The monarch buterfly's migrate from Canada to Mexico every winter and spend
February and March in a location about 2 hours outside Morelia.
Ruth found 7 people leaving on Tuesday morning to see them
and thought it could be an interesting trip.
So , Here we go. A three day adventure.
I can't believe I'm heading out the door this early.
It's only a 10 minute walk down the canal to where we meet our bus.
Packed and ready.
On the road by sunrise.
I haven't seen one of these for a while.
Ruth said to me ,"Rick , Take a picture."
I'm glad she did. I hope its awhile before I see this again.
The infrastructure in Mexico is second to none.
They could teach Canada how to build roads.
To be fair , they don't have to endure our harsh winters.
The tunnels were all lit up like it was daytime.
No garbage along the roads and everything was well manicured.
We stopped here for our morning coffees.
I think they charge the tourists a little extra.
Coffee was $1.41 Canadian.
Driving into Patzcuaro. Population of 800,000.
Murel at our first gas stop.
Artwork everywhere is amazing and beautiful.
Town centre.
Felt like we could be somewhere in Europe.
We picked a couple of huge limes off of a tree in our car parking lot.
There's always a comedian in every crowd.
Ours was Nino the Italian. Nice guy. Entertained everyone the whole trip.
We wandered thru the town centre looking for a lunch spot.
It was almost a 5 hour drive to get here.
Beautiful restaurant.
Mexican's seem to eat lunch around 2:00 and dinner between 8:00 - 10:00.
We were a little early so we beat the lunch crowd.
We ate inside but the outside seating was just as nice.
We gathered in the courtyard before heading out to do some sightseeing & shopping.
The craftsman ship in Mexico is second to none.
No plywood or chip board here.
Once again, the architecture is beautiful.
There is someone washing floors and cleaning up everywhere I seemed to look.
These buildings and roadways are hundreds of years old.
This is a store that sold beautiful fur jackets.
They have constructed a glass roof over this old building.
Our sales woman spoke very good english and had blue eyes.
She said she is 100% Mexican but the blue eyes came from Spanish ancestry.
It was always a surprise to see what was on the other side of the walls.
These are the small rooms that the nuns would have slept in.
Everywhere we looked was like seeing another section of Disneyland
but this is the real world instead. This felt so right.
Patzcuaro is a beautiful city.
The biggest poinsettia I have ever seen.
This artisan was working on making a rug on his loom.
Ruth bought a colourful length of braided cord off him.
Not sure what she'll do with it but it was beautiful.
A young Spanish woman also bought some which she'll braid into her hair.
Another courtyard in the convent.
A nice sitting area.
I was quite taken by the walkways.
These are small pieces of skinny rock standing on edge
as the decorative edges of sidewalks and roadways.
It has to be very time consuming to make these roads and walkways.
Back in the town centre to meet up with everyone and head off in the bus.
It was interesting to see how the local Mexicans use this town centre.
And about one hour later we're in Morelia.
Population of 1.5 million people.
Patzcuaro use to be the capital of Michoacan but now the capital is Morelia.
First a walking tour of the Cathedral.
I couldn't stop wondering how they could construct something like this 400 years ago.
This would make a nice entrance to our place back in Kelowna.
Get busy Carrie.
Beautiful.
It must have taken thousands of people to build this.
The wealth of the church boggles my mind.
Why are there so many hungry people on this planet?
This is the pipe organ at the rear of the sanctuary.
And the staircase leading to the pipe organ.
Ruth wanted to go up there to take a look but it was roped off.
One last church picture and we're off to dinner.
This young man is a music student at the University of Morelia
and makes extra money by busking (Opera singer) at the restaurants in his town square .
We were just fortunate to come here for dinner and get to hear him.
This is the courtyard inside of the restaurant we were eating dinner at.
Such beautiful architecture.
The outdoor eating area.
We're back on the road for day two after a stop at walmart to buy me some socks and long pants.
I've never been so cold in my life. Our guide neglected to tell Ruth and myself to bring warm clothes.
Ruth bought a new warm jacket and almost everyone in our tour group bought something warmer.
There are three main sanctuaries for the butterfly's in this area.
The one we went to is the highest in elevation.
This made me smile. It's a Mexican toll booth.
Two guy's holding a rope stretched across the road that we stopped for.
We have to cross private land to get up this mountain. It worked.
The road was built right on the edge.
I appreciated how slow out tour guide drove.
Those aren't leaves. They are butterfly's getting a drink of water.
So now we're at the base of the path which leads to where the butterfly's are .
Once again. Our guide never told us there was a steep hike up a mountain.
I just had sandals on which do not work for hikes like this.
The entrance for the hiking path starts at about 1800 meters above sea level.
