Disclaimer: Even though Yucatan is technically in North-America, as the rest of Mexico, it is sometimes culturally associated with Central-America given the presence of Mayan heritage. For the sake of this series’ title harmonization, we’ll keep it like that :p
Well well well, so you want to get to Mexico via land or water? Be prepared to go through a proper rite of passage. We got to the port of San Pedro in Belize pretty early that morning to be sure we had a spot on the boat to Mexico. We had our tickets, done border control, and were ready to board on time. Us, and 50 other people crowding on the pier. It was 8 am and the sun was already scalding hot. The shadow was sparse, with nowhere else to go since we had already “crossed the border”, and we still had over 2 more hours of waiting for Mexico’s delayed permission for the boat to depart.
The boat ride, however, wasn’t in any way more pleasant. The boat was going at an hallucinating speed and jumping violently with every wave, whith passengers squeezed against each other. I always like to look around me and see the other people who, like us that morning (and at that point in their lives), decided to take that exact same boat to Chetumal. There were many locals, families with kids rolling their eyes in boredom, groups of chitchatting friends, typical western traveler couples (no, not us), and a couple of lonely wolves. “What’s their story? Why are they going there?” – I always wonder. Once we arrived, we still had to overcome the final boss, the ultimate testament to the spirit of the traveler: another 2 hour-long wait at passport check. Stepping into that rental car with AC after all those hours felt like an absolute luxury.
Mexico is a familiar place to us by now. We have been in the country about three times over the last three years. We know the people, the food, and the culture so well, that arriving here is almost arriving to a homie place 9,000 km away from home, or coming to visit family. The atmosphere you feel as soon as you cross the border, the smell of tortilla everywhere, and the lively music on the radio immediately got us excited and building up expectations during our 40 minute drive from Chetumal to Bacalar.
When we finally arrived to Bacalar the sun was almost setting. We still made it to a first dive in the warm waters of the lake and enjoyed the sunset from a pier shared by kids playing, topless French women, and general good vibes. Bacalar is a massive lake in the town by the same name, in the Peninsula of Yucatan. Its name precedes its beauty, known as the Lagoon of the Seven Colors. The water has the most unbelievable gradients of blue and turquoise-green and is for the most part waist-high shallow. But the most interesting part of this lake lays actually above surface.
As we learned that following day, that extra thin, slimy white sand is in fact a microorganism called stromatolite, or estromatolito 💃. This living mat is mostly composed by cyanobacteria, the O.G. creator of oxygen on Earth, and one of the earliest evidences of life on Earth. There are only a few known places on the planet where you can find these living fossils – and Bacalar is one of them. Maybe the other visitors were oblivious to this fact, but it felt so weird to be walking over these incredibly old ancianos, that are lowkey the kings of Bacalar’s ecosystem.
Later that night we walked to the town center and weren’t less pleased by it. It had such a hippie, laid back and lively vibe. People gathered mostly in the central garden square of the Zocalo, where a handcraft fair was taking place. There were dozens of food trucks all around selling everything, from the deliciously-refreshing aguas frescas, to elotes (another one of our favorites), tortas, a series of desserts, and of course, tacos. All of this action was taking place under the permanent soundtrack of thousands of really loud birds singing in unison from the trees above. The birds were so incredibly loud that at certain times we couldn’t even hear each other. But we heard our stomachs rumbling, so we decided to go for our first taco dinner.
Taquería Abolengo was right there and we really recommend this place. Unpretentious and authentic, as we like it. We got our Dos Equis while waiting for our order and appreciated the Taco Master working on the spinning stop, or the trompo, where the marinated pork meat is slowly roasted like a kebab, making it crusty on the outside and juicy in the inside. The cook was handling his trompo while puzzling tacos together in maniac mastery, sweating out of intensity and passion for his work.
We could feel his passion at every bite of those tacos al pastor. Tacos are so amazing. Such a small handful of deliciousness, with that thin corn tortilla, the fresh and crunchy pico de gallo, and the juicy meat, with a few drops of lime on top connecting all the ingredients together. Experiencing a proper taco in Mexico is a real feast for the senses.
We spent the next couple of days exploring this beautiful oasis. We went down Los Rapidos de Bacalar, which is in fact more of a lazy river, a few times over with our snorkeling goggles (we don’t recommend you going there after the first hour as it gets busyyy). We also recommend taking a kayak or stand up paddle instead of the boat tour (more fun and sustainable). The water of the lagoon seems to change every hundred of meters, in a full spectacle of colors, surrounded by beautiful green hills. Funny to imagine that this peaceful place was once home of crazy pirate activity.
There are several different spots worth exploring in the lagoon, from cozy pools to deep cenotes. We had a chance to explore cenotes before when we first visited Yucatan together in 2022. They are a network of underground fresh water reservoirs, caves and tunnels connected to each other and open to the outside by the collapsing of the cave roof, aided by the impact of the asteroid Chicxulub, 66 million years ago. It is impressive to approach the iconic cenote negro from the lagoon, and noticing the shallow floor suddenly opening up on a steep, 100 meters deep canyon of darkness.
We brought a few beers with us and enjoyed yet another extraordinary sunset from the middle of the lagoon, on our kayaks. We got maybe a bit too distracted (or tipsy), and realized that we didn’t have that much time to paddle all the way back before our rental time was over. During the way back we witness the sky of the lagoon go from bright blue to pink, to a crazy shade of purple dark-blue, until the night finally settled in a stary sky.
When we finally approached the rental pier, a couple of staff members were calling for us and flashing some flash lights in distress. We only realized then that the rental kiosk had already closed. They were worried that something might have happened to us and were about to call the police – ups! Gladly, no problems with the Mexican police yet.
In our final evening in Bacalar we decided to relax at the guesthouse pool and met a friendly Mexican family from Michoacan in vacation there. They were a really cool family of artists and musicians. The son plays in an orchestra and had applied to go to Germany for his studies, before covid ruined his plans, and his recent fiancé, also Carolina, a soprano. We ended the night having some tequila shots together, offered by the father, who had his own artisanal production. From all the treasures one can find in Mexico, the people are still the best. Salud!
by Carolina Sequeira, 19 June 2025
The Mind of Caro 