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No visit to Mexico City is complete without a day at Xochimilco, cruising through the canals in a neon-painted trajinera, partying on the water with floating mariachis and vendors hawking elotes and micheladas. Unforgettable.
But did you know there’s more to Xochimilco than the floating party boats? No, this is not the Xochimilco you see in the brochures and tour offerings. I am talking about a calm-inducing tour through ancient, but still working, farmlands.
Arca Tierra
If you are up for it, consider experiencing sunrise in the chinampas with Arca Tierra.
Arca Tierra is a sustainable farm in the chinampas of Xochimilco. They do things the old-fashioned way, respecting the land, honoring the people that work the land. They sell their produce directly to restaurants in Mexico City, but also offer experiences onsite at their farm.
These experiences provide an ethereal and magical glimpse into Mexico City’s original, but fast fading, agricultural history. And you have an opportunity to learn about their ancient and effective farming methods
We did the sunrise in the chinampas experience, and it’s one of my favorite memories ever of a visit to Mexico City.
The Chinampas of Xochimilco
So, what are the chinampas?
Chinampas are often referred to as the Aztec floating gardens.
But they are not really floating. They are man-made islands, built up on the shallow lake beds of Xochimilco. The Aztecs formed these islands by braiding reeds and placing them in plots underwater to collect sediment and plant matter, gradually building up a base of nutrient-dense soil above ground.
They would then plant their traditional crops of corn, beans, squash, tomatoes and chili peppers. As the plots of land were surrounded by fresh water, they had plentiful irrigation. They continue to add to the soil by dredging more nutrient-rich soil from the lake beds (and also reported using human waste from the big city as a fertilizer). It’s a complete ecosystem that provides incredibly rich soil.
Today, locals are fighting to retain what remains of their agricultural traditions, and what remains of their land.
The shut-downs of COVID-19 actually helped the chinampas have a moment. When all of a sudden Mexico City residents weren’t sure where they would get their food, they turned to their local chinampa producers. And they stepped up. New networks appeared to connect people to this “new” food source. And finally, things started looking up for the future of the chinampas revival movement.
Opening these farms up to sustainable tourism is just one more way to support their work.
The Arca Tierra Experience
On this sunrise tour, you meet in what feels like the dead of night in the middle of nowhere…and wonder if you are in the right place. This is definitely a moment when it is helpful to have online maps to guide you and reassure you as you fumble through the dark to the appointed meeting place.
It’s cold. How is it so cold? Luckily you heard it would be cold, and you are wearing your puffy coat, a scarf, hat, and gloves. It’s still cold.
As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you see other people. They are gathering by the water. Someone is handing out warm beverages…it’s coffee! Or hot chocolate. Things are looking up.
As the first glimpses of light start to emerge, you hop into a traditional trajinera (flat-bottomed boat) and start to glide through the waterways.
A gentle fog rises off the water. The colors of the sky rotate through a palette of peaches and pinks.
It’s incredibly peaceful.
Eventually the pinks turn to blues and greens. An egret launches silently from a stump.
We stop briefly by a cow pasture. What? A cow pasture at the edges of Mexico City? Yes indeed.
And you arrive at the farm. It’s time to get off the boat. It’s starting to warm up and you peel off a layer. You are greeted by a cheerful staff, handing you steaming cups of coffee or hot chocolate. They are busy preparing your breakfast feast!
After a short wander to explore the farm, you get settled and meet your table neighbors. Then comes a steady parade of delicious tacos and treats made from crops freshly grown at the chinampa. (Of course, they are happy to accommodate vegan and vegetarian preferences.)
Once the meal is over, staff offer tours around the farm to show you their ancient cultivation methods, with the occasional sample of a freshly plucked herb or leaf.
Then, my friends, it is time to leave this agrarian paradise and head back to the big city, with its concrete carpets and air you can see (not in a good way).
Farming the Chinampas
Farming the chinampas is an incredibly labor-intensive experience. There’s no large machinery, no small machinery. It’s just your hands. And yet they are able to produce large amounts of delicious and nutritious food on very small plots of land, all year long.
