oops

So like I mentioned, it's hard to lead a trip and keep up the energy to write a blog about it at the same time. I will 100% admit it felt so good those last 2 days to just collapse and fall into bed without writing a single thing down!! So here are a few highlights...

-The last preserve we visited was cool and cloudy. very diff vibe than the active sunny monarch filled day prior
-delicious lunch & horseback ride to the top
-sleepy monarch clusters
-witnessed orioles predating on the butterflies!
-took a pause to send away my stress with the monarchs, but couldn't think of anything!
-Mel lost her phone!!
-drove to Valle de Bravo...got lost getting to the hotel
-GORGEOUS accommodations - DEF coming back some time for personal vacation
-hot tub, hammock, pizza, and wine
-hot yoga
-boat tour of the reservoir
-fish lunch
-long drive back to CDMX, tons of traffic, but nothing like before
-room to myself
-temple of sun & moon, very hot!! need shorts!
-dinner out with Mel, Liana, and Alex
-ate pueblo beetles on squash blossoms! yum!
-rolled out early next day to return cars and to the airport...which I actually barely remember...
-to go burgers at texas airport for the plane ride back to MD

I will also note, that even though I am posting these almost 1 year after my trip, I am VERY excited to go back to Mexico. PX3 plans on holding annual trips to the bioperserves and if you are interested in attending (now that we know where we're going and won't get lost so often haha), then please let me know, or go to px3-pollinators.com

No mints for pillows

After the 1st night of more than 6 hours of sleep, I woke feeling more refreshed and excited for the day.

Not that I wasn’t excited for the other days, don’t get me wrong, but running on fumes is tough while
traveling and running on fumes like traveling AND leading a group, is even tougher.

The hotel laid out a buffet spread for our breakfast and (don’t tell anyone this, or you’ll ruin my street
cred), I was actually early to breakfast. The group leaders planned over our cafe mexicano and earl
grey and shared our grows and glows. Total aside, but the group I’m leading with is really great. We all
get along well, are on the same page when it comes to adjustments and decisions and everyone is
wonderful at staying positive. 

I rode in the big van today with the participants. Mostly to get to spend time with everyone and get to
chat more, but also to be able to hear any cool facts our guide David (same guy from yesterday)
shared with us. We drove through Ocampo on our way to El Rosario, the biggest monarch sanctuary in
Mexico. The towns weren’t as small as the ones our scenic detour took us through the day before, and
you could definitely tell that the tourism that comes through the area is a significant source of income
for the locals. David said most people work in construction, but the town felt much more welcoming and
lively compared to the others we’d seen. 

David had “warned” us that we would be seeing many more monarchs at El Rosairo compared to the
day before, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say, I assumed we’d maybe see twice as many
as yesterday. NOPE! We hadn’t even gotten into the sanctuary when we’d already seen hundreds of
butterflies soaring past us and nectaring on nearby bushes. Turns out that El Roario is the winter home
of HALF of all the monarch in Mexico. 

Even standing in the parking lot you felt like you were in a snowglobe on butterflies, and it got even
more intense as we walked into the park. Our local guide, Lidia ushered us into a small intro movie for
the sanctuary which explained to guests the life cycle of the monarchs, their migration route, and
appropriate ways to behave in the park (ie. no flash photography, don’t touch the butterflies, and watch
your step!) One of the things they explained in the movie, and forgive me for being an ignorant
pollinator lead, but I learned that it takes 5 generations of monarchs to migrate from Canada and the
US before they make it to Mexico. Then *this* generation (what we call the “super generation” and the
Mexican’s call “methusila generation”) are the ones that mate and then mate and fly back to Texas. Our
hike was all concrete steps, up and back, but it was still a tiring process. I’m not sure if we stopped
frequently to catch our breaths, or we stopped to take in the sights. I guess in the end it doesn’t really
matter.

Now I know I said this a few times yesterday, but it’s totally true today as well, but the pics don’t do this
experience justice. The sheer VOLUME of butterflies was stunning. The sounds they made as they
fluttered around, bumped into each other, flapped their wings against the plants or pavement, fell from
trees, was unlike anything you’ve ever heard. You have to watch the videos to get a feel for it. I hope
the sound comes through because it was really spectacular.

