If you’re in Mexico between November and March I’d recommend heading out to one of the butterfly sanctuaries in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. I visited Santuario Sierra Chincua (the smaller of the 2 butterfly sanctuaries) yesterday and it’s a sight I’ll never forget!
The nearest city is Morelia, but we stayed in a small town called Maravatio to have a shorter drive in the morning since we wanted to get there very early to watch them wake up. I actually got out of bed, on a very cold morning, at 7am(!), that’s how badly I wanted to visit the reserve.
To get to the butterflies beyond the town at the base of the trail, you can either walk with a guide (included in the trail entrance fee, plus tip) or take horses and a guide up. If I remember right the horses where an extra 100 pesos each. The trail is rather steep at points, and it’s at 3000 metres (10, 000 feet) above sea level, so if you’re out of shape and / or not acclimatised take it easy and go slowly. I almost took a horse simply because I miss riding (and am a bit of a wimp), but decided to tough it out and walk with my group. There was a few points I was gasping for air for a few moments, but I suspect it was mostly because as an ex-city girl hiking up rocky trails is not something this body is used to.
Along the hike, you’ll start seeing sleeping Monarchs along the trail. The guide said that though they may look dead, most are actually in a mini-hibernation state to conserve energy, so I did my best to not to step on any along the way. As we got closer I’d occasionally see one fluttering by, then 2, then more until we finally made it to the end of the trail. The sight was amazing! At first it took a few seconds to register in my mind that the massive piles of orange leaves hanging off the trees were in fact clusters of butterflies! There were literally millions of Monarchs, so many that the evergreen tree limbs drooped with the weight. If you think that’s impressive, just imagine those fragile little wings carrying the Monarchs 4500 kilometres (in only 4-5 weeks), that’s how far they fly from Canada to the hills of Michoacán, Mexico!
Photos From the Monarch Butterfly Reserve
Monarch Butterfly Warming Wings in the Sunlight
A close-up photograph of a Monarch butterfly warming it’s wings in the sunlight.
If you’re interested, one of the butterfly photos I took this day is now available as a printable calendar for 2011.
Clusters of Monarchs!
See those huge clusters weighing down the tree limbs that look a bit like massive bunches of leaves? Those are actually huge piles of the monarchs at Santuario Sierra Chincua… yes, there’s millions of them here during their breeding season!
Smaller Gathering of Monarchs
Nope, the fir trees didn’t sprout orange leaves!
Dan with a Visitor
Another of my favourite photoss, in this one a lone Monarch decided to perch on Dan’s head for a bit. :)
Beautiful Landscape in Mexico!
These next photos are of the stunning landscape views of Michoacán state we saw hiking back down the trail.
The Town at the Base of the Trail
This friendly little town is where we started the hike to the butterfly reserve.
Bulls
I had to stop to take a snapshot of these guys, they posed so well and looked straight into the camera ;)
On the ride to the butterfly sanctuary and back I was lost in thought about the similarities of their journey to mine, and the differences. Those tiny, fragile beings fly so far to escape a harsh Canadian winter to hang out in Mexico for a fresh start, this seemed a bit like my journey. I also kept thinking about how they instinctively know where they are supposed to go, they know their purpose in life and their path. That’s something I hope to find on the way during my travels, until then I’m very happy to keep backpacking, learning what I can, and taking in the awe inspiring wonders of this world.
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Looks like it was an amazing hike!
I can’t even imagine how many butterflies must have been there!