Cultivation starts with seeds. Farmers prepare a plot with a fresh layer of rich soil and divide it into hundreds of tiny 2×2 inch (ish) squares.
Then, using their fingers, they poke a hole into each square and pop a seed in. A few weeks later, the seeds sprout and they are ready to be relocated. The farmers pull apart each square and plant them in a larger plot. They then cover the seedlings with straw to keep the moisture in and wait for them to eventually grow into beautiful, delicious fruits, herbs, and vegetables.
Using this method, they are able to use less space to keep a ready supply of seedlings ready to go.
But it’s a lot of work, and definitely a labor of love.
Other Ways to Explore the Chinampas
If you can’t fit an Arca Tierra experience into your Mexico City visit, there are other operators that provide of the Chinampas. Of course, I can’t vouch for any of these, but they look promising. (All prices noted are as of April 2024 and are subject to change)
You can find full-day Xochimilco food tours on Culinary Backstreets that look amazing (US$150 per person).
De La Chinampa offers group tours for 1-9 people, including sunrise tours (MX$5500 to MX$9500 for the group, depending on the program). They also offer a CSA box, but this most likely won’t help you if you are just passing through.
You can also find a chinampa tour on Airbnb experiences. I have seen this Pre-Hispanic Floating Gardens & Traditional Celebrations experience recommended (MX$2700 per person).
You could also book a sunrise kayak tour on Airbnb (MX$780). When we were out there, we saw a bunch of kayakers and it looked like they were having a great time.
Bonus: Axolotls!
Once the tour is over and you get off the boat back where you started, you will have the chance to see some real live axolotls! These weird little creatures are endemic to Xochimilco and are highly endangered. You can thank the invasive tilapia for eating them up.
But there is a little shack right there run by a man who is breeding axolotls to keep them from extinction. Pop in for a quick visit and see them for yourself.
It’s free to visit, but donations are appreciated. He’s gotta pay for axolotl food!
Planning Your Visit
Your planning and experience will vary slightly depending on whether you join a public experience or arrange your own private experience.
Photographs
Feel free to photograph your experience! As usual, I recommend you ask permission before taking pictures of people.
Information
Once you are on land, staff offer tours of the farm in English and/or Spanish.
Accessibility
I would contact them in advance to see if they can make accommodations for accessibility needs.
Cost
You have to reserve tickets online for this experience well in advance, as they only offer the experience a few times per month, on Sundays.
The tour takes about 4 hours and costs about US$65 per person. Go to Experiencias Publicas on the website to find individual tickets. You can also book private tours starting at US$650 for 10 people.
Hours
The meetup for the Arca Tierra Sunrise in the Chinampas experience typically starts at 6am or 6:30am, generally on Sundays. This means you need to leave downtown Mexico City around 5-5:30am.
Note that Arca Tierra offers a few other experiences that occur later in the day, but still mostly on weekends.
You will have more options on dates and hours if you book a private tour.
Getting There
Hands down, the best way to get to the starting point of the chinampas tour is by car (taxi, Uber, etc.) Because you have to get there so early (6am-ish), it will be dark and transit is not frequent. In fact, Google maps says that it takes about 3.5 hours to get there from Condesa/Roma at that hour on a weekend, versus about 45 minutes by car. Just get the Uber!
Reflections
If you can plan ahead and fit this experience into your Mexico City itinerary, do it.
I am not a morning person AT ALL. But I dragged myself out at 5am, shlepped 45 minutes in an Uber to arrive in a cold, dark, and unfamiliar place, wondering what I got myself into.
But the moment I saw the warm mist rising off the cool waters of the Xochimilco canals, with the rising sun casting a cotton candy pink glow, I didn’t want the moment to ever end. And after gliding quietly across the water, basking in the dewy morning glow, we finally arrived at the farm. In that peaceful, quiet place, we learned about traditional farming methods kept alive by a few dedicated farmers. And we tasted the fruits of their labors. Pure and clean. Alive with energy.
This. This is what we need more of in the world.
Go out and support these kinds of initiatives so that we preserve what is beautiful in the world, and the hands that make it possible.
