This weekend I am reliving my six days at the butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico by transcribing my travel notes. I thought I’d share some of the entertaining bits here. This entry is from the first day, when we visited Cerro Pelon, a monarch sanctuary just outside the town of Zitácuaro in the state of Michoacán. Thankfully, Ellen’s photographs of me on horseback are not edited yet …
© Ellen Harasimowicz
“The path up Cerro Pelon was rocky, dry, and very dusty. My horse and I were lucky enough to be in the front a lot of the way, which saved me from the worst of it. My ‘caballo loco’, however, insisted upon taking the steep and rocky terrain at a run. I eventually learned a “smooch” sound told him to “GO!” and a yank on the red rope/bridle thingy told him to “STOP!”, but before I did there were some scary moments…
We saw a smattering of butterflies on the way up. As we neared the top, though, about an hour after setting out, the numbers swelled and the butterflies were everywhere. They were stunning against the blue sky …”