Every winter in November, millions of Monarch Butterflies come from Canada and the USA to a small remote mountainous area of Mexico and leave again in March. This is an amazing 3000 kilometer migration taking 3 generations to complete.
Ellen from JM’s Butterfly B&B picked us up at Zitácuaro and drove us to Macheros [13], a little village of 400 people at an altitude of 2400 meters at the base of Cerro Pelon, one of the Monarch’s resting places.
When we arrived, the floor of our room was smothered in rose petals and candles. Everyone looked surprised – could we really be the honeymoon couple? No, they came the next day and were a bit younger. The trout for dinner at the family’s restuarant next door was fresh – so fresh it had to be caught first! Cooked on a wood fire, it was smoky and delicious.
The Monarchs at Cerro Pelon are clustered in 50 trees at 3000 meters, 6 kilometers and 600 meters uphill from Macheros. We did it the easy way – rode horses up and walked back down. Joel, our guide and owner of JM’s Butterfly B&B, has walked these mountains since he was a boy, seen the butterflies hundreds of times, and still gets excited. Nothing could prepare us for the sight of millions of butterflies dragging down the branches of the trees; then suddenly taking flight as the sun warmed them. It was such a wonderful experience and only 5 tourists there. 2 hours went by in an instant before we reluctantly headed back.
Ana (one of the family) catching our dinner
Fresh trout for dinner
Riding up to the butterflies
Strange plant on the path
Through the forest and up to the butterfly sanctuary at 3000 meters
At first, the trees appear to be covered in dead leaves
But then you realize it's not dead leaves but butterflies ...
... millions of butterflies
Sometimes so many butterflies the branch breaks with their weight
When the sun warms the Monarchs they open their wings and ...
... they fly (even on a dull day)
Returning to cluster once again
Monarch close up
The underside of the Monarch
Butterflies mating
Our guide, Joel, owner of JM's Butterfly B&B shows us the shortcut back down
Macheros village at dusk
One more trout, this time in adobada (red chili) sauce