Monarch butterfly

Every winter, tens of thousands of Monarch butterflies return to México!

These amazing creatures make an arduous journey of up to 3,000 miles to overwinter in the East Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. They arrive in mid-November and eventually depart in late-February to begin another trip north to the United States and Canada.

The high elevation of 11,000 feet/3350 meters above sea level, located on the border of the states of Michoacán and Mexico, provides the ideal location for the Monarchs to breed and die. The offspring will then make the return journey, as they have for thousands of years. In 1986, the Mexican Government, recognizing the importance of these oyamel pine forests to Monarch butterflies, created the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve) to protect 62-square miles of forests within four separate monarch sanctuaries. The Biosphere Reserve was expanded to include 217 square miles in 2000.

In mid-February 2024, I visited the Biosphere Reserve Chincua in Angangueo (in eastern Michoacán) with some friends to peek into the world of the Monarchs. There is a small admission fee to enter the sanctuary, which goes towards upkeep of the site. Each group entering the site must be accompanied by a local trained guide.

Angangeuo sign

 

After a hearty breakfast of a pork cutlet with beans, rice, salad, and blue corn tortillas, washed down with atole de zarzamora (a corn-based hot beverage with the addition, in this instance, of blackberries), we were ready to start the journey. Also delicious were the quesadillas filled with squash blossoms or huitlacoche (a blue fungus that grows on ears of corn—known in English by the un-appetizing name of corn smut.)

Breakfast
Squash blossom
Huitlacoche
Atole

 

Horse

Because the Monarchs congregate in isolated areas high up on the mountain, an hour-long hike up the side of the mountain is required. (Those who don't want to walk up can rent horses for the journey.) The scenery is stunning, but the altitude of 11,000 feet can make breathing difficult!

Elevation app

 

On the path up the mountain you'll find lots of native plants that the Monarchs rely on for nutrition. One of the problems challenging the species is the destruction of native plants and habitats. (Not only in México, but also in the United States and Canada.)

Native plants
Native plants

 

Once you arrive, you are greeted by tens of thousand of butterflies, some roosting in the trees, some drinking from small pools of water, and others flying through the air. The deep blue sky becomes alive with Monarchs on the wing. There is a reverent hush from the visitors observing this, because one feels you are witnessing something majestic and special.

 

Before we left the sanctuary, our guide took us to a stream that runs through a clearing off of the main road. There, in the stream, we got to see Axolotls, an endangered and adorable Mexican amphibian. Axolotls come in a variety of colors: we saw black ones, but the white and pink ones have become Instagram famous!

Axolotl
Axolotl
Axolotl
Axolotl

 

I cannot recommend highly enough that you visit the Monarch Biosphere at some point in your life. It humbles you to witness the resiliency of these tiny creatures, and provides a lesson for us all in perseverance.

Mountains
Guadelupe