You will be picked up in the morning at your hotel in Veracruz or Boca del Rio by one of our local bilingual (English/Spanish) guides and will travel approximately one hour to the town of Alvarado where you will get to explore the fish market located adjacent to the Lake Alvarado. There you will have the chance to interact with the local fisherman and see their freshly caught fish.

After traveling 2 more hours south, you will come to the Te Amo Cigar Manufacturing Company where you will view scores of workers as they show you, from start to finish, how cigars are made by hand. Note: This company is closed on Sundays.

Next, you will travel to see the massive waterfall called, Salto de Eyipantla (E-gee-pant-la). This location was used prominently in the film Apocalypto, directed by Mel Gibson. There are two vantage points; from below and also from the precipice. Be warned – there are 242 steps to reach the bottom of the falls.

After all the photos are taken with the thundering waterfalls in the background, your trip guide will take you to a tropical nature reserve called, Nanciyaga where a young park guide will lead your group on a short tour of this reserve. You will then board a tour boat at the reserve’s dock for a beautiful scenic ride on Lake Catemaco to view monkeys on islands and many tropical birds. Later, you can enjoy a great lunch (not included) back at the reserve with a super view of the lake from the 2nd floor of their outdoor restaurant.

Then you will travel to the town of Catemaco where your guide will lead you on a walking tour of the downtown area, including a visit to the Church of the Virgin Carmen. Afterwards, there will be some time to browse the gift shops found along the Malecón by the lake.

On the way back to the city of Veracruz, you will stop in the town of Santiago Tuxtla where you can view one of the original giant stone Olmec heads which were discovered in this area. The Olmec culture is considered to be the oldest civilization in Mesoamerica. Finally, your tour guide will take you back to your hotel or where you are staying in the city of Veracruz or Boca del Rio.