The overcrowding of popular destinations and the constant chase of capital, bring forward very strange paradoxes, for example take into consideration these two phrases we use when we travel somewhere. “This place is a tourist trap” and “This place is very authentic”, the negative connotation of the first phrase is quite evident, but what happens when the search for authenticity takes it a step further.
To resolve this inquiry, let us travel all the way to Central Mexico, where there is a 3,000 acre recreational park in Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, that for only $20 US dollars, you can simulate the experience of an illegal immigrant trying to cross the Mexico-U.S border, with no shortage of gun fire, verbal abuse and persecutions.
The Caminata Nocturna (Night Walk) as this tour is called, provides the tourist with a three-hour, 7.5 mile obstacle course, which involves running for your life across jagged terrain filled with streams and bushes, while being frantically pursued by “border patrol agents” that fire guns loaded with blanks all while blasting their stressing sirens to maximum volumen. If this doesn’t get your sugar running, fake cartel members are also available to make the experience even more real.
This tour, has been operational since 2004, and has thought thousands of tourists a humbling lesson and what it’s like to be an immigrant. This all takes place in ‘Parque EcoAlberto’ a recreational park runned by the Hñahñu Indians, an endemic indigenous group on the border of extinction due to its steadily decreasing population. Over 70% of its community has taken the real life Night Walk towards the United States.
Critics have claimed that the tour is some sort of boot camp that trains Mexicans and Central Americans on how to sneak into the US. However, the people of Parque EcoAlberto maintain that awareness of the perils that await immigrants is as patriotic as it is educational, if anything, the Hñahñu Indians are trying to discourage immigration.
“The concept of the Night Walk is born with the aim of raising awareness among our young people in the community, showing them not to risk their lives looking for ‘a better life in another country’ (living the famous American dream), projecting a vision and a motivation to look at new productive projects,” reads a statement on their website.
So what do you think? Is this authentic enough for you? Is this something your adventurer heart would like to experience? Surely this a whole other ball game than drinking margaritas by the pool.