If you are like me you are probably watching with more and more trepidation as the temperatures rise across the globe, natural disasters get more intense, and climate change wreaks havoc on human and non-human populations. I have been working on developing a list of sustainable tours, activities, and hotels in Mexico and want to share it with my readers in the hopes that they can make choices when traveling that will benefit the environment.
While we all know that flying on planes around the world isn’t exactly great for our carbon footprint, hopefully by supporting some of these projects we can use our travel for the good of the planet, even if only in small measure.
These projects span the country and I am highlighting them not only because they don’t use paper plates or have “eco” in their title. These are projects that I have done extensive research on, including personal visits to many and they are not only supporting the local environment but also the local communities (which we all know is an important key to a sustainable future).
Some are purchasing carbon offsets to balance their transportation needs, some are carrying out their own reforestation or environmental restoration projects in addition to what they offer tourists, and some are working to become carbon neutral or carbon negative. I hope you will consider these projects as options for your next trip to Mexico, because as I am sure we can both agree, we want the nature and beauty of this country to not only survive but thrive in our climate-precarious world.
Rancho Cacachilas — Baja California
Rancho Cacahilas is a great example of a project that is not only working to improve its level of service to guests and visitors but also is extremely involved in preserving the local environment and working with the local community who in Baja Sur are mostly ranchers and farmers. They offer gorgeous glamping tents on their 15,000-hectare land just south of La Paz and excellent personalized guides that are a wealth of information — from stargazing to environmentally friendly ranching techniques to all forms of outdoor sports.
There are hundreds of miles of trails for horseback riding, mountain biking, and hiking, and the team works hard to create individualized programs that provide activities for a wide range of ages and skill levels (meaning parents and kids can do their own thing if they want while there). The ranch is working to be carbon neutral, with almost all of the food they serve coming from their local garden and fishery that they have on the coast.
They are carving out rock shelves on their land that help slow rain running down from the hills and help it to filter and absorb in an area that has been devastated by 500 years of animal grazing. They are also using rotational grazing for their cattle which is much more sustainable than traditional grazing and are working with local ranchers to help them implement them on their land and with their own animals.
Before you say it, yes, I know that the widow of one of the Walden Family sons is the owner of this project, but in experiencing the ranch firsthand and in my conversations with other folks in the Baja peninsula who are not related to the project, I believe that her commitment and the commitment of her team to sustainability is real. In other words, she’s putting her money where her mouth is. Check out their website for more info and reservations.
Coyote Canyon – San Miguel de Allende
Coyote Canyon operates out of San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato. They take folks on horseback riding adventures in and around Cañada de la Virgen and they work hand in hand with the local community there, Boca de la Cañada. Right now they are helping to support 25 families, and they have several organic gardens where they grow food for their tours and are helping members of the community to develop individual organic gardens for their homes. They are also starting to build earthen eco-domes as housing for visitors, a sustainable project that will employ members of the community as well as train them in the building method so they can use it themselves.
They purchase carbon offsets for their transportation and are going to start raising bees at the end of this rainy season, more as pollinators than honey-making. They have zero-garbage camping areas, and they use no plastic and no styrofoam on their tours. Coyote Canyon is also setting up rainwater capture systems in certain areas of the canyon to encourage the growth of native species and the recuperation of the soil, as well as use any leftover food from tours for the animals or to make compost for the gardens. See their website for info (in English).
Argovia Finca Resort — Chiapas
Argovia is a boutique eco-hotel and coffee plantation in Chiapas. Bruno the owner is a 4th generation coffee grower, and several years back when they experienced a crisis with their coffee (at the time a monocrop), they worked to diversify the crops and flowers on their farm for greater sustainability and resilience against infestations and disease which have become subsequently less and less severe. Today their farm grows coffee, cardamom, vanilla, achiote seed (annatto), 150 species of flowers, bamboo, and their own fruits and vegetables.
They also raise their own chickens for meat and eggs, have a tilapia pond, and planted a botanical garden. In 2000 they started to receive tourists with the hope that visitors would learn to value the workers in the fields and value the quality of the soil that was providing the crops – so they created activities that focus on those elements for guests.
