What a great way to spend a weekend day--waking up at the crack of dawn, traveling on a bus for 3 hours and seeing one of the largest displays of Monarch butterflies (mariposas) in the world in their natural habitat. Wow.
The Trip:
It was early Saturday morning to drive to see
the “Mariposa Monarcas” in Michoacán.
There are literally hundreds of thousands
(probably millions) of beautiful butterflies
at the Biosphere Reserve.
Those naturalists at UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site in 2008, and it is very complete, with plenty of restaurants, shops and an easy (2 kilometers) uphill hike up to see the Monarchs in nature.
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| A boy, his dad, and lots of butterflies |
Every year, the butterflies migrate from their home in Canada to Mexico for their winter home. They stay in Mexico from October to March (apparently, they don’t stop in the United States because of the new “Monarch Butterfly ban.”).
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| Butterflies need water, so they stay near the stream |
So, Gavin, Diane and I set out to see the beautiful insects. It was early, but we realized being a little sleepy would be worth it. The bus (like so many in Mexico) was comfortable, and plenty of passengers knew and spoke English (and some Spanish) on the bus. This was from Diane’s school.
The Hike:
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| Tree filled with butterflies |
We entered, paid the pesos, and started uphill. As we hiked, we asked people how long until the top. We heard very different answers, from one hour to 20 minutes. It took us one hour.
The higher we climbed, the more butterflies we saw. The site was very well organized, with plenty of docents and knowledgeable people.
Finally, we found the sanctuary for butterflies. I guess this was their “special place,” where butterflies can do whatever they want, e.g. play video games, eat fattening chocolates, say inappropriate words, etc.
Without a doubt, this was beautiful. Trees were filled with what looked like orange leaves. When you looked carefully at the pines, they were filled with orange, black, brown and white Monarchs, which were hibernating there.
In several pastures, they would lovingly swarm visitors.
We have been to several sites in the world (Petra, Jerusalem, Turkey, London, Australia, Eiffel Tower, etc), and this was one of the most spectacular in the world.
Butterflies
There is a kind of aura about butterflies. They are unusual creatures, with a special kind of inner beauty about them. Several literary references talk about butterflies as an animal to be treated only with love and care.
Muhammad Ali: “I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”.
Movies: “Butterflies are Free”
They are all about the freedom which butterflies symbolize. But, according to Wikipedia, there are NO universities which name the butterfly as their mascot. Some high schools. Strange, considering most universities stress the freedom to learn, to develop their mind and to “stretch their wings.”
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| Gavin catches a Butterfree |
So, when appreciating the butterfly, a docent explained to us that the butterflies would be leaving for Canada because they had flown down here for the winter. She also told us the male and female butterflies mate, but then the male dies in Mexico (Go ahead,make your jokes now…)
So, when Gavin picked up an injured butterfly, the metaphors were flying in my head: A boy was trying to heal an injured beautiful creature. The innocent was assisting the helpless.
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| Muy Turista |
All in all, we had a “turista lunch before the buses rolled back at an authentic “turista” restaurant (How did we know it was turista Because the waiter spoke good English and the prices were higher than normal).
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| She's free! |
And what mariposa visit would not be complete with a photo of Diane on horseback riding down the hill? Of course!
Now, when you visit our apartment, we have plastic butterfly replicas around our apartment, as a tribute to the free-flying, hermosa Mariposa Monarca.
