Day 25 – Cerro Pelón Sanctuary

We woke up in a tiny village that is all about the yearly monarch overwintering. Even our hand made teapot and sugar bowl featured butterflies!

Our guide Ana took us up on horseback to an altitude of 3,000 meters (over an hour) where we would find the oyamel firs monarchs prefer after their migration from Canada. The specimens that make it here are members of the suer generation because they live much longer than their parents or offspring. Ellen of JM B&B explained to us how this location was discovered, monarchs’ life cycle and migration patterns.

There were many monarchs fluttering around and also perched on trees.

After observing them for a short time under the watchful supervision of the local rangers we had a torta de frijoles (bean sandwich) and an apple for lunch.

Then we trekked back to Macheros. Mark was interviewed about the visit…

…and we hopped into the car for a 120 mile drive to Mexico City, CDMX.