They’ve dug into the idea of well-being with a spa on the property designed to break visitors out of their day-to-day mindset and to help foment appreciation in the minds of future generations about agriculture. The farm was constructed from the very beginning with electric turbines and water-saving techniques like rainwater capture and a water treatment plant on-site. According to Bruno, they have gone beyond being carbon neutral to carbon negative with the number of trees they have planted on the property. Some of their vehicles are also electric.
As an added extra, there is a museum on the site of pre-Columbian artifacts that they have found on the property. While this place is specifically a boutique hotel and spa there are nature walks and other activities on the property to keep you busy for a few days stay there. To reserve, contact them via Whatsapp, (+52) 96 2626 6115, (+52) 96 2621 1233 their staff is bilingual.
Expediciones Amanalco- Estado de Mexico
Expediciones Amanalco is a group of community guides (seven men and seven women – they specify their commitment to gender equity) that work in the Estado de Mexico and plan treks for groups to see the Nevado de Toluca, visit the butterfly sanctuary, forage wild mushrooms, see the lightning bug reserve, and lots of other activities in the area. The area where they work is composed of 5 eco-parques on community land called ejidos. Housing and food are provided by local community members and a large part of the local community income revolves around their tours.
They are committed to zero-impact tourism, both in terms of the forests where they take visitors and the local community. The group does various community work including trail clean-up and restoration, river and stream clean-up, reforestation projects, and the restoration of natural firewalls. They also offer classes on the correct way to collect wild mushrooms and other nature activities. For reservations in English contact them on Whatsapp (+52) 722 159 6195 or (+52) 55 3196 0473, during the week from 9am to 5pm.
Wotoch Aayin – Isla de Arena, Campeche
If what you want is isolation Wotoch Aayin might be your place. It’s a gorgeous and nostalgic drive from Campeche or Merida past ancient, crumbling haciendas, small villages where they weave traditional straw hats, and naturally-fed freshwater swimming pools. Wotoch Aayin is a cozy little eco-lodge with a handful of family and individual cabins, a restaurant run by the local family that started the project, a swimming pool fed by their local well, and crocodiles.
That’s right, it’s a sustainable crocodile farm that started as an attempt to repopulate a dying species of local crocs that performed so well it’s converted into a business for the family that runs it. Wotoch Aayin has reduced the poaching in the area to almost zero with its legal sale of meat and crocodile skins. They also support the artisans who work with the skins making shoes, bags, and other things, and have several women from the community who work in the restaurant.
This kind of project might not appeal to all sensitivities (there are hundreds of crocodiles to see there, tiny to monstrous), but the truth is that it has allowed the wild croc population to rebound and provides important, legal income for several families. They also protect and preserve the local mangroves which are a vital carbon sink (they sequester up to 10 times the carbon of a regular forest) as well as protection against hurricanes.
Wotoch Aayin has biodigesters that filter and clean their wastewater, they buy most of the items for their restaurant’s menu locally, they provide path clearing and clean-up in local hiking areas, they don’t use any plastic in their services, and make their own biodegradable bath products. Probably the only thing that’s not super sustainable they do is have air conditioning in all the rooms but trust me, after visiting I realized I wouldn’t have it any other way. It is HOT on their little island. Here you can also kayak, take evening lightning bug walks in the mangroves, watch the bioluminescence in the water, take a boat ride up the coast to Celestun (famous for the beaches and the flamingos), see ancient island ruins, and watch the sunrise over the lagoon. Be forewarned that the English spoken here is minimal, so be prepared with some Spanish or some hand gestures. To set up a visit contact their business account on Whatsapp (+52) 996 107 9297.
Las Coloradas – Rio Lagartos, Yucatan
You wouldn’t think that one of Mexico’s biggest salt flat complexes in the world would be one of the country’s most Instagrammable spots AND a super eco-friendly project. But you’d be wrong. Sitting inside the Rio Lagartos bioreserve at the very northern tip of the Yucatan peninsula, Las Coloradas is a stunning labyrinth of mauve-colored pools that is a feeding grounds for the area’s most famous long-legged beauties — the American flamingo.
