Morelia y Las Mariposas Monarcas

This week my wonderful friend Veronica came to visit me from Chicago. In addition to taking her to all my usual haunts in San Miguel, we took a mini-vacation to Morelia in the beautiful state of Michoacán. Morelia is a lovely city with fantastic architecture and delicious food! But the highlight of our trip was a hiking excursion just outside of Angangueo (three hours south) to see the famous monarch butterflies. Roughly 100 million monarchs migrate from Canada and the US to Mexico each winter, and one fifth of those choose this mountain to reside for its abundant water sources and trees. Words cannot begin to describe how amazing this experience was. Hopefully the photos will be a better introduction.

YAY! Someone to finally snap a picture of me! :)

The lovely casita where we stayed

Chocolate Moreliano and Churros

The Cathedral in Morelia

La Fuente de las Tarascas and the Aqueduct

First view of butterflies as we start our climb at El Rosario Sanctuary

Pine and cedar trees - their fragrance was amazing

More and more monarchs appearing

The swirling of butterflies on the top of the mountain

Veronica warming in the sunshine at the bus station