We met another local guide who’d been coming to El Rosairo for 10 years and he said that *this day*
was the best butterfly day he’d ever seen. The population there is up 140% from years previous and
many people thanked us for planting milkweed (the butterflies’ host plant) and encouraged us to keep
up the good work. I learned today that a group of butterflies is called a “kaleidoscope” and this was that
x100. A “flurry of monarchs” still doesn’t really do it justice...maybe more like a blizzard would be
accurate. 

Basically, the bottom line is, look at the pics, watch the videos, and just try to take a few breaths and
imagine yourself at the moment. Don’t roll your eyes at me. Just do it!

After returning to the parking lot, David negotiated lunch at a local stand where they made us
quesadillas and tacos with freshly made corn tortillas. MUY DELICIOSO! I ate dos quesadillas; uno
with flor de calabaza (squash flowers) and uno with champinuns (again, don’t tell anyone...but those
are mushrooms). While we ate we were occasionally swarmed by young kids trying to sell us
souvenirs, and if they weren’t so damn cute, it may be been overwhelming. 

A bit of free time to shop and explore more, and then we were back in the van to head to Angangueo,
David’s hometown, for a tour. Now I mentioned that we’d driven through lots of cute local towns before,
but this was really specail. To have a local guide who walked us around and introduced us to their little
community and culture was so special. Considering all of this David connection was 100%
serendipitous, it felt even more special to see the hand-painted murals, the churches, the statues, and
walk around the shops (and of course meet the local dogs, like Pioneer and Kyle...who kept trying to
jump in our vans to eat our snacks). 

Liana lead a quick pollinator lesson about bats and tequila and we sat on the steps of the square
eating freshly roasted pepitas and taking tiny shots of Jimador. Walking across the street to the local
restaurant David recommended, we ate pollo mole, pollo grilled, pollo frito, and quesadillas. OF
COURSE, we had fresh, homemade guacamole and tortilla chips, not to mention a few cervesas. We
sat at the long table all as a group and shared our favorite glows from the day. The general consensus
was that the butterflies were okay, but we were all ready to go home. KIDDING! Although I’m sure I
didn’t catch many of you with that one. It’s hard to even joke that the butterflies are boring/not worth it
when you’re surrounded with so much beauty and wonder. 

A cup of hot water to soothe my sore throat before bed and our trip leader debrief and now I’m lying in
bed back under the 6 blankets. It reminds me that I want to make myself a weighted blanket when I get
home...it’s very soothing to be squished in bed. (hilarious side note...as I pulled back the blanket to
climb in bed, there was a small chip crumb on my pillow. Perhaps here there are no mints for pillows,
only tortilla chips!!) Hasta menana!

See those dead leaves in the trees?

Alarms off at 5am to shower, FINALLY, and meet the group downstairs at 6:15am. I should probably

make a note somewhere that this trip is quite different than my other travels because I am ⅕ of the
team leading the adventure. As part of my executive chair role for PX3, Pollinators Propersing People,
I volunteered (twist my arm why don’t you), to help run our pilot ecotourism trip to the see the monarch
wintering grounds. I expect to still be able to fully experience the trip, but there will also be a fair
amount of trip logistics and participant coordination as well.

Rangling participants, distributing breakfasts and packing luggage in the support SUV, and we were
on our way out of Mexico City around 7:30am for our 3.5 hour drive to El Capulin, our 1st monarch
biopreserve. Liana and I followed Mel, Alex, Erin, and the participants north out of the city center. As if
driving in a new city wasn’t difficult enough, please believe me when I say, that traffic in Mexico City is
the CRAZIEST TRAFFIC I’VE EVEN EXPERIENCED. I thought drivers in Jordan were scary, but that
was NOTHING in comparison. NOTHING. Traffic lights were ignored forming a giant spaghetti mess of
cars, trucks, buses, mopeds, and cyclists all going different directions. Liana and I joked/wondered if
there was going to be a way that eventually we’d all get so stuck in traffic we’d never get out.

