Monarchs in Mexico
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto/Vagabondians/monarchs.jpg" alt="" loading="lazy" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_320/Vagabondians/monarchs.jpg 320w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_375/Vagabondians/monarchs.jpg 375w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_414/Vagabondians/monarchs.jpg 414w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_756/Vagabondians/monarchs.jpg 756w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_960/Vagabondians/monarchs.jpg 960w" />
In late February we traveled by bus with our friend Martha to the states of Michoacan and Mexico (formerly the federal district) to see the Mexican winter home of the Monarch butterfly. We stayed one night in Morelia, a large city with a nice colonial downtown area. The AirBnB was in a noisy kinda dirty part of town, but was basically functional enough for one night.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto/Vagabondians/jesus-loves-bitches.jpg" alt="Jesus Loves Bitches" loading="lazy" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_320/Vagabondians/jesus-loves-bitches.jpg 320w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_375/Vagabondians/jesus-loves-bitches.jpg 375w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_414/Vagabondians/jesus-loves-bitches.jpg 414w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_756/Vagabondians/jesus-loves-bitches.jpg 756w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_960/Vagabondians/jesus-loves-bitches.jpg 960w" />
The next day we hopped on another bus to the town of Zitacuaro and took a taxi to the J&M Butterfly B and B in the remote village of Macheros just inside the State of Mexico border. We enjoyed dinner and the view and the margaritas then rested up for the big day.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto/Vagabondians/sippin.jpg" alt="Sippin" loading="lazy" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_320/Vagabondians/sippin.jpg 320w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_375/Vagabondians/sippin.jpg 375w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_414/Vagabondians/sippin.jpg 414w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_756/Vagabondians/sippin.jpg 756w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_960/Vagabondians/sippin.jpg 960w" />
The next morning after breakfast we walked a couple of blocks to our horses then mounted up assisted by our guides. The poor things carried us all the way up Cerro Pelon with one break about halfway. We spent some time enjoying the river of monarchs flying by then went to the upper rest stop where we hiked down into a ravine to see the actual roost area.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto/Vagabondians/glenn-horse.jpg" alt="Glenn on a horse!" loading="lazy" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_320/Vagabondians/glenn-horse.jpg 320w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_375/Vagabondians/glenn-horse.jpg 375w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_414/Vagabondians/glenn-horse.jpg 414w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_756/Vagabondians/glenn-horse.jpg 756w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_960/Vagabondians/glenn-horse.jpg 960w" />
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto/Vagabondians/monarch-roost.jpg" alt="Monarch roost" loading="lazy" srcset="https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_320/Vagabondians/monarch-roost.jpg 320w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_375/Vagabondians/monarch-roost.jpg 375w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_414/Vagabondians/monarch-roost.jpg 414w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_756/Vagabondians/monarch-roost.jpg 756w, https://res.cloudinary.com/donblanco/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto,w_960/Vagabondians/monarch-roost.jpg 960w" />
Thousands and thousands of butterflies! It is hard to put it into words. Hopefully the pictures and video will do it justice.
Here is a slideshow of our pictures from the trip:
Here is the video I put together - worth a small five-minute investment, I hope. You will have to watch it on the Flickr web site. To see it, CLICK HERE