Present-day Chunchucmil
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The modern town of Chunchucmil sits in a region rich with natural beauty, ecological diversity, and cultural heritage. Chunchucmil is home to both the ruins of an ancient Mayan city as well as a largely intact 19th Century henequen hacienda. From ancient thriving metropolis to struggling ejido, the area and its people have always been independent and unique. |
Geography and Ecology
The town of Chunchucmil is located at the edge of a large coastal wetland (the Celestún Biosphere Reserve), which covers much of the area between Chunchucmil and the Gulf of Mexico. This is a seasonal wetland, which inundates with every rainy season but is accessible by foot throughout the dry season. It is home to many jungle, forest and wetland species, including jaguar, alligator, deer, peccary, coatimundi, and monkey, and is one of the best places in Yucatán for bird watchers.
| Chunchucmil itself sits at the first high spot east of the coastal wetlands. It rests only meters above the Yucatán aquifer, which provides plenty of fresh water through natural and man-made wells that can be found throughout town and field. Soil cover and nutrients, however, are quickly leached into the aquifer, exposing over 50% the landscape as bare limestone. Farming is difficult, and yields are among the lowest in Yucatán. The best locations for crops are atop archaeological mounds. These occur throughout the region and act as soil traps which also contain a great deal of organic refuse from the ancient inhabitants. |  |
| On the other side of the western wetlands, along the coast of Yucatán, lies the sleepy fishing and salt producing village of Celestún. Men from Chunchucmil often travel to work the salt beds of Celestún during the dry season (when their corn fields need less attention). The salt beds, or salinas, of Celestún compose the second largest salt works in Mesoamerica. Records go back to the early 1600's, though it is likely that these salt pans were in use long before the arrival of the Spaniards. Today, men from Chunchucmil also work as fishermen or as fish processors in the burgeoning fishing village. On Easter Sunday, nearly every family from every village in the region goes to Celestún for the wonderfully shallow white sand beach and refreshing breeze. |  |