Monarch Butterflies, then Tizapan

It is really hard to keep the days straight because we are often moving and staying in a different place. Yesterday we left Atlacomulco and drove to see the Monarch butterflies. They migrate all the way from Canada to spend their winter months in Mexico and there is a butterfly reserve to ensure their safety. You can drive into the park only so far and then you have to hike a distance of about 3.5kms to see them. You are kept at a distance to protect them, but there are butterflies everywhere. They cover trees so heavily that the branches bend under their weight. They fill the air and sky overhead. It is amazing! I will post a few photos, but you won't be able to see much detail due to our distance from them. We cheated for the hike back to the truck and hired horses instead.

There were kids all over the parking lot at the butterfly reserve asking if we would pay them to watch our truck, if we would give them money, if we would give them a pop, and on and on. They wanted our Santa pinata that we had bought and we gave it to a little boy who had seemed quite thrilled with it. I also gave them some candy we had brought down to give out to kids. Unfortunately I got swarmed by about twenty kids that came out of nowhere, all with their hands out and begging after hiding the candy in their pockets and trying to look like they didn't have any already.

We spent our evening in Ciudad Hidalgo where we walked to the square and found a little restaurant that served tortas (sandwiches), tacos, and hamburgers. I had Horchata, a rice drink with cinnamon and milk in it and it was fantastic. Afterwards, we went past all the little carts selling goods and bought ourselves a few sweets, and back to the hotel for some sleep.

Today we got up and spent most of our day driving, and arrived south of Lake Chapala in a town called Tizapan. They are celebrating the arrival of a religious leader who will be living in the town for a year, so there was a big fiesta on when we arrived. Two entire streets were blocked off so that they could have a special path leading block after block all the way to the cathedral square and right to the church steps. The sawdust was dyed colors and they had pattered the path with flowers, it was gorgeous. Unfortunately, we did not get a photo on arrival, thinking it would be there for awhile, and when we returned, the fiesta had ended and cars were driving over it.

Enough chat, here are some photos (click for a larger image if you like):



The municiple building in Ciudad Hildalgo.

The horseback ride that allowed us to cheat our way down the long hike from the butterflies.




The air is filled with butterflies.


Those are not leaves, all of those are butterflies... they weigh down the branches there are so many of them.


A chicken roasterie where you can buy a whole chicken and they snip it into pieces faster than you can blink with these SUPER SUPER SUPER sharp snips. (The signs above are also offering chicken feet and heads for cheap)


Some of the landscape... this was arid and had tonnes of cactus.


Just around a corner it seems, the scenery can change... the middle of the mountain range looks like this.


Shawn! Riding! Happy!


A carneceria, butcher's shop with ladies doing something with meat.


Shawn in the market at Ciudad Valles.


Just one pic from the photos I took of a cemetary in Tampico on our way out of town. The cemetaries here are incredible... with a lot of statues, crypts, and mausoleums.

That is about all I can manage for today, a post from Shawn is coming soon!