Lake Camécuaro: “The Place of Bathing”
Lake Camécuaro: “The Place of Bathing”
This time I want to show you a beautiful place to take pictures if you like nature. I went with some friends to Lago de Camécuaro National Park, which is an area that includes part of Lake Camecuaro, a popular place with crystal clear water, ducks and geese, and pretty-old evergreen Montezuma cypresses (Taxodium mucronatum), better known locally as ahuehuetes or sabinos.
| Did you know?
In 1921, a century later of the Consummation of the Independence of Mexico, the Montezuma cypress, also known as ahuehuete or sabino was designated as the national tree of Mexico. Ahuehuete means “old man of the water”[1]. |
Lake Camécuaro, which has numerous springs[2], has a name linked to a couple of meanings. The Tangancícuaro municipality says in its website that Camécuaro means “The Place of Bathing” [3] and while there are other interpretations of the word[4], it certainly is a place you can swim while enjoying a nice weather. The park also has parking places and inside you can find food, buy souvenirs, have a picnic, rent a boat, and walk around.
Watch the video below the pictures!
There are a few legends from pre-Columbian times about this place, one of them is that a young princess in love had been kidnapped by a sacrilegious priest and kept hidden here where she suffered the absence of her beloved one and thus cried until she created a water spring with her sorrowful tears[4]. In fact, some parts of the park can evoke some nostalgia, but most of the place looks cheerful and full of life.
Lago de Camécuaro National Park is in Tangancícuaro, which is near Zamora, Michoacán, Mexico. It is over 2 hours away by car from Guadalajara and from Morelia. You can see the location on the map below.
Pictures of Lake Camécuaro
And now here you go, pictures of my trip to Lake Camécuaro.
Our trip to Camécuaro began at a friends’ house in Guadalajara. Here we are posing before getting in the cars and travel in caravan.
Here is the pass to the park. It only costs 15 MXN (about 1 USD), but unfortunately a man was selling it for 20 MXN (a few cents more). It isn’t much of a difference, but it is sad that we have to see these dishonest practices.
Here is the welcoming sign to the park.
The park doesn’t offer many options to eat and none of them take credit cards. Most of the food places would serve their food on disposable plates. Yes, I know, very ecological for a protected park. The menu was smoked meat, enchiladas, fried fish, sopes, quesadillas, tacos dorados, tostadas, shrimp, milanesa or breaded chicken, fruit, snacks and drinks. You seat on long rustic wooden tables around the lake.
Lake Camécuaro was picturesque. You could see boats in many places that were ready for hire.
Farther in in the park, I found less people and more trees.
Picture of trees around Lake Camécuaro.
The lake is perfect to take lots of selfies. I didn’t miss the chance to take some myself 🙂
Picture of Lago de Camécuaro National Park in Tangancícuaro, Michoacán, México.
Embden geese at Lake Camécuaro.
Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) locally known as “pato criollo” and mellard or wild ducks at the National Park of Lake Camécuaro
More ducks
Visitors can also swim in the lake.
Here I’m jumping into the lake. Photo courtesy of Rafa.
And it is possible to rent a boat and go around the lake.
Here we are getting ready to go back home.
On the road going back home.
And below is the video I made collecting video and pictures from the others in our trip. So not all the pictures in the video are mine and quality changes due to the use of different cameras. Here is the video.
If you liked this post, you probably would like to see pictures like the one below in Tai’erzhuang, the Most Beautiful Water Town in China?
Click on the image above to see the pictures I took of this amazing place.
And now you tell me, what do you think about Lake Camécuaro? Do you recommend a similar place? I would love to hear your comments. Share them in the section below under comments. If you don’t see the comments section, reload the page 🙂
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Pictures: All pictures, unless stated otherwise, were taken by me, Jesús Rosas.
Sources:
- SEMARNAT. Ahuehuete. N.p.: SEMARNAT, 2010. Cartel Ahuehuete. CONAFOR – Comisión Nacional Forestal, 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2016. <http://www.conafor.gob.mx/biblioteca/Poster-Ahuehuete-Historico.pdf> (Content in Spanish).
- “Instituto Nacional De Ecología.” Instituto Nacional De Ecología. Instituto Nacional De Ecología Y Cambio Climático, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2016. <http://www2.inecc.gob.mx/publicaciones/libros/108/mich.html>(Content in Spanish).
- “Lago De Camécuaro.” Lago De Camécuaro. H. Ayuntamiento De Tangancícuaro, 3 Sept. 2015. Web. 16 Feb. 2016. <http://www.tangancicuaro.gob.mx/lago-de-camecuaro>(Content in Spanish).
- Fernández Ruíz, Guillermo. “Camécuaro.” (2010): 2–3. Tangancícuaro. H. Ayuntamiento De Tangancícuaro, 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2016. <http://www.tangancicuaro.gob.mx/PDF/Camecuaro_cronista.pdf>(Content in Spanish).
