To the monarch sanctuary

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January 23, 2023

For some reason, I did not really think I’d have a chance to visit the monarch sanctuary near Morelia, but after talking with the tour guide last night at 10 pm, it happened today!

The guide, Luis Alberto, and 3 other tourists arrived by car to pick me up at my hotel at 9 am. Interestingly, my companions were from France and Belgium, and all spoke French, and two of them spoke Spanish.

We headed off on the local highways for a three hour journey through small towns of Michoacán. As we continued we crossed Mexico’s largest lake and large fertile valley flanked by mountains. After a couple of hours we started to climb into the mountains, and then very very steep climbing to the entrance of El Rosario Monarch refuge, the largest monarch refuge in Mexico.

Entrance to the sanctuary
Our guide, Luis Alberto was excellent
Monarch perched on bushes and flowers as we climbed the mountain

Our trek up the mountain today was from 2300 m to 3200 m. I could feel a little more short of breath.

I wondered what so many monarchs were on the ground, but the area was moist and they were attracted there to drink water.
Struggling over the same flower. It’s getting crowded!
As we neared the top, the butterflies became thicker
At the top, there’s a sense of awe as thousands upon thousands of monarchs fly around amongst the tall pine trees.

4 thoughts on “To the monarch sanctuary”

  2. Joanne

    Your description brought back a memory from about 40 years ago. We were at my parent’s cottage on Sunset Island, Wilson, N.Y., when a very large group of monarchs landed on the beach. They must have been starting their migration.
    Your account was lovely. Thank you.

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