ON THE COAST AT BEJUCO
Flor Tanit Perez Najar
I grew up on the coast. Although I have lived in other cities here and there – and since 2014, I have been living in Berlin – I spent the first twelve years of my life in a port city. Maybe that is why the ocean is very important to me. It attracts, calms, and fascinates me. The coasts of Mexico are immense, with kilometers of coastline on both the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the country. In the west, in the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas on the Michoacan coast, you can find a small beach called Los Llanitos del Bejuco.
My parents have known this place for years; and finally, in 2022, they brought me there. We arrived around 6pm, the perfect time to catch the golden hour. When I stepped out of the car, I was immediately astounded by its beauty. The rock formations are what make this beach a magical place, where nature meets you right in the face from where you’re standing on the shore; where the breeze hits your face and the birds fly when the waves crash against the rocks. And I, with one eye through the viewfinder of my camera, tried to capture it all. This is not a place you will find on the tourist guides or on the Instagram page of your favourite influencer. Only locals come here. It is not a famous tourist destination, it is a small beach where families come to eat, swim, enjoy the sea breeze, and watch the sunset. Because there is no sunset more beautiful than the one where you can see the sun go down by the sea, like the one you see in the Mexican Pacific.
This article first appeared in PRISMA, Issue 18.