When visitors arrive in Mexico City, they are often drawn to the vibrant allure of Lake Xochimilco, a gem that offers an abundance of entertainment, delicious cuisine, and immersive cultural experiences. Xochimilco is nestled in the southern part of the city, just off the Anillo Periférico—a major outer beltway.
At Lake Xochimilco, (pronounced SO-chee-MILL-koh), one can easily spend an entire day and evening delving into the lake’s rich cultural tapestry. Lake Xochimilco is part of a renowned system of canals, characterized by the unique floating gardens known as chinampas, which are a fascinating product of ancient agricultural practices.
The Xochimilco lake complex is a sprawling network of artificial channels, small lakes, and temporary wetlands. As visitors glide through its serene waters in vibrant, colorfully adorned boats, they discover an array of experiences that celebrate the heart of south-central Mexican culture.
Visitors can savor traditional cuisine from local vendors, enjoy live Mariachi bands performing in trajineras, and even catch a spirited futbol game at the Cuemanco Embarcadero. Among the myriad of activities, one of the most enchanting is the rare possibility of glimpsing an ancient Axolotls.
In essence, a visit to Lake Xochimilco is not just a leisurely outing; it is a rich encounter with history, nature, and the vibrant culture that defines this part of Mexico City.
Why Is Xochimilco Famous?
Xochimilco’s festive atmosphere attracts tourists who explore its networks in trajineras. Visitors float the canals in the vividly painted trajinerasnamed after women. Mexico’s tradition of naming boats after women echoes the country’s cultural admiration and respect for mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters.
Visitors discover a lively experience in trajineras that host visiting families and friends, vendors selling food, drinks, and flowers. Couples find romantic interludes at Xochimilco by hiring Mariachi bands to accompany their float through Xochimilcho’s canals in the evenings.
Is Xochimilco Worth Going To?
Yes indeed! According to the known numbers of people who visit Xochimilco, Mexico, annually, the numbers differ by destination. It is estimated that the total number of annual visitors is about 2 to 2.5 million. Xochimilco destinations are renowned for their rich history, colonial art, parties, traditions, and natural environment.
- Xochimilco Ecological Park: This 277-hectare park receives about 2.5 million visitors annually.
- Xochimilco wetland: This 6,400-acre wetland and UNESCO World Heritage site receives around 2 million visitors annually.
- Lake Xochimilco: This lake receives around 1.2 million visitors annually.
Is Xochimilco a Tourist Trap?
Floating around Lake Xochimilco can expose visitors to pushy vendors in the crowded main canals, where they are pressured to buy souvenirs and other products at inflated prices. Souvenirs may be of low quality in these areas and not worth their prices. As visitors explore the less traveled areas of the canals, this issue is less noticed.
Tour guides and travel agencies advise tourists to look for differences between hand-crafted items and cheaper mass-produced items at the canal entry points and in the main canals. Vendors commonly persist pitching their wares to tourists. This aspect of a visit can take away from Xochimilco’s natural beauty and festive vibe.
Tips to Avoid Pushy Vendors
- Visit early or on weekdays to avoid the busiest times.
- Say “No” firmly if you feel pressured to buy.
- Choose your launch dock carefully. Popular docks like Nativitas are crowded. Docks like Cuemanco or Embarcadero Fernando Celada are less predatory.
- Negotiate boat rental prices. There is an official hourly rate in place. The rate can vary, but comes to about 500-to-600 pesos per hour per boat. This way, visitors can avoid inflated prices.
- Take a guided tour by looking for guided tours focusing on the history and ecology of Xochimilco. Typically, these tours are more educational and less commercial.
Is it Safe to Go to Xochimilco Mexico City?
Before 2020, we could say this:
Yes. Typically, Xochimilco is safe for visitors. Like in any foreign county, visitors need to be aware and use common-sense safety precautions to ensure a fun and educational experience at Xochimilco destinations. Xochimilco is a wonderful place to visit. It offers a profound cultural experience, where visitors discover that Xochimilco is deeply tied to Mexican history and culture.
