This morning I awoke just as the sun was rising through the fog in Maravatio. After walking the dog and taking some pics, I met up Julia and Katia in their hotel room where they were set to go! Julia and Katia are friends from Guadalajara who caught a ride to see Butterflies with me :-) I dropped Katia off yesterdayafternoon in Morelia and Julia here in Patzcuaro at the hostel. All off on our own adventures again.

This morning we enjoyed each others company, while together, we marveled at the beauty of Mexico as we cruised towards the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacan.

We arrived early in the morning and were met by a swarm of smiling kids eager to learn about us, the dog Moses and my amazing casa (house) on wheels. They peered in asking where the kitchen was laughing, little gears turning. It wasn't long before Julia, who is hula hooping throughout Mexico, had her hoops out and had the kids glowing with laughter and some masterful hooping!

We ate a quick breakfast and were off up the trail with our guide Salvador, leaving the kids behind us to practice their hula-skills.

After a forty-five minute hike we began to notice a few butterflies here and there along the ground of the trail. All of a sudden they were everywhere, not flying but latched to the trees and ALL over the ground! We arrived at our destination and took it all in. I captured some decent images of them, but they weren't flying around due to the cold weather. Although the internet said they are gone by Mar 1, our guide told us they are best in Mid March when it's hot and they are getting set to leave. Food for thought if I'm back this way again in a few weeks. It would have been nice to get some mad shots of the swarm! I captured some of them flying around.. but not to the extent that I would have liked.

Now I'm in Patzcauro in a rain storm... thinking about the next move :-)

To learn more about the Monarch click HERE.

paz,d