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Catemaco, Veracruz Mexico

Photography by Bill Bell

Catemaco is a city in the south central portion of the Mexican state of Veracruz, within the volcanic mountains of the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name.

The city of Catemaco resides against Lake Catemaco at 340 meters (1,115 feet) altitude and is surrounded by numerous taller volcanic peaks. To the north, Laguna Sontecomapan occupies a large flood plain and joins the gulf at La Barra de Sontecomapan, Catemaco's most accessible beach.

One of the featured attractions of the town are the "Monkey Islands", populated by abandoned research monkeys originally imported from Thailand. Almost 100 boats compete to ferry tourists out to see these Macaque monkeys imported to the islands in the 1970's. Film location

Mel Gibson recently filmed parts of Apocalypto (2006) in the vicinity. He joined Sean Connery's Medicine Man (1992) and many others who have used the Catemaco vicinity as a backdrop for jungle scenes.

Witchcraft festival

Historically an isolated community, the city now has an international reputation for the "Catemaco Brujos", a local phenomenon of witchcraft practitioners with commercial interests.

The Spanish term "brujo" may be translated as witch, sorcerer, warlock, necromancer, "alternative healer", faith healer and others. Catemaco celebrates an annual brujo festival on the first Thursday and Friday of March. It is called the "Congreso Internacional de Brujos ".

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