Fredrick Catherwood’s Lasting Legacy

Fredrick Catherwood’s Lasting Legacy


In  the early 1840’s, two haggard men on mules emerged from Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula telling stories of a lost civilization discovered and unknown cities explored, long before the days when Nikon cameras and National Geographic magazine told us of these things. Between the years of 1839-1842, American John Lloyd Stephens...

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Buying on the Beach

Buying on the Beach

Defining Mexico’s Federal Maritime Zone


  Defining and measuring the Federal Maritime Zone The Federal Maritime Zone is legally described as the 20 meter wide strip of land that is transitable and next to the beach (playa mar). Let’s break this down to make sure we are clear on what we are talking about: 1....

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The Secret to Raising Fish

The Secret to Raising Fish

The Holy Trinity of Resonance


Do some boats raise fish better than others? You bet they do, but why? And, how can a 25 foot Mexican panga raise more fish than a “no expenses spared” 45 foot sport fisher? It is all about the Holy Trinity of Resonance, Vibration and the Horsepower to Weight Ratio....

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Wine and Cheese

Wine and Cheese

Breaking with tradition


The theme of an eternal discussion among sommeliers, the pairing of wine and cheese is without a doubt the most difficult.  This despite the fact that both are a result of the blending of yeast and bacteria.  A good cheese can better a low quality wine or a powerful cheese...

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Pacific Coast Pirates


…a 27 year old English Captain by the name of Thomas Cavendish, was bearing down on him with distinctly unfriendly intentions.”   An account of the Manila Galleon and English pirates off the coast of Mexico The Spanish galleon Santa Ana slowly tracked the coast of Baja California in November 1587 under clear skies and favorable sailing conditions. She was four months out of Manila and only days away from dropping anchor at her home port of Acapulco. She carried in her hold an immense fortune in Oriental treasure: gold, pearls, silks from the China, ginger, cloves and cinnamon from the Spice Islands, jewels from Burma, Indian ivory. Lookouts from the Santa Ana spotted distant sails as the overloaded ship passed by Cabo San Lucas. Captain Tomas de Alzola reduced sail and ordered camouflage netting to be hung. Weapons were issued to those among the 160 passengers and crew capable...

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Latest ADIP Articles
February 2006 / 43

February 2006 / 43

Letter from the Editor The times they are a changin’ It’s true. Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo is experiencing some unprecedented growth of late. I’d wager we have seen more growth in the last five to ten years than in the 30 previous ones. The entire dynamic of the place is changing, that’s what I am hearing from all...

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January 2006 / 42

Letter from the Editor Welcome to Another Day in Paradise and welcome to the year 2006 AD.   Ready or not here comes the dog.    It’s January and off we go, lumbering into another new year.  2005 went out like a light.  I wasn’t actually ready for it and found myself fumbling for the...

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Buddhism – Suffering is Optional

“One of humanities largest cognitive errors is thinking that pleasure is the same as happiness. Trying to extract happiness from pleasure is like trying to milk a crocodile.” – Israel Lifshitz Israel Lifshitz discovered Buddhism 13 and-a-half years ago when he attended a lecture that opened his eyes and changed the path of his life....

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December 2005 / 41

December 2005 / 41

  Letter from the Editor   Welcome to the big month of December and Welcome to Another Day in Paradise.   Intrepid travelers, we arrive here from all corners. By plane, by bus, by car, we make this pilgrim’s journey every year. Braving long roads and long layovers and the more than occasional exorbitant fare,...

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Letter from the Editor November 2005 / 40

Letter from the Editor November 2005 / 40

November 2005 / 40     Welcome Back to Another Day in Paradise. Sustainable development, it’s not just a lofty ecological goal, it’s a natural law. Technology allows us to ignore it for a time, but in the end nature seeks a balance. You can only push so far one way before it comes pushing...

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Visas & FM documents

Visas & FM documents

Defining non-immigrant, immigrant and immigrated status


Kip and I are both international bastards—born in once place and choosing to live elsewhere. Fighting to get back to or get away from our homelands all our lives. – Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient. Some of my clients and friends, either newcomers or residents, have asked me if it is necessary to obtain a...

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Michener’s Mexico

Michener’s Mexico

Mexico By James A. Michener, 672 pages, Fawcett, 1994


James A. Michener’s Mexico is 672 pages of historical fiction that takes the rich and varied history of Mexico, its people and places, throws them all together in a bag, shakes them up and dumps them out like puzzle pieces all across the country. If you know very little of Mexican history or have visited...

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The Apostille

The Apostille

Making a document legal for use in Mexico


In Mexico, the ONLY authority permitted to draft a deed transferring real property or an interest in real property (such as the fideicomiso) is the Mexican Notary Public. This person is different from a notary public in the United States where a simple exam, a bond, and a rubber stamp can make a notary public...

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Ejidal Property

Ejidal Property

Is it a bargain…or a problem?


EJIDAL (EEEE-heee-doll) properties were established in Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 as an outcome of the Revolution and represent probably 50 percent of all the land in Mexico. After the Revolution hundreds of millions of acres from the original Spanish land grants were expropriated by the government and classified as ejidal properties....

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Real Estate & Finance

Real Estate & Finance

On-Going Annual Obligations


Now that I have bought property in Mexico, what do I have to do to keep everything current? For a foreigner, buying property in Mexico is a new and different experience. Most foreigners spend time researching the procedure of buying property, setting up a trust or a corporation and becoming familiar with the different permits...

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Mexican Capital Gains Tax

Mexican Capital Gains Tax

...and how your deed declared property value affects it


Just as in the United States or Canada, the foreigner selling his trust rights in real estate must pay a tax on his profits to S.A.T., previously known as Hacienda, Mexico’s version of Uncle Sam. None of us like to pay taxes but we’ve become accustomed to paying them in our own countries and, believe...

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Real Estate & the Law in Mexico

Real Estate & the Law in Mexico

what is a presta nombre?


If you have ever thought of investing or have invested in Mexican real estate you have probably heard the word presta nombre used. But what is a presta nombre? Most people that I have talked to or worked with that have used a presta nombre describe it to me as “the man (or woman) whose...

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