Cuatro Ciénegas

Cuatro Ciénegas is one of those places so-named that no one can really translate it. Four Marshes does it no justice, and no one ever learned the word ciénega in a Spanish class. In fact, the surrounding wetlands are perforated by magical pools that sustain their own unique eco-systems. These produce a variety of otherworldly colors and it is for these that the area is so rightly famous. 200 Pozos is probably a more fitting name - pozos being the word for these iridiscente pools - and there really are that many of them. In fact, the full name of the town and municipality is Cuatro Ciénegas de Carranza for Vicente Carranza, the president of Mexico from 1915 to 1920 and who was born here in 1859.  

That was 59 years after the town had been founded in 1800. Today, people come especially to gaze into these striking and inspiring looking glasses. The Posa Azul, El Borbollón, the Poza de la Becerra and the Poza Churince are just the most famous. The Las Playitas is very near the town and a very inspiring wetland. People also visit some of the oldest wineries in Mexico and the Mezquites River and the striking white Gypsum Dunes, the so-called Dunas de Yeso, are some of the most inspiring and surreal in the Americas. 

Closer to town, people simply stroll the Callejón de Guevara, to the San José Church, the Casa Carranza Museum, and the town's main plaza. These streets are lined with smaller and boutique hotels, eateries, and everything to make a visit unforgettable. It's a dusty desert town but local have gone a long way toward making it into an inviting environment for people. 

From the border crossing at Piedras Negras, it's about 3.5 hours drive to Cuatro Ciénegas. From Laredo, it's a little further at just over four hours. But one can make it from Saltillo or the airport in Monterrey in just over three hours. While a number of buses will book you through to Monclova from Monterrey, only the Senda bus line runs buses (twice daily) from Monclova to Cuatro Ciénegas. But that is far and away how most people arrive to this stunning and dream-filled mountain desert getaway.