.
The next area gong west is Riberas Del Pilar, which is a flat area. Riberas has different kinds of houses. It is open so it is not a gated community. You will see houses in Riberas that have been built in the 80s and 90s but there are still a lot of empty lots there. It has a mix of expats and local residents, too.
Then, continuing west, we’ll cross another little village called San Antonio. San Antonio is another area where mostly Mexicans live. They have big houses close to the lake that are used any times just as weekend homes, as well as the village of the people who live there full time.
San Antonio is mostly Mexican but there are expats who live there, too. Like a lot of places in this area, you will see a very average looking square in San Antonio and then maybe you will see a very expensive restaurant like Adelita’s, which is next to the church. There are some communities within San Antonio as well. There is one gated community there called El Parque, where about 95% of its residents are expats. It is a strong community of people from different countries.
After San Antonio going west, you will reach the plaza, then, Wal-Mart, and then you will end up in La Floresta. La Floresta is a very nice area that was created in the 1970s. From the 70s to the 90s, different developers starting putting up complexes like condominiums and it was going very well. La Floresta has a lot of trees. There were developments that are located in the villages and some are in town. Both of them are doing very well because there are people who prefer to live in the villages and there are those who prefer living in town. La Floresta just kept growing because it is close to Guadalajara so people love the fact that they could be in a quiet place to live but at the same time, they are able to go to a nice, big city within just 45 minutes.
Then we’ll end up in the town of Ajijic. The village in Ajijic is nice and full of color. You can go to different kinds of restaurants there and we have a big church. Ajijic is very famous for having lots of foreigners. The streets of Ajijic are filled with foreigners from November till April. They are everywhere.
As you go further west of Ajijic, towards Jocotepec, you will find our development, which is Interlago. We have developments on the mountain side of the carretera (main road) and on the lake side. We also have La Reserva, which is also a new development. This is a gate-guarded community with privately owned individual homes. It is separate from the condominiums, though it has the same entrance. We have a nautical club that you can join if you want to. This club is in the lake and it offers a lot of activities such as motorboat riding, and other water activities on the lake. This is something new for the people who live here because the last club that was opened here was 40 years ago. The people who live in La Reserva East are a part of the club, too.
As you go further west, there are some properties on the lake and some on the mountains all the way to San Juan Cosala, which is the next village. San Juan Cosala is famous because of the hot springs. There are a lot of spas there. San Juan Cosala also has a big, gate-guarded community called the Racquet Club, which is up in the mountains. You can find both big homes and small homes there.
After San Juan Cosala, you get to Jocotepec, which is now probably one of the most important cities in Mexico because of their production of berries. It is growing a lot and we have expats who live there, too.
We expect more growth in the Lake Chapala area. Since 2007, a lot of foreigners have been coming to live here. Some of them are here for just half of the year; we call them the snowbirds. Some stay longer.
(An Interlago home in the hills above Lake Chapala, Mexico, pictured.)
There is much less racial tension in Nicaragua than in other places. I am not aware of hardly any at all. 
For most of the civilized countries, Portugal is really, really cheap. The minimum wage salary in Portugal by law is €450 (US $669) so that’s what you get paid if you work at McDonald’s or in a toll shop in the motorway or in a restaurant or something like that. So therefore, properties to rent have to be within budget for people like these; they have to afford an apartment for €200 (US $223). But this is normally in the worst areas a long way out from the city center...
who lays on the sidewalk near the president’s security guard (who seems to be the only dog in a city of cats); the smell of beef broth from an open door whose meaty heat is added to the saturated heat of close dwellings and narrow passage ways, causing a linear view of the sea, its pungency carried by erratic winds; and remembering to walk just past the ruins of a convent that...
