Las Margaritas

Overview

Description

Las Margaritas is northwest of Catemaco Lake, on the side opposite the famous city of the same name. Catemaco is one of the municipalities in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, in the Los Tuxtlas region. It offers simple but comfortable cabins with cots that are appropriate for the environment, and open dining areas where you can contemplate nature while you enjoy your meals. Interesting regional foods include the malanga (a tuber that is fried or made into sweets and puddings), the chocho (flower from a local palm), the chagalapoli (a wild fruit used to make drinks and jams), and mojarra fish from the lake.

Catemaco Lake has an area of nearly 26,690 acres (10,805 hectares) and contains a number of islands. Boating on the lake, you can appreciate its huge size and the greenness that surrounds it; some of the banks have rocks with pre-Hispanic inscriptions/carvings. The river that flows into the lake is a refuge for local and migratory waterbirds such as ducks, several kinds of herons, egrets, falcons, cormorants, and hawks. Caimans are sometimes seen in the marsh.

Some of the area’s main attractions include:

• Mirador de las Margaritas: this trail takes visitors up a mountain, passing by a picturesque waterfall and a small cave with bats. From the summit, they can admire Catemaco Lake and its banks where the original vegetation remains. From this trail, at dawn and at dusk, you can see a large number of birds that nest on the shores of the lake (mainly in the dry season).
• Punta de Tepeyaga: a 1.2 mile excursion around Catemaco Lake in a rowboat to an area with rock carvings called petroglyphs, looking at birds and lakeshore vegetation along the way. On the return, you can swim at the community beach and rent kayaks.
• Chininal archeological site: an interesting, 1.2 mile hike on an interpretive trail, crossing rivers and reaching an archeological site consisting of mounds with pyramids and plazas that have not yet been excavated).

Rooms

2 cabins (1 with seven rooms, the other for four persons)

Making a Difference

Through the payment for environmental services.

Rates

$25 or less

Lodging: USD$7 to USD$15 ($100 to $200 Mexican pesos) per person.

Packages: USD$35 to USD$50 ($450 to $600 Mexican pesos) per person.

Archeological site: USD$2.50 ($30 Mexican pesos) + USD$12 ($150 mexican pesos) for the guides.

For more information about rates and reservations, write torressinta@hotmail.com or santos_132j@hotmail.com.

Getting There

Nearest local/national airport: Minas

Additional Information

Date This Information Was Provided

February 2010.

Photos courtesy of Las Margaritas, Mexico, for SustainableTrip.org.