Now that the border and tensions between the U.S. and Mexico are chaotic in 2024, the U.S. Department of State is telling U.S. citizens:
As of October 2024, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel advisory for Mexico, categorizing Mexico and Mexico City as a Level 2 destination. This indicates that travelers should exercise increased caution due to crime and kidnapping risks in certain areas. Specific regions may have different levels of advisories, with some places experiencing higher threats.
This advisory emphasizes the importance of staying informed about local conditions, avoiding travel to high-risk areas, and taking safety precautions such as traveling in groups, staying in well-populated areas, and being aware of one’s surroundings.
Tips for the Safest Visit to Xochimilco
- Go during the day. Tourist professionals recommended visiting during daylight hours. Local authorities patrol the areas when it is most active. Most tourist activity occurs in the morning until early evening. Its canals are poorly lit at night.
- Pickpocketing and petty theft does happen on Mexico City’s public transportation systems. Secure your belongings and stay aware of your surroundings in any foreign country.
- Check boat conditions. Most trajineras are safe. It is a good idea to inspect the boat visually for sturdiness and cleanliness. Official boat operators use the main docks. Avoid overcrowded trajineras.
- Xochimilco is known for its food vendors. Most offer delicious food. Visitors can bring bottled water and packaged snacks. Use hand sanitizer and opt for cooked food.
- Vendors sell alcoholic drinks, and they are enjoyed on the boats. Do not consume too much alcohol. Intoxication can lead to accidents and victims of crime.
- Visitors need to remember that foreign country laws are entirely different from U.S. laws. If you are not sure about what is legal, ask a tour guide, travel agency, or check with local authorities in the foreign country.
What Happened to Lake Xochimilco?
The chinampas, axolotl extinction, and pollution have led to major issues at Xochimilco. The entire region of the Xochimilco chinampas is called the Chinamperia in Mexico City. In 1987, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) designated these chinampas as a World Heritage Site and protected as valuable wetlands.
Despite this designation, pollution, over extraction of water, and city growth continues to threaten the chinampas. Today, sewage discharges into the Xochimilco canals. Plastic and trash litters the chinampas’ surfaces. The canals are an important stopover for migratory birds, and numerous local bird species call them home.
Carp and tilapia are not native to the canals, were introduced in the 1990s, and they prey on the Axolotls. Today, most of the water pumped into the Xochimilco comes from a local water treatment plant called Cerro de la Estrella. Some chinampas farmers use pesticides, while others grow organically.
Is Lake Xochimilco Drying Up?
Yes, Lake Xochimilco is experiencing significant water level declines and environmental challenges. This has led to concerns about the lake and its network of canals. Xochimilco is part of the last remnants of the ancient lakes that have disappeared from the Valley of Mexico. Several factors threaten its sustainability.
- Loss of Traditional Agriculture
- Pollution and Erosion
- Urbanization and Water Extraction
Efforts to Save Xochimilco:
- Reintroducing treated water to the canals to replenish water levels.
- Conservation programs focused on restoring and protecting chinampas to revive traditional, sustainable farming.
- Ecological restoration projects to improve water quality, reduce pollution, and protect biodiversity, including the endangered axolotl.
Lake Xochimilco Ecosystem
Proof exists that the first chinampas in the Nahua village of Culhuacan on the Ixtapalapa Peninsula that separated Lake Texcoco from Lake Xochimilco in A.D. 1100. They spoke Nuhuatl. The Aztecs migrated to Central Mexico in the 1200s and spoke Nuhuatl. Today, the chinampas produce flowers, fruits, vegetables, and small livestock.
Chinamperos, who work the chinampas, are mostly from the Xochimilco borough of Mexico City. Many inherited their gardens through several generations. The chinampas present an ingenious sustainable farming system. Chinamperos employ an ancient farming method called milpa to raise their produce.
The chinamperos still build the chinampas today based on oral traditions handed down from the Aztecs by using nutrient rich lakebed mud, soil, branches, and decaying vegetation. They create the chinampas foundations by interweaving reeds with willow tree trunk stakes underneath the chinampas and underwater.
