Day 2 with the Monarchs in Mexico

Our second day with the butterflies, yay!  This time we drove to the Chincua sanctuary, another monarch wintering location.

Most of the group rode horses to reach the area of the colonies, while I was happy to again have the option to walk.

I did enjoy watching everyone get saddled up on the beautiful small steeds.  Hi Mom!

Heading off across the field toward the woods on another amazingly gorgeous day (we were so lucky with the weather the whole week):

Pausing to admire the view of the valley and surrounding hills:

And what a beautiful woods, the walk was lovely and we met up with the horses at the other end of the trail:

Walking the final section down to the monarchs:

There's one!

I could usually find one hanging around allowing for a closer look:

Then, the magic of millions of butterflies.  This experience could not possibly ever get old.

Another attempt to show the "rafts" of butterflies (I'm sure "raft" isn't the right word since they aren't floating on water, but that's what it reminds me of), large masses of monarchs hanging together:

Unzoomed photo:

A less-than-stellar few seconds of shaky video trying to capture the monarchs in motion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfNq8L09u-Y

In small groups we got to climb up above the colony and see something of a top-down view of the whole thing, butterflies from way down below, all the way to way up in the sky above us.  Here's a photo that cannot begin to do justice to this amazing experience:

Standing there, watching and listening, we can actually hear them... listening closely we could hear the brushes of wings against leaves nearby.  A light but constant rustle, something unexpected in the otherwise-silent woods.

The sound is sort of there in this video, in the background behind the wind noise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDfczvKPCAQ

Love the diving and soaring in the sky above us!

A few more static pictures, orange among the greenery:

Hey little camera, that's a decent shot!

Another nice close-up:

Another look at the butterflies all around us:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqokXarpxvY

"No te las lleves" - don't take them with you.  Except the wonderful memories and images that will stick in my mind for a very long time.

At the watering hole, on the trail back to the horses:

Linda joined me for the walk back through the woods, and our guide was kind enough to take a picture for us at the end:

Finishing up the trail ride for the day:

The little shops with crafts for sale:

And a photo for John:

Back down in the town of Angangueo, our guides gave us a tour of the town square and churches.

A large town mural with some history and beautiful butterfly paintings:

Monarchs everywhere  :)

Melissa telling the story of the town through the mural:

Self-portrait of the artist, I believe:

Our group visited a class of 3rd graders at the local school, enjoying a chance to meet some kids, share school supplies, and color pictures of butterflies together.  We had fun taking pictures together with the children:

Another amazing day!

Monarchs in Mexico with Mom

Mom invited me to join her on a trip to Mexico to see the wintering grounds of the Monarch butterfly.  It is something she has wanted to do for a long time, and it sounded like an amazing trip.  With news that the monarch migration population has dwindled in recent years, Mom decided we really should go while there was still something to see.

And boy, was there ever something to see!

We signed up for a tour with Natural Habitat, and let me say that our experience with them was first-rate.  Professional, comfortable, caring, environmentally responsible, delicious local meals, and with many little happy "treats" and surprises from the first day to the last.  Our guides Astrid and Melissa were wonderful.  No one paid me to say this, I just feel like raving about it  :)

On to the butterflies!

We rode in open-back trucks from the hotel up to the refuge called El Rosario.  We thought this might be a dusty, bumpy ride, but the road is in great condition and not problem at all.

Tours a la Monarca:

The welcome arch at the sanctuary:

Most of the group rode horses up the hill, but I jumped at the chance to walk up a bunch of stairs through the woods and get a bit of exercise.  Up at 9,000-10,000 ft elevation, it was a short but intense workout.

Meeting the group in the field at the top:

A first look at the colorful monarchs perched on colorful flowers:

On our way up the last part of the trail to where the bulk of the colony was staying:

It was quite impossible to capture the experience to somehow explain it, but our group did our level best to try.  I promise I tried to cull the sheer number of photos, it's just that I wish there was a way everyone could just be there and see this.

One small part of the landscape around us:

Butterflies soaking up the last of the sun's rays for the day:

Trying to show the scale, the massive number of monarchs in the trees, but it turns into trees with orange tint, like autumn leaves in Vermont:

A close-up shot of one of those million:

It was late afternoon for our first visit to the sanctuary, so many of the monarchs were already finding places to stay for the night.  Here's the part that is most impossible to explain (without better equipment) - those dark clumps are large bunches of butterflies, grouped together and clinging to branches.  The first time we put our binoculars up to check it out, everyone went "oh!!" and "Wow!" because the sight is so amazing.

An idea of what we were looking at (this is what I mean by "better equipment"):
http://johnsmitchell.photoshelter.com/image/I0000_Ij_bElWX78

Me and Mom with butterflies floating around us like snowflakes:

Watch where you step...

Another attempt to show the monarch clumps:

View from below - can't imagine how many monarchs are in this one photo alone:

Butterflies swirling about, again like autumn leaves except defying gravity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjN_zGxYeY

This one liked Mom's shoe:

Hey, this one likes my shorts!

Admiring my new friend:

Finally it was getting colder and it was time to go.  Wow, that was quite an introduction, stunning in the sheer numbers we were seeing.  So happy Mom picked this year to go!

Our group stopped at an overlook on the way back to town:

The quaint village on the hill:

And - for good measure, a beautiful sunset!

Quite a day, one we will not soon forget!

Mexico City with Mom

Mom and I met up in Texas a couple weeks ago to fly to Mexico City together.  Why?  I will explain in the next post, stay tuned.

For now, here's a bit of side entertainment from our day walking around Chapultepec park.  It was right across from our hotel and a wonderful forest oasis in the middle of the huge city.  Lots of trails, museums, things to see.

We heard some music and wandered over to find some men in colorful clothes marching around a tall pole:

It soon got interesting when they started climbing to the top:

Four men gathered at the top and perched there:

We waited while they slowly pulled up the four ropes.  They started rotating the top square so the ropes were coiled around the pole:

Once the ropes were all coiled, they each attached themselves to a rope, leaned back, and... then there was this!

We couldn't quite believe it - I shot a video to try to capture how it worked:
https://youtu.be/TQHRXyGjUnk

More info about the "Dance of the Flyers":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danza_de_los_Voladores

Slowly they circled the pole as they dropped gently lower and lower, still playing the flute and drum:

Seemingly unconcerned about being upside-down and soaring through the air:

My favorite shot:

Well, that was quite a start to our journey!

Other sights in the park included the outside of the anthropology museum (we weren't quite up for exploring the inside, I believe it is huge):

Reminded us of Central Park with all the cyclists and people walking and enjoying the outdoors:

Appropriate sculpture:

The plaza at the top of the Castillo - nice views of the city on the walk up to here:

A piece from outside the modern art museum:

Just a taste of our trip to Mexico - more coming when I get additional photos and videos sorted.  Fun first day!