The monarch butterflies of Morelia

March 7, 2012 enroute to the Monarch Sanctuary at La Rosario. We stopped at a few places before we head up the mountain.

The chapel is the only remaining structure of the hacienda in Hidalgo, the rest of the buildings destroyed in search for gold

Exploring the tunnels of the gold mine

Our monarch butterflies are waiting for us at the very top of that mountain at 9000 feet.

Proud of his town of Angangura and the gold history

Those little dots are thousands of butterflies before we even get to the reserve. We went up a shortcut on the back side of the mountain and parked right at the entrance gate.

Most people end up in a huge parking lot and have to walk a km before even getting to the entrance

And the extra bonus for us was the sunshine which brought the huge colony down to the bottom of the trail, saving us another km hike. 

My photos do not do justice to the orange trees all around us as I had the camera on video. The orange of course, from the butterfly laden branches.

Their tongues are getting water from the recently watered flower garden

I want my mother hen and chicks to look this healthy and the deer in our yard to let them alone!

Milkweed feeds the colony

Mating taking place here but this is two males, usually they mate tummy to tummy and fly off together, the male gets dropped and dies shortly after. We saw many poor guys on the ground breathing their last!

cycle of life

Yellow river from the minerals in the mountain, warm to the touch.

ore cart for the gold mine

We arrived in Morelia  at noon on Tuesday, checked in to Mision Catedral, how quaint.
Did a walkabout of the old town, so many cathedrals and mission buildings from the 1600s Jesuit days. From our rooftop balcony, I counted 11 cathedrals.
 Town square park is beautiful, similar to Colima and what a hopping place, music, shoe shiners, and artists at work.
 Morelia has UNESCO world heritage status. The buildings are very Spanish and the streets lack neon signs and sandwich boards, what a treat to see small rectangular business signs embedded in the brick walls.
The Michocean Market is huge, featuring thirty kinds of dulce and copper products and of course, lots of butterfly memorabilia.

our room, top floor

from our balcony

funky restaurant for our 2 for 1!

Imagine the orange!!!

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