My daughter and I were welcomed with open arms by our hotel family and the Tito restaurant family on our arrival in Melaque on January 16th. I have never before experienced such a warm homecoming. And that’s what it was…a coming home…a return to this warm, comfortable friendly Mexican beach community. Mexico calls to me. It calls me back again and again. The energies of the country and it’s beautiful people permeate my being.

Bronwen and I enjoyed our two weeks together, exploring the town centre and spending most of our time in our small, village like beach community. My daughter enjoyed the beauty, the water and the peace, and plans to return again with a friend and her mom.

My experience of the place was different from last year, as expected. That magical two months could not be reproduced as I knew… and I had changed in the meantime.

The open mic singing opportunities remained, and I sang several times at the Tuesday evening Jack & Friends events. Never having the opportunity to practice with Jack, sometimes my performance, accompanied by Jack and two others, turned out very well; once it was such an embarrassment for both of us I returned the next Tuesday for an encore, this time a successful accapella version of Summertime.

Time moved on lazily in our beachfront community, then, three weeks after my daughter left, on Sunday February 22nd, El Mencho, the head of the largest Mexican cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and one of the largest in the world, was fatally shot by the Mexican Army. The entire state of Jalisco, where I was located, and some adjoining states, went on Red Alert Lockdown. We were told to shelter in place.

We were relatively safe in Melaque, 30 minutes from Manzanillo, particularly on the West Beach. But the violence was a bit too close for comfort, with the road between La Manzanillo and Barra, on the other side of the Bay, blocked by a burning vehicle. Also there were attacks in Cihuatlan, an inland town half an hour from us.

Traditionally, the cartels do not attack beach towns, but with the fatal shooting of this major cartel figure, Puerto Vallarta was the exception, the epicentre of the violence.

The next leg of my trip was to the mountains outside Guadalajara. My planned departure was only one week after the uproar. I was to take a five hour bus ride on the highway from Melaque to Guadalajara. The trip did not feel right, so I sadly opted to put off my trip to Ajijic for another time.

** More about what happened in Mexico, the possible longer term ramifications of it for the beautiful Mexican Nationals, and my personal experience in my next blog.**

Love & Light

Ellen

Copyright 2026 Ellen Besso