Picture yourself biking around the Milpa. The breeze and the sun brush your face and you hear a toucan singing above you. Your guide points to the different species of birds that surround the area. You enjoy a traditional meal cooked by locals. You’re then lowered down into an open cenote enveloped by a well-preserved jungle. You swim in the pristine water and you feel truly relaxed. This experience, which seems right out of a Yucatecan Indiana Jones movie, is what you can expect when you visit Miguel Colorado.
I spoke to Andrea López, eco-tourism technician at Pronatura, a co-op that works to preserve diversity through community development. Miguel Colorado has many attractions that include its beautiful blue cenotes. Andrea tells me about one in particular that is open, with walls that are 90 meters high, nearby wildlife habitats, and a zip line.
The options are vast and perfect to get your dose of adrenaline. You can kayak in the middle of a cenote, swim, view wildlife with the help of local guides, visit the lagoon in Mokú (it has a lookout point which is over 20 meters tall!), hike, or bike. You can definitely fill up an entire day by visiting the artisan workshops, such as the chocolate workshop (where you get to learn about the cacao plant and its fruit, make a juice with the pulp, toast the seeds, and finish the experience by enjoying the fruits of your labor). You can also visit the beekeeping workshop to learn all about the process, how to handle a beehive, and take a look inside. You get the idea, it’s like Disney for adventure seekers.
“There’s adventure, peace, and… the food!” Andrea assures me. She says that in Miguel Colorado there are various cooks that are in charge of preparing authentic dishes and they even welcome you into their own homes. She tells me all about the handmade tortillas, the beans, and their unmatched flavor. She even confesses (off the record) that they surpass her grandmother’s Frijol con Puerco.
The town sees tourism as a way of diversifying their income. All activity helps the community support the conservation of its forest areas. This is nothing new, Miguel Colorado has a long history of taking care of its plants and wildlife . Today, they have an 8-hectare protected area supported by the CONAP (the National Council of Protected Areas). “Every peso that you spend contributes directly towards helping the environment,” says Andrea. And what better way to help our planet than by answering the call of adventure?
Miguel Colorado, Champotón, Campeche.
www.miguelcolorado.com
[email protected]
Editorial por Greta Garrett
Editora asistente
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