Luckily we eventually made it free, after some aggressive moves, and only one bump from an extra
aggressive truck. I took a video of the adventure, but I’m sure it doesn’t do it justice. Oh, and speaking
of pictures/videos...I realized upon hotel arrival yesterday, that I’d forgotten my camera battery charger
in the US. OOPS. Luckily phones these days have great cameras, and I’m with a group of some
wonderful photographers who will be sharing their pictures (I hope).

Once out of the crowded city center, and on the edge of the city, we cruised along at a comfortable
pace, enjoying the sights. The landscape actually reminded me of Petra in some ways. Very scrubby
deserty land, nestled in the mountains. Also, similar to my other adventures, was the need to pay to
use the public restroom and the lack of toilet paper. New to me for this trip...no TP in the toilet. The
plumbing here is so weak, everyone throws their used TP in the trashcan next to the toilet. Definitely
took some getting used to at first, and if you hear of the Mexico City sewers having issues in the next
few days...let’s hope it wasn’t me.

We decided to forgo lunch and continue to much on snacks in the car on our way to our 1st reserve.
After the traffic adventures and the pit stops for bio breaks, we were supposed to arrive around
12:15pm. Leaving the highway for more rural roads seemed promising at first, but after about 1 hour of
windy, dusty, pothole-riddled, backcountry roads up into the mountains, we realized we were NOT
going where we thought we were going.

Now a detour like this, while leading a trip of 10 participants, may have set off the stress alarm of a
previous version of myself, but I gotta say, it was totally worth it. We were able to see so many unique
and authentic shops and houses, that it was a really amazing glimpse into rural Mexican life. We even
drove past an elementary school that was just letting out for the day. The little ninos and ninas were
adorable in their school uniforms, and the look of curiosity on their faces was priceless as the out of
place vehicles drove past them waving. Also, I’m pretty sure I saw the most quintessential abuilita in
existence waiting on the street corner for a ride to who knows where.

More quick thinking/adjusting had us scratching our day’s plan to tour El Capulin and we decided to
head to Sierra Chincua (40 min away), where we had planned to go tomorrow. It was a good lesson
learned in finding an exact address for locations rather than following a pin drop, and always having
offline maps saved (we hardly had any cell service in the mountains we would have been MUCHO lost
if we didn’t have our maps).

Upon arriving at Sierra Chincua, we met David, who would be our tour guide. We paid our
entrance/parking pesos (80 pesos per car) and headed into the sanctuary.  We had the option to ride
horses or hike the 3mi into the park, and since the weather was lovely (mid 70s and sunny, which a
light breeze keeping things cool), and we’d just been in the car for 5 hours, I was excited to hike. David
took us along a trail with the most unexpectedly beautiful wildflowers in the pine and fir forest. We
heard dozens of hummingbirds squawking and fighting in the branches, and even caught a glimpse of
a few of the cuties. 

The view from the mountains was spectacular and David pointed out a few areas on local ridge tops
where they were doing reforesting work with the admission to the park. It was nice to know that our
sanctuary money was going to help restore the habitat. Also, interesting to note that there were, as far
as I could tell, no full time/paid staff at the sanctuary. All the guides were paid through tips, which was
about $5/guide. 

I’m going to have to say, to get the full experience of the hike it, you’ll need to look at the pics, which
still don’t do it justice. 

About ⅔ of the way in, David told us we were entering the monarch area, and we should hush our
voices and be on the lookout. At first, I felt giddy upon seeing 12-15 monarch swirling up the
mountainside in the breeze. Turning a corner, and down a small steep decline, I looked up into the
trees to see hundreds more flying around amongst clumps of dead leaves in the trees (oyamel firs). 
Then like a lighting blot of awakening, I realized that the dozens of dead leaf clumps I had been looking
at were ALL MONARCHS huddled together. I still can’t really describe the way it felt to see that many
butterflies all clustered together. Somehow in all my years of animal curiosity and study, I didn’t really
realize that that was what I was about to be seeing when we entered the sanctuary. 

