Bridget about to board the pleasure boat.

On Wednesday, March 28, we drove with the Perez Gavilán family to Xochimilco, the area of canals and “floating gardens.”  Carlos and his friend Georgina took us in one car, along with Doña Carmen and the Lewises.  Adriana and Daniela joined us.  After about a forty-minute drive we arrived at the Embarcadero Cuemanco and soon set off for a peaceful trip through the canals of the Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco.

Señor Rodriguez explains Aztec agriculture.

Our guide to the “floating gardens” or “chinampas” was Ricardo Rodriguez.  He is a botanist, an entrepreneur, and a tour guide, all in one.  Señor Rodriguez has a business, “From the Chinampas to Your Table,” and represents 45 farmers who sell their produce to restaurants.  He explained how the islands “float” in the wetlands.  Farmers drive a large circle of piles into the canals, fill the enclosed area with mud, and then plant vegetables in the rich soil.

Laura Lewis disembarks on a floating island.

While a young man poled our boat down the canal, other boats would approach us, offering barbecued foods and mariachi music.  We bargained with the musicians for the price of a song.  Later, we stopped on one of the chinampas and Señor Rodriguez introduced us to some of the farmers.  That very evening, after leaving Xochimilco, we went to Coyoacán and ate at the Restaurante Danzantes which advertised that its vegetables came directly from the chinampas.  Adriana and her husband Felix joined us, along with their children Daniela and Alex.   It was a beautiful evening, and the moon was rising above the church of San Juan Bautista.  We returned to Coyoacán the next day to see the Frida Kahlo Museum.