After walking up stairs for 25 minutes I found out the butterfly's were at 10,000 meters.
According to my phone we were only at 3600 meters.
I told Ruth I didn't really care if I saw them or not and so I turned back.
This gives you a bit of an idea how steep the stairs were.
Ruth kept going and made the top.
I on the other hand ended up having a wonderful time as well.
I sat on a picnic bench with a gal from Montreal drinking beers
and watching videos of the butterfly's on you tube with her.
Ruth made it down about an hour or two after me and
we headed back to Morelia.
Even if I didn't see the butterfly's I did have a good time overall.
There was a lot to see and take in.
Our hotel in Madera.
Just off the main drag.
The place next door was nicer.
This was a courtyard one block away.
I sat here for about 10 minutes eating a tamale before a Jehovah
Witness from Chicago spotted me. Are we not safe anywhere in the world from them.
I had to laugh. I spotted them as soon as they entered the square.
Just outside Madera we saw this government built development.
If you are working and make payments on your house the government will help you
buy a 2-3 bedroom home for you and your family.
I'm thinking that this is a good place to live more than not.
This made me laugh. We went into the outskirts of Pasquale to buy
some Avacoto honey. These cows were just hanging out .
Who knows where they really belonged.
The official greeter.
He stood there waving at us as we arrived and as we left.
The children of Mexico are all so sweet.
Like their parents they as so quick to wave , smile and say Buenos dias.
This corner house is also a store where we bought the honey.
I wish I had taken a picture of the mother who ran this store. She was so kind.
Another adventure.
Next stop was to Santa Clara Del Cobre or also known as Copper Town.
A beautiful colonial village.
Our tour guide's wife grew up here.
We watched them make copper pots and pans old school.
Our guide said that they still make everything for the village like this.
It is so labour intensive . The factories are very primitive.
It made a good story for the tourist.
We even got to try pounding out some pots old school if we wanted.
I would bet dollars to donuts that everything in these stores came from China.
If not China they were made on a press somewhere in Mexico.
This is in the copper museum.
They had an example of the old foundries.
Apparently they put on shows every so often using this old equipment.
It was interesting.
So it's been a long day and most of the folks on the tour aren't use to
having to keep up this pace.
I didn't doze off at all because I was the copilot and felt it my job
to keep the pilot awake and entertained.
I can't believe I'm heading out the door this early.
It's only a 10 minute walk down the canal to where we meet our bus.
Packed and ready.
On the road by sunrise.
I haven't seen one of these for a while.
Ruth said to me ,"Rick , Take a picture."
I'm glad she did. I hope its awhile before I see this again.
The infrastructure in Mexico is second to none.
They could teach Canada how to build roads.
To be fair , they don't have to endure our harsh winters.
The tunnels were all lit up like it was daytime.
No garbage along the roads and everything was well manicured.
We stopped here for our morning coffees.
I think they charge the tourists a little extra.
Coffee was $1.41 Canadian.
Driving into Patzcuaro. Population of 800,000.
Murel at our first gas stop.
Artwork everywhere is amazing and beautiful.
Town centre.
Felt like we could be somewhere in Europe.
We picked a couple of huge limes off of a tree in our car parking lot.
There's always a comedian in every crowd.
Ours was Nino the Italian. Nice guy. Entertained everyone the whole trip.
We wandered thru the town centre looking for a lunch spot.
It was almost a 5 hour drive to get here.
Beautiful restaurant.
Mexican's seem to eat lunch around 2:00 and dinner between 8:00 - 10:00.
We were a little early so we beat the lunch crowd.
We ate inside but the outside seating was just as nice.
We gathered in the courtyard before heading out to do some sightseeing & shopping.
The craftsman ship in Mexico is second to none.
No plywood or chip board here.
This area is an old convent which has been converted into small shops
on the edge of the city centre.
Once again, the architecture is beautiful.
There is someone washing floors and cleaning up everywhere I seemed to look.
These buildings and roadways are hundreds of years old.
This is a store that sold beautiful fur jackets.
They have constructed a glass roof over this old building.
Our sales woman spoke very good english and had blue eyes.
She said she is 100% Mexican but the blue eyes came from Spanish ancestry.
It was always a surprise to see what was on the other side of the walls.
These are the small rooms that the nuns would have slept in.
Everywhere we looked was like seeing another section of Disneyland
but this is the real world instead. This felt so right.
Patzcuaro is a beautiful city.
The biggest poinsettia I have ever seen.
This artisan was working on making a rug on his loom.
Ruth bought a colourful length of braided cord off him.
Not sure what she'll do with it but it was beautiful.
A young Spanish woman also bought some which she'll braid into her hair.
