31/10/2025
Most people who have visited Mexico City know that the original Aztec city, Tenochtitlan, was on an island in a lake. Over the last 500 years the lake has been mostly filled to accommodate the growing Mexico City. There is one part of the shallow lake that is still around, where farmers are still farming on plots of land that have been built up on rafts, called “chinampas”, made of layers of reeds, rich volcanic mud, and tree roots.
This area of Mexico City is Xochimilco (pronounced, so-chee-MEEL-ko) founded by the Xochimilca people over a thousand years ago.
We took an early morning tour to this UNESCO World Heritage site, getting up at 4:30 am to get to Xochimilco before dawn. We took boats propelled by a man pushing against a pole through the canals to see the sun rise. As the sun rose, the heat of the sun warmed the surface of the canals creating the most beautiful mist.
We visited the zero-waste, regenerative farm, Arca Tierra .tierra which was lush with flowers and vegetables. Apparently the soil is some of the richest in the world, the lake being the recipient of volcanic runoff from the surrounding mountains. We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast made with food from the farm, picked that morning.
City-boy turned regenerative farmer Sebastian led our tour, which was simply fascinating. I highly recommend this experience if you are planning a trip to Mexico City!
