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A very kind headmaster offered to take myself and two other colleagues Rob and Lourdes to visit the forest sanctuary of Angangueo, where between December and the end of March, some thirty five million Monarch butterflies gather together to ensure a bit of decent winter weather. Who can blame them? But why in that precise spot has to be a real mystery. I had seen documentary films about this place, but the opportunity to visit it for myself was very exciting. I was all the more grateful because the headmaster was just recovering from hepatitis, and he was only really going (and driving) for our
benefit. It was, however a surprisingly quick drive, about five hours, and we were dropped off at a junction from where we could get a bus to the town of Angangueo. From there we were able to take another bus directly to the sanctuary. Then came the hard part - the walk, the uphill walk at high altitude to where the butterflies waited to greet us. Not that we weren't experiencing butterflies already. Even in the town they were very noticeable, but the further uphill we ventured, the more their seemed to be until the air was full of their acrobatic movements and the trees were literally laden with thick bunches of them.
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Somewhat primitive loos at
the beginning of the walk to
the butterflies
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One tree, host to
thousands of Monarch
butterflies
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Where water is found the butterflies gather to drink.
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Once my lungs had recovered, and once we had enjoyed the spectacle to the full, Rob, Lourdes and myself headed back to the entrance where of course various tourist stalls had been set up, and where we were able to enjoy a picnic of the freshly baked rolls we had bought earlier. Then we found a bus to bump us all the way to Ocampo. After a quick look around we caught a bus to the original junction where we had been dropped off. We now had the prospect of quite a lengthy walk to the hotel where Richard had gone to check us in some hours before. The walk was lessened by the quick reactions of Rob who managed to get us a couple of kilometres in the back of a pick up truck. Then it really was walking but it was late afternoon, gently warm and the scenery was great, particularly on the long stretch from the hotel entrance to the hotel itself.
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The two photos to the left are of views seen before we even reached the hotel entrance. Note the
flowering jacaranda tree. It was one of many that
coloured the weekend.
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Views seen from the approach to the hotel. I was particularly taken with the several white-barked trees. The far right picture I took because it amused me that the man-made
structure is a lot less straight than nature's structure right next to it.
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The hotel was set in beautiful grounds and it had a pool heated by thermal springs. The icing on the cake, was the carpet of fallen lilac Jacaranda flowers that floated on the water and spread across surrounding area.
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Two short but very pleasant walks
followed on the Sunday. Richard led
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us on the first, taking us past strange formations and a cave down to a river's edge dotted with wild banana plants. Then Rob, Lourdes and I headed out into the midday heat on the other side of the river to view the dry and barren landscape. Finally, back to the hotel for a hefty lunch and then to Tequis stopping to buy honey and strawberries at the roadside.
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