This creates a network of channels. The chinamperos grow beans which deposit nitrogen into the soil. The beans use corn stalks as a climbing pole. Squash leaves provide shade that keeps the soil moist. Chili pepper plants protect the plants from animals. Ahuejote willow trees anchor the corners of the chinampas to the lake bed.
With the canals between chinampas providing a home to fish and aquatic birds, the milpa method creates a naturally balanced ecosystem. Today, vividly colored trajineras, which are shallow, flat-bottomed river boats, carry locals and tourists through the chinampas’ 150 miles of canals (170 km).
The chinampas became an important food source during the pandemic due to food shortages. Many local grocers shuttered their doors. Before the pandemic, the chinamperos sold their produce to organic restaurants and food markets in Mexico City. The pandemic spurred on a growing farmer-to-consumer market.
The chinamperos lost numerous business customers during the pandemic, and food shortages developed throughout the pandemic. Some chinamperos were able to recover their losses. The pandemic rejuvenated a local interest in the time-tested milpa system of farming because fresh food is highly important to Mexico City residents.
Lake Xochimilco Plants
Raul Mondragón co-founded the Colectivo Ahuejote in 2016 to support the chinampas. The 1985, 8.0 magnitude earthquake caused some chinamperos to abandon their plots of floating land. The Colectivo Ahuejote is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). It develops cooperation between farmers, operates a for-profit produce market, and rehabilitates abandoned chinampas.
The Aztecs grew plants like amaranth, beans, chili peppers, flowers, maize, tomatoes, and squash and produced five to six crops annually. The chinampas produce over 70 products, including animal production of hens, turkeys, fighting cocks, pigs, rabbits, and sheep. Mexico City is relatively new to organic farm fresh food sources.
Rehabilitating the chinampas has become important to Mexico for fresh food production and preserving their agricultural heritage. Ricardo Rodriguez and his biologist wife, Laura, own De la Chinampa, also rehabilitate chinampas. The Rodriguez’s company theorizes that over 64,247 acres (26,000 hectares) could be transformed into more chinampas in the Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco and the Xochimilco Ecological Reserve.
De la Chinampa strives to build a much larger market for locally grown produce before farmers can utilize those acres. Although the pandemic raised a new interest in the chinampas and fresh produce, there is still much work to be done to develop them. Urban farms create new jobs, as evidenced worldwide.
Do Axolotls Still Live in Lake Xochimilco?
Yes, they live in the Xochimilco canals. Extremely few have survived in the wild. Axolotls in the wild are critically endangered and may become extinct. Axolotls, pronounced ax-uh-lot-ul, once occupied all the high-altitude lakes surrounding Mexico City.
Lore about these Lake Xochimilco Axolotls dates back centuries in Mexican culture. The axolotl, aka the “Mexican walking fish”, spend their lives under water. They have legs, gills and lungs, but they do not walk, and they do not outgrow their characteristic juvenile appearance.
How Many Axolotls Are in Lake Xochimilco?
The amphibious salamander called Axolotls is native only to the Xochimilco maze of canals today. They are the rarest mole salamander. These adorable Lake Xochimilco animals are amazing creations of nature. Johann Jakob von Tschudi named the axolotl’s genus and species Ambystoma mexicanum in 1839.
They live in the Xochimilco canals. Scientists who study Axolotls report different sized populations of Axolotls in Lake Xochimilco’s connecting canals. In 2020, Mexican biologist, Luis Zambrano, put the axolotl’s population in Lake Xochimilco at 35. National Geographic and AZ Animals count their population from 1,000 to as low as 50.
The Axolotls have been losing their habitats to pollution and damaging human activities. These numbers mean the native axolotl is critically endangered. However, Axolotls are popular exotic pets. An estimated one million Axolotls live in captivity. Axolotls can reproduce their limbs, spines, brains, and nearly every other body part. This phenomenon has intrigued scientists since their discovery of the axolotl’s regenerative capabilities.
Indigenous Aztec people of Mexico worshipped a deity named Xolotl, their god of fire and lightning. Axolotl translates to “water monster”. The Aztecs believed Xolotl converted to the form of an axolotl to avoid death. It appears there is a relationship between the Aztec’s beliefs in Xolotl and the axolotl’s ability to regenerate its body parts.
