The Other Side of Xochimilco

In Pre-Hispanic times, much of the Valley of Mexico, where Mexico City is today located, was covered with a series of shallow, connected lakes.  More than 1000 years ago, the residents of the valley began building rafts made of tree branches..  They would pile mud from the lake bottom upon the rafts, and use them as agricultural plots.  Over the course of time these "floating gardens" became rooted to the lake bottom, creating little islands, known as "chinampas", with a network of canals between them. 

After the arrival of the Spanish, most of the lakes were gradually drained away to protect Mexico City from disastrous floods which would periodically occur.  Today a remnant of this ancient agricultural system survives on the south side of the city at Xochimilco.  Here there are still more than 110 miles of canals crisscrossing the "chinampas".  Xochimilco was once a separate town, but now is a part of the urban sprawl of Mexico City.  The "floating gardens" of Xochimilco are a favorite place for Mexico City families to take a weekend outing as well as a popular destination for foreign tourists.  They rent small, flat-bottomed boats called "trajineras", similar to gondolas, and boatmen take them on a ride along the canals.  The "trajineras" have arches supporting a roof to protect the visitors from the sun.  The arches were traditionally decorated with colorful flowers, but today most of them are simply brightly painted.

Most visitors to the "floating gardens" go to the docks, or "embarcaderos" located in the center of Xochimilco.  On weekends the canals here are crowded with "trajineras" and other boats with vendors selling food, flowers and souvenirs to the visitors. Other boats carry bands of musicians who, for a fee, will row alongside a party of tourists, and serenade them.  A few years ago, Alejandro took me to Xochimilco, along with a couple of visiting cousins of his, and we enjoyed the party atmosphere along the busy canals.

        

Separate from the main area of the Xochimilco docks, there is another "embarcadero" called Cuemanco.  It is located near the site where the rowing competitions were held for the 1968 Summer Olympics.  Although Cuemanco receives a fair number of local visitors, it is virtually unknown to foreign tourisits.

On my last visit to Mexico City, Alejandro took me to Cuemanco, and we hired a young boatman to take us on an hour and a half trip along the canals.

 

The "embarcadero" at Cuenmanco

 

 

(photo taken by Alejandro)



With our boatman Carlos

 

 

Alejandro on our "trajinera"

 

 

We set off along the canals of Cuemanco.

 

 

Although it was a holiday weekend, it was still morning, and there were very few other visitors.  The morning was mostly cloudy and misty.  As we traveled the silent canals, it was almost surreal to imagine that we were in the middle of a metropolis of 20 million people.  It seemed that we were a thousand miles away from the hustle and bustle of one of the world's largest cities.

 

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As the morning progressed, we began to see a few other boats with local families enjoying a peaceful holiday outing.

 

 

 

There were even a couple of boats of "norteño" musicians hoping to be hired by visitors to play.

 

 

 

The area is an important waterfowl sanctuary.

 

 

 

The "chinampas" are still used for agriculture.  Vegetables and flowers are grown here.  Our boatman told us that marigolds, the traditional flower for the Day of the Dead, are cultivated on these islands.  We didn't see any flowers, however.  I suspect that they had all been harvested a couple weeks before for the Day of the Dead.  We did see a lot of dairy farming.  The farmers use the milk to make cheese which they sell in the markets.

 

 

After about an hour and a half, we returned to the "embarcadero".

 

Our excursion was a tranquil break from the busy capital.