Those bright yellow flowers in the Mexican Caribbean? Just who knew?! The internet has gone wild over the past several weeks over a recently created garden space outside of Bacalar. The garden, which is designed in the European style but is located in the middle of one of the hottest regions in Mexico, has attracted many interested tourists.
To ensure its continued success in the coming weeks and months, the proprietors have issued a warning to any tourists planning to visit this stunning location.
You want to know how to get to the sunflowers, right? Here’s how to visit this tourist hotspot in Bacalar in southern Quintana Roo without getting mugged, whether you’re doing it for the ‘gram or because you love these bright yellow blooms.
The Newest Bacalar Attraction Is a Stunning Sunflower Field
A field of freshly blooming sunflowers may be found just off the Reforma-Bacalar highway in the southern portion of Quintana Roo state. This is a sight not commonly associated with the Mexican Caribbean. The number of visitors continues to rise.
The field is part of the ranch called “Perssa,” a modest farm run by husband and wife Rubén Pérez Bahena and Patricia Savedra. They grow 15 distinct varieties of sunflowers, or girasoles in Spanish (and met’al a k’i:icha in Mayan).
In spite of the fact that fields of sunflowers are indigenous to Mexico and Central America, you won’t often come across them in the Mexican Caribbean.
Travel Tips For Visiting Gardens
Gardens gone viral? It can sometimes be a disaster. It’s happened before where gardens that got millions of shares on social media were quickly overtouristed, and the flowers were trampled on due to selfie-stick-holding visitors. Instances like this eventually led the owners to promptly shut them down.
The tulip fields in the Netherlands and a sunflower field in Ontario, Canada are just some examples of beautiful outdoor gardens closing due to overtourism and lack of awareness and respect from eager visitors.
So that we can keep these beautiful sunflowers blooming, here’s a quick list of tips for visiting this unique attraction:
- Walk along the marked paths: going off track means that you’ll step on the flora that’s meant to be blooming. All of those viral images you’ll see of people walking amongst the flowers are actually the problem because it means they are trampling on the blooms to get the perfect pic.
- Look out for any warning signs for tourists: if the owner puts up any signs or instructions for visitors, it’s for a reason. Respect the space and read and follow the guidelines.
- Be patient. We all want that perfect pic for social media, but that means you’ll probably be waiting in line at the perfect scenic spot along with others.
- Don’t throw anything away: either on-site or around it, carry your trash to dispose of it properly when you get back to your hotel.
