Get to know Catemaco

In the depths of the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, a mountainous complex that gives off vast vegetation of the tropical forest emerges a village at the foot of a lagoon that is fed by the streams that descend from the mountains. Bewitching and intimidating to some, but leaving no one indifferent, they call it “la Tierra de los Brujos” (“the land of the sorcerers”), but its name is Catemaco

 

People from all over the world come daily to this town to heal their spiritual wounds: lovesickness, jinx, bad luck at work, and others; even much bigger problems such as chronic diseases and ailments that their believers claim, nor medicine has been able to remedy.

 

It is said that these practices are the result of the arrival of Afro-Cubans and Afro-Haitians who arrived in Catemaco during the Conquest, forming an unusual mixture that combined the Catholic faith with Santeria, voodoo, and indigenous beliefs.

 

It goes without saying that what abounds among its streets are professionals of mysticism, witches, and shamans with all the specialties that confer their knowledge to each one.
But what few people tell you is that among the smell of copal and Siete Machos, there are wonderful places impregnated with magic that does not require any other trick.

 

Getting to Catemaco will take you about 3 hours from the Port of Veracruz (170 km / 105 miles), 1 hour 50 minutes from Tlacotalpan (96 km / 60 miles), and 2 hours 30 minutes (150 km / 93 miles) from Coatzacoalcos. If you leave from Mexico City, a 7 hour 30 minute (530 km / 329 miles) drive awaits you.