As ocean water is transferred via gravity from one pool to the next, slowly increasing in salinity, a favorite food of flamingos, the brine shrimp, or “sea monkeys” as they are often referred to, are widely available. The area, with its natural and manmade barriers, is also safe from the birds’ biggest predators — raccoons for eggs, crocodiles for adults. Groups of them, heads ducked low searching for brine shrimp are quite a sight.
The Las Coloradas company also has a chemical-free salt processing plant on the property and is heavily involved in the conservation of the mangrove forest along the coast where they are located, as well as the sea turtles that come and nest here. But not like one of those places where you can release turtles in your flip-flops at sunset. All conservation areas are strictly off-limits and they have real scientists monitoring the turtles as well as other species, the weather patterns, and other ecological indicators all year round.
Las Coloradas is a bit isolated although at least one busload of tourists comes from Cancun or Tulum most days (it’s between 3 or 4 hours from that part of the peninsula). You can easily drive yourself and I would suggest staying in the nearby town of Rio Lagartos and taking the opportunity to go on a birding tour with one of the local boat captains which is fabulous. At Las Coloradas be sure to wear your sunscreen there is nowhere to hide in that sun. Once there you can walk up the outlook tower, take a bike or walking tour, or take the jeep tour, which I recommend because it will give you the most info, provide some necessary shade, and get you closest to the flamingos. For shared tours from Tulum or Cancun look into Ekinox tours, for a private option contact try Ecocolors tours.
Madresal – Chiapas
One of my favorite beach hotels in all of Mexico, Madresal is a project run by 27 cooperative members, formed by a community that wanted to protect its local environment and earn income for their families. This place is way out in the boonies and that’s part of its charm.
The internet sucks, the rooms are adorable but very basic, there’s no hot water in the shower (but you won’t need it), and it would be best to bring all your own toiletries because you will only get a tiny bar of soap. BUT the food at the hotel’s open-air restaurant is a fabulous menu of local seafood and other delicacies including beer and even cocktails that aren’t too shabby. You enjoy it all with just the rustle of the palm trees and the sound of the ocean waves crashing in front of you. The ocean is mellow here almost all year round and it’s shallow out about 1000 feet. There are few places that have ever made me feel so relaxed.
The hotel sits on a strip of land that is bordered in the back by mangrove forests and in the front by the Pacific Ocean. The cooperative is deeply involved in the maintenance of the mangrove to keep out poachers and to keep forest fires at bay. They also protect the local sea turtles that nest on their shore, and they are working to be 100% solar-powered. Coop members will take you out for fantastic early-morning birding tours and in the evening as well to see birds and crocs.
You can rent kayaks in the non-crocodile season for paddling around the canal. The members of the community have really sunk a lot of hope into this project and it’s been a way to keep people from using the land in illegal ways (poaching and logging specifically), as well as to keep it clean (when they first opened they hauled 4 tons of trash off of the property first). To contact them go to their website or give them a call at +52 (966) 113 9634 (English).
Parador Turístico Yaxunah – Yucatan
A little less than halfway between Merida and Cancun is the Parador Turístico Yaxunah, a community-run project that benefits a dozen families in the Yaxunah community. The initial investment was via a government program trying to bring tourism dollars into the area. In my conversations with the members of the community who work there, they feel like this has been a boon for their lives both economically and socially.
A day at Yanxunah includes an introduction to how cochinita pibil is traditionally prepared (the most famous dish of the Yucatan). While that is cooking in an underground oven, you get a tour of a nearby milpa farm (the three sisters’ planting method), as well as visits to local artisans. A workshop of women is making incredible handwoven hammocks and another family workshop is making items by cutting and polishing leftover bull horns — spoons, forks, and jewelry. The best part is swimming in the town’s cenote, Lol-ha, which I kid you not made me want to cry it was so beautiful. There were a few other visitors the day we were there, but it’s nothing near as some of the peninsula’s more popular cenotes that are now overrun with tourists.
While there you won’t hear much about conservation or eco-friendliness, because the community is simply working in the traditional, sustainable ways they always have. There is no place to stay here so this is just a day trip. You can just show up or contact someone in advance (best way to reach out is to send Orlando a Whatsapp message +52 1 985 114 0808), but there is no English spoken so be prepared for that.
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