I will 100% say the pics don’t do it justice but watch a few videos. It was like standing in the snowglobe
of monarchs. Or a wind storm of orange leaves (butterflies) being blown around. Truly phenomenal.

Hiking back was quite a slog, as we were all getting tired and pretty hungry. David turned out to be
from the town where our hotel is (Hotel Don Bruno) and offered to guide us back to the hotel. In fact,
we liked him so much, that we decided to hire him to guide us around another sanctuary tomorrow. He
even gave us pointers on which sanctuary we should visit on Wednesday since El Capulin was a wash
(and apparently not a good place to see the butterflies this time of year anyway!)...it really all does work
out in the end.

Settling into our quaint hotel, with the most gorgeous courtyard (see pics!), and up to dinner provided
by the hospitable hotel staff. Over dinner I gave our participants the journaling prompt to find a way to
capture the magic of today so that it will stay with them the rest of their trip, and when they are back in
the US. I said, “if you never saw another monarch on our trip, what will you do to make sure this magic
stays alive?” I encouraged them to write a poem, express themselves through art, or journal about their experience (shout out to the Evans sisters for the inspo for the prompt, courtesy of their MAEOE session).

By 8:30, I was exhausted and ready for bed. Not only was it a FULL day of travel adventures, but also
leading a trip of 10, leaves even and extra extravert like me extra tired at the end of the day. Wrapping
this up at 10:15pm as Liana softly sleep in the bed next to mine (under not 1 or 2 blankets, but 7
BLANKETS...no heat in our hotel as it’s very rural), and I’m snuggled in my sleeping bag under my
own blankets. Dolce suenos mi amigos. Tomorrow is another adventure.

PX3 goes to MEX

After approximately 4 hours of restless sleep and a quick Lyft to BWI, check-in at the Southwest International counter was a breeze. My large bag only weighing 38lbs was well below its limit, and safely on it’s way to Houston and then Mexico City. I was to my gate by 5:45 and my travel companions arrived shortly after. Our 7am flight took off on time, which afforded me a MUCH needed nap as we cruised along above the clouds.

Arriving in Houston we stopped for a quick bite and then back on our short flight to Mexico City.
Everything went smoothly as we made our way through customs and baggage claim and to exchange
our money. Unfortunately, because we arrived on a Sunday, we knew the airport would be our best bet
for exchange, despite the lower rates. Two of our trip participants, Kim and Clare, went on to the hotel
to get settled, and the other trip leaders, Liana, Mel, Alex, and I began to sort out the rental cars. 

Because we were going to be driving around our participants all week AND their luggage, a large 15
passenger van, and support SUV were arranged. One from Budget and one from Enterprise, which
involved a few rounds to airport shuttles and lots of translation. SO thankful for our in-country guide,
Alex, who was able to do all our translating for us. Picking up our VW van and our Duster, we were off
to We Hotel Aeropuerto. 

Thinking we would have oodles of time between our arrival and our evening plans, we asked our
participants to meet us at 5pm. However, we did not arrive at the hotel until 5pm. (while parallel parking
the car, Alex forgot to put on the brake and almost rolled the VW van into the parked car behind it). A
quick adjustment of plans gave us a few more moments to check into our room and change clothes
before we hoped in some local cabs to dinner at Cafe de Tacuba, founded in 1912. 

The cafe was full of lively live traditional music; a troop of around 18 men with various guitars. Local
artists and pollinator lovers, Alena and Ceaser. For dinner, I was adventurous and ordered the “cuatro
cositas” (four little things...with no description!) and the Tacuba Chocolate (the house specialty hot
chocolate). My drink and dinner were both fabulous, although I still don’t really know what the little
things I was eating were. Regardless, muy deliciosa!

Our plan was to return to the hotel early, to give ourselves and everyone ample time to unwind and get
a good night’s sleep, however, after all the shifts in schedule, it was closer to 10 when we returned.
Trip leaders packed goodie bags for participants and I flopped into bed. For about 30 seconds I maybe
considered showering first, but I’m pretty sure I was asleep before I even got that far.