Floating Gardens of Xochimilco and La Isla de las Muñecas (The Island of the Dolls)

The canals are some of the last remnants of pre-hispanic Mexico city. Tenochtitlan and later Mexico City were built on swampy islands and reclaimed land. The basis of farming to feed the masses of these cities became “chinampas” or floating gardens. The gardens were formed by hammering juniper poles into the canals to create a scaffolding, then dumping earth into the structure until it displaced the water and became a reclaimed island. The water and fertile floating islands provided crops for the populations, and even continues to this day to a lesser extent.

The canals are traversed by boarding colourful canal barges called “trajineras”, all with their own unique names and patterns. There are numerous launching points, called Embarcaderos, and various advice regarding the best locations and also times and days.

On my first visit in 2019, I chose to depart from Embarcadero Nuevo Nativitas Xochimilco. I took the metro to Universidad, and took an Uber to the Embarcadero as I was traveling with multiple people. I read instructions regarding the light rail from the metro, but we decided in the essence of time that an Uber would suffice. Interesting to note, the driver told us to ensure our doors were locked and not to open our windows on the journey, as there were motorcycle gangs looking to snatch phones and bags on those streets.

I had limited time during this trip, and I ended up only having Sunday morning free. I had read that Sunday was the worst time to go, due to the influx of locals causing boat traffic, but I wouldn’t let that sway your decision. Due to timing, and a delayed start, we arrived at 12:00 and chose to only have an hour on the boat. As many people have noted, a good amount of time is spent getting out of the boat traffic. For a true experience I’d suggest at least two hours, and if you are wanting to visit the island of the dolls an hour won’t suffice. Around the Embarcadero you’ll see many references to Axolotls (Mexican walking fish), often in cartoon form. This is a main location of Axolotls in the wild, and although you’re unlikely to see any, they are there.

We walked to the Embarcadero and simply asked for a boat for an hour. The price of MXN500 per hour was standard (in 2019), and although apparently open to negotiation, I chose to simply pay the asking price. We walked across the parked barges to the boat that we were taking and set off. We had our own boat for the four of us and weren’t pushed to join other people. The journey involved being punted North along the canals, weaving in and out of the barges moving slowly North and South. We were joined by a dog for a while, who then made his way to other barges when we collided (gently) and then eventually made it to dry land.

We past trajineras with full mariachi bands playing (for cash) and enjoyed witnessing the different songs as we weaved between the craft. We were asked if we wanted to hire any, and we declined. As we floated, we were approached by canoes selling food and drinks. I purchased a cob of corn (elotes), but there were numerous other options. You are able to stop and get off at various islands if you desire. There are islands growing flowers, available for purchase, but we were happy to just float. We tipped our young captains as they were fun and great translators, and genuinely took good care of us.