Lake Chapala, Mexico

By VALERIE MARCHANT

Retirees searching for an instant circle of friends need look no farther than the northern shore of Mexico's Lake Chapala, where tens of thousands of American and Canadian retirees form what is probably the largest English-language expatriate community in the world. Mary Alice Sargent, who lives with her husband Erick in the popular lakeside village Ajijic, appreciates that the community will rally around anyone in need.

Expats moving there will not find themselves in a gringo ghetto. Whether in bustling, arty Chapala or tranquil villages like Ajijic and Jocotepec, foreigners are gently interspersed among the 100,000 people who live on the shores of Mexico's largest lake. The mountains that encircle Lake Chapala protect its villages, many of them 500 years old and still cobblestoned, from winds, helping to create a perfect climate.

For 50 years expats like the Sargents have flocked to this area, known as the Land of Eternal Spring. The Mexican government requires only an FM-3 visa, easy to obtain for those with an annual income of about $12,000. Mexico's second largest city, Guadalajara--which offers shopping, a lively night life, first-rate medical care and an airport with easy access to the U.S.--is just 45 minutes away. English is spoken everywhere. Internet access is inexpensive, and Americans can e-mail their families at home or fellow expats via Mexico Connect www.mexconnect.com) There are so many recreational activities--tennis, golf, riding, boating, fishing and biking, plus so many English-language clubs and charitable organizations--that no one could ever be lonely or bored.

Mary Alice's role as president of the Lake Chapala Society keeps her as busy as when she and her husband were teachers in New Hampshire. The society runs a lending library, plays host to many social events and reaches out to the Mexican community, offering English classes and supporting 18 scholarship students.

Despite their popularity, Ajijic and the other villages on the lake are quite affordable. A two-bedroom house with a garden rents for about $600 a month and could be built for less than $200,000. A couple can live very nicely on $1,500 to $2,000 a month once housing is paid. Some, says Mary Alice, "live on Social Security--others on Social Security plus a small pension--and they live quite well." Many families, including the Sargents, hire a maid or gardener for about $1.60 an hour. The Sargents pay as they go for inexpensive medical care (although they could buy Mexican insurance for an annual $390 a couple) and owe no taxes in Mexico.

"We can afford to go to the theater, opera and sporting events that we'd probably miss out on at home," says Mary Alice. Erick, who once coached basketball and football, has discovered soccer. He loves to go to Guadalajara's Jalisco Stadium, where he joins thousands of fans wildly cheering on the favorite local team, the Chivas.

--Reported by Ronald Buchanan/Mexico City

With reporting by Ronald Buchanan/Mexico City