Another courtyard in the convent.
A nice sitting area.
I was quite taken by the walkways.
These are small pieces of skinny rock standing on edge
as the decorative edges of sidewalks and roadways.
It has to be very time consuming to make these roads and walkways.
Back in the town centre to meet up with everyone and head off in the bus.
It was interesting to see how the local Mexicans use this town centre.
And about one hour later we're in Morelia.
Population of 1.5 million people.
Patzcuaro use to be the capital of Michoacan but now the capital is Morelia.
First a walking tour of the Cathedral.
I couldn't stop wondering how they could construct something like this 400 years ago.
This would make a nice entrance to our place back in Kelowna.
Get busy Carrie.
Beautiful.
It must have taken thousands of people to build this.
The wealth of the church boggles my mind.
Why are there so many hungry people on this planet?
This is the pipe organ at the rear of the sanctuary.
And the staircase leading to the pipe organ.
Ruth wanted to go up there to take a look but it was roped off.
One last church picture and we're off to dinner.
This young man is a music student at the University of Morelia
and makes extra money by busking (Opera singer) at the restaurants in his town square .
We were just fortunate to come here for dinner and get to hear him.
This is the courtyard inside of the restaurant we were eating dinner at.
Such beautiful architecture.
The outdoor eating area.
We're back on the road for day two after a stop at walmart to buy me some socks and long pants.
I've never been so cold in my life. Our guide neglected to tell Ruth and myself to bring warm clothes.
Ruth bought a new warm jacket and almost everyone in our tour group bought something warmer.
There are three main sanctuaries for the butterfly's in this area.
The one we went to is the highest in elevation.
This made me smile. It's a Mexican toll booth.
Two guy's holding a rope stretched across the road that we stopped for.
We have to cross private land to get up this mountain. It worked.
The road was built right on the edge.
I appreciated how slow out tour guide drove.
Those aren't leaves. They are butterfly's getting a drink of water.
So now we're at the base of the path which leads to where the butterfly's are .
Once again. Our guide never told us there was a steep hike up a mountain.
I just had sandals on which do not work for hikes like this.
The entrance for the hiking path starts at about 1800 meters above sea level.
After walking up stairs for 25 minutes I found out the butterfly's were at 10,000 meters.
According to my phone we were only at 3600 meters.
I told Ruth I didn't really care if I saw them or not and so I turned back.
This gives you a bit of an idea how steep the stairs were.
Ruth kept going and made the top.
I on the other hand ended up having a wonderful time as well.
I sat on a picnic bench with a gal from Montreal drinking beers
and watching videos of the butterfly's on you tube with her.
Ruth made it down about an hour or two after me and
we headed back to Morelia.
Even if I didn't see the butterfly's I did have a good time overall.
There was a lot to see and take in.
Our hotel in Madera.
Just off the main drag.
The place next door was nicer.
I sat here for about 10 minutes eating a tamale before a Jehovah
Witness from Chicago spotted me. Are we not safe anywhere in the world from them.
I had to laugh. I spotted them as soon as they entered the square.
Just outside Madera we saw this government built development.
If you are working and make payments on your house the government will help you
buy a 2-3 bedroom home for you and your family.
I'm thinking that this is a good place to live more than not.
This made me laugh. We went into the outskirts of Pasquale to buy
some Avacoto honey. These cows were just hanging out .
Who knows where they really belonged.
The official greeter.
He stood there waving at us as we arrived and as we left.
The children of Mexico are all so sweet.
Like their parents they as so quick to wave , smile and say Buenos dias.
This corner house is also a store where we bought the honey.
I wish I had taken a picture of the mother who ran this store. She was so kind.
Another adventure.
Next stop was to Santa Clara Del Cobre or also known as Copper Town.
A beautiful colonial village.
Our tour guide's wife grew up here.
We watched them make copper pots and pans old school.
Our guide said that they still make everything for the village like this.
It is so labour intensive . The factories are very primitive.
It made a good story for the tourist.
We even got to try pounding out some pots old school if we wanted.
I would bet dollars to donuts that everything in these stores came from China.
If not China they were made on a press somewhere in Mexico.
This is in the copper museum.
They had an example of the old foundries.
Apparently they put on shows every so often using this old equipment.
It was interesting.
So it's been a long day and most of the folks on the tour aren't use to
having to keep up this pace.
I didn't doze off at all because I was the copilot and felt it my job
to keep the pilot awake and entertained.
Ulises is a good guy.
He drove safely and always watched out for us.
That's a big responsibility for one guy over 3 days.
Thumbs up for him.
He drove safely and always watched out for us.
That's a big responsibility for one guy over 3 days.
Thumbs up for him.
