Seeing the monarch butterflies in Santa Cruz’ Natural Bridges State Beach was only the prelude to what we would experience on our trip to the butterfly sanctuaries in Mexico. But nothing could ready us for witnessing the sheer number of butterflies the overwinter in the reserve found in the Central Highlands of Mexico.
We broke up our trip to Mexico City with a weekend at Cerro Pelon Butterfly B&B. This family-run inn is located in Macheros, about two and half hours west of the city, and following the detailed instructions provided on their website, we easily made the journey by bus and taxi to them on a Friday afternoon.
Our trip started with a short 20-minute Uber ride from our hotel, the Sheraton Mexico City Maria Isabel, to the Central de Autobuses Observatorio bus station in the southern part of the city. We went directly to the Excelencia ticket booth and were pleased to learn that the next direct bus to Zitácuaro was leaving in four minutes. Each one-way ticket cost MXN 311 and they only accepted cash. The agent gave us a bottle of water for the trip and pointed us to the bus waiting around the corner. Compared to the bus that we took to Teotihuacán, the Excelencia bus was amazing: there was plenty of legroom, they played two movies in Spanish (I watched Clifford the Big Red Dog), and there were two clean toilets (one for men, one for women).
After leaving Mexico City the bus skirted around Toluca and then continued west past small towns and lots of farmlands. Around 1:15 P.M. we arrived at the main bus station in Zitácuaro. Taxis were waiting directly outside the entrance to the station. I wasn’t sure the drivers in Zitácuaro would necessarily have heard of, much less know how to get to, the Cerro Pelon Butterfly B&B considering it was in another state (we were in Michoacán, the B&B was in the State of Mexico) but the driver knew exactly what I was talking about. I agreed to a fare of MXN 350, a little more than what the B&B recommended, but I wasn’t going to haggle over less than 3 dollars.
Thirty minutes later the taxi dropped us off outside the gate of the B&B. It’s a charming property, with a colorful courtyard and butterfly motifs sprinkled throughout. Our corner room, Cuarto Amarillo, on the second floor had beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and the garden and pool.
With time on our hands we took a short hike up the mountain just behind the inn. It was a nice walk through the forest on a reasonably obvious trail. About a third of the way up we saw a break in the trees that had great views of the town of Macheros. As we continued our walk the vegetation got denser (it didn’t look like an actively maintained trail) so we decided to turn back.
That evening in the living room of the main house, seated around a welcoming fireplace, we met the owner Joel and learned a little about him and what to expect on the butterfly tours. We’d only have time to visit two, one each day before we took the bus back to Mexico City. For sure we’d go to the Cerro Pelon sanctuary as it was located right near the B&B, and after some discussion with Joel, decided that we’d go to the Sierra Chincua sanctuary, which was further away but less commercialized (read fewer tourists) than Santuario El Rosario, the largest of all the sanctuaries.
Cerro Pelón
We woke up to a beautiful day. After breakfast we had a brief introduction to the monarch butterfly, learning about its migration patterns, and the great work that Joel and his family was doing to promote tourism while supporting the local community.
There were only four of us on the tour. Joel’s brother Vincent was our guide. We walked past the church and within 5 minutes were at the entrance to the sanctuary where we were assigned horses. I got a bay horse named Estrella. Chris got a palomino.
Tour prices include a roundtrip ride on the horse. The trail was really rocky and dusty, and with the gain in elevation (almost 1,000 meters) to an altitude of almost 3,400 meters, taking the horse was a good choice in order to acclimate and not twist an ankle. It took us about an hour to go up. The poor horses (and their handlers) worked hard to bring us up the mountain.
When we got to the top, we walked a short distance to a grove where the colony was overwintering. Wow! I have never seen so many butterflies! There were huge clusters of them hanging from the oyamel fir trees and more flying all around us. As the sun moved, and the rays warmed different parts of the forest, we would see sudden activity as butterflies took off in search of food. Photos and words can’t do justice to what was truly a magical sight to witness.
We learned to tell the difference between a male and female monarch butterfly. The male has two dots on its wing and its black stripes are thinner compared to those of the female. Of course, from a distance, there is probably no practical way to tell them apart.
After an hour we went back down have lunch at a picnic table near where we had left the horses. There were butterflies on the grass soaking in the sun. It was amazing to see so many of them on the ground!
Cerro Pelon is the least developed of the sanctuaries so while the number of tourists is increasing, we were lucky enough to spend lots of time watching the butterflies dancing in the sun with no one else around.
Sierra Chinchua
The next day we took the B&B’s minivan to Sierra Chinchua, a 2-hour drive north. Roger, Joel’s other brother, was our driver. Vincent came along as our guide. It was a larger group of us – five friends and us. We drove past Zitácuaro, through several small towns, before arriving around 11 A.M. at the sanctuary. I could tell that this one was bigger and more developed compared to Cerro Pelon; it had an entrance area lined with restaurants and souvenirs shops, and a large parking lot.
While it was possible to rent a horse, we all chose to walk the 2.8 km to the grove. The trail was better groomed and not as steep so it was a pleasant walk. It was much more crowded here. As we got closer to the colony, the trail was lined with people. In theory each group is only supposed to spend 18-20 minutes in the grove but we managed to linger longer. The forest was orange with monarchs clustering on the trees and flying back and forth. It was really incredible to see.
There were definitely more butterflies in Sierra Chinchua. The forest was more open, really allowing you to see the monarchs flying overhead and all around, and also afforded views of the mountains in the distance.
Here’s a video that gives you a sense of just how many butterflies were around us:
However, the greater number of people detracted a bit from the experience, and I can’t even imagine what it would be like at El Rosario. Cerro Pelon was more intimate and for most of the tour, it was just us and the butterflies. In Sierra Chinchua, it was us and the butterflies plus a hundred other people.
Back to Mexico City
On our last day the B&B arranged for a taxi to take us back to the main bus station in Zitácuaro. This time we went up to the Autovías counter and we were lucky again – the next bus was leaving in 10 minutes. Each ticket was actually a little bit cheaper – MXN 310 (vs. 311). It was just enough time to withdraw money from the ATM (their credit card terminal didn’t like our card) and make our way to the bus.
It was a double-decker bus, and like the Excelencia bus, our seats were comfortable and roomy. While we had individual monitors at our seat they didn’t show any movies. Two hours later we returned to Mexico City, followed by a 20-minute Uber ride and we were back to where we started our adventure.
Read about our encounter with the Western monarch population in Santa Cruz here.
Coda
It turned out to be pretty easy to make our own way from Mexico City to Cerro Pelon Butterfly B&B. I was also really happy that we found this B&B and used it as our base to get to other sanctuaries instead of using a tour operator that would have pocketed most of the trip cost with little going back to the local economy. Getting to meet Joel and his family, to hear him tell us his story, see the care and attention that he put into building his business and learn about the wonderful things he has done to support his community through monarch butterfly tourism, was truly inspirational. I loved that the tours to the sanctuary were with his family members – people who cared and had a vested interest in the success of not just the butterflies, but also our experience. We also met and had interesting conversations with other wonderful guests that were staying there.
It was truly a magical weekend.