Before that he lived for 17 years in Mérida, Yucatán, his father's family homeland, mainly involved in export and commercial fishing businesses. In Mérida he built several ponds and converted a few friends into water gardening fans. He promoted and developed the Aquaparque project, and with friends formed the Amigos del Aquaparque nonprofit association. He is a founding member and correspondent in México of Water Gardeners International.

Pond at Zodzil, Fernando's home in Mérida >

The Aquaparque, Mérida

< Another pond at Zodzil

Fernando has many other interests beyond water plants and water gardening. He is an economist and businessman, but also has been professional translator, public official, journalist, speechwriter, CEO of several companies and ambassador of Yucatán in México City.

His father comes from a family of ten brothers and sisters, five of each, and so does his mother; between the two families there are more than 100 first cousins. His parents had ten children in ten years, and Fernando is the oldest. He now lives in Mexico City with his wife Martha and his children Fernando and Isabel. 

As a businessman he exported fruits, vegetables and fresh finfish to the United States, octopus and bluefin tuna to Japan, and octopus to Spain and Italy. For the past 18 years he has been partner in a fishing company that exports fresh yellowfin tuna by plane to the US.

< Son Fernando, wife Martha, Fernando, daughter Isabel

At 40 he decided to learn to ride on horseback seriously, and ever since he rides show jumping horses almost daily and works out every morning. He currently is training Chocolate, a thoroughbred off the racetrack who is about to celebrate his fourth birthday.

He is an avid reader who enjoys the most varied subjects, but his favorite themes are literature, history, politics and economics. He has friends all over the world, many old ones and of all ages, and he likes to say that there is only one field in which he has always been very wealthy: friends and family.