This was our first Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. We had wanted to experience it since we first came to Mexico. But the timing never seemed to match our return to our sailboat. Now that we are landlubbers we decided this was the year to see it.

At first we thought it was just a more elaborate Halloween. But the more time we have spent in Mexico we came to understand that it is a celebration of the life of family and friends that have departed. Two days are set aside to pray for and to support their departed’s spiritual journey. Altars are created showing pictures of the departed and many of their favourite things including food, drink, activities, entertainment and pets! We were touched by the display for Pedro, a cowboy whose life’s story was written on the altar along with the portrait of his horse.

Catrina’s are very popular to use in the altars.  These female skeletons are dress-up with fancy clothes and especially hats. We enjoyed seeing

We particularly liked this display with the gentlemen playing cards with  the dog looking on.