Sanctuario de las Monarcas

      

The Butterfly upon the Sky,

That doesn't know his Name

And hasn't ant tax to pay

And hasn't any Home 

Is just as high as you and I,

And higher, I believe,

So soar away and never sigh

And that's the way to grieve.

     We did something on Valentine's Day that I have wanted to do for many years. It was the second most important place I wanted to see in Mexico. The first was Paricutin and the other the Monarch Reserve. Valentine's Day we went to Michoacan to see the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. On the highway near Angangueo we snagged an 11 year old guide, named Abelardo. Abelardo, for his demeanor, instilled in us hope for the future. He's well spoken, genial, and each saturday and sunday he waits on the highway a kilometer before Angangueo offering to guide tourists to Chincua or El Rosario, two popular mountaintop monarch reserves. With Abelardo aboard, we entered Angangueo, a mountainous former mining town and ate breakfast at Los Arcos while Abelardo watched the truck. After a hearty breakfast of chilaquiles we hopped back into the the vehicle and began the climb to El Chincue.  

  Angangueo and Abelardo  Street in front of the church Angangueo

     Chincua is not as popular as El Rosario where there are more monarchs, but Abelardo assured me that Chincua was worth the visit. Of course most of his family work as guides or have food puestos there. I took him at his word only after grilling him about the biology of monarchs, about this particular reserve and after lightly threatening him that if we get up there and there are only 25 monarchs, he will need to withstand our disappointment and anger.  Sierra Chincua, which the name of the mountain range, sits 3600 meters above Angangueo (almost 12,000 feet). After a sinuous climb on a paved highway and 1.5 kilometers along a dirt road there is a parking lot where one begins the 3 kilometer trek. Like everywhere in Mexico that people stop, including intersections, a small community has sprung up to serve the public.  Here one can rent a horse or just begin walking. 
   Entrance to the forest

     It's a difficult walk given there was less oxygen at that altitude. After 20 minutes trekking through an impressive fir forest, like an appetizer, some butterflies finally appeared flitting here and there like orange feathers. 

   Fir or Oyamel Forest

    Flitters


     One of Abelardo's selling points for El Chincue over El Rosario was that there are two lookouts or miradors along the route whereas El Rosario had none. I don't know if that is true but they were impressive.

  Lookouts


     As we approached the monarch resting area we began to notice dead butterflies strewn along the path. Abelardo knew nothing about this phenomenon . I must research this later. 

   
     Someone even made a beautifully macabre  arrangement from a few corpses.


   
     After three kilometers we finally arrived at the spot on a steep side of the mountain where the Monarchs had spent the night. The bushes were orange and the air was streaked with their flights. Everyone was quiet. I believe one could hear the whisper of their wings. I found myself very emotional, as if I had entered a lofty cathedral with a cadre of gold leaf cherubs hovering above,, a holy space,, but that is really a lousy comparison. The works of man are impressive but nature will always have a special place in my heart.