Yesterday we visited a new monarch site at Sierra Chincua.
The forest there was even larger than the one at Cerro Pelon. A long walk of 5 km dropped us into a small creek valley at 8200 feet where millions of monarchs were gathered in the Oyamel firs.
Thousands of others flew around us as they gathered at the creek to take a drink. It was magical! It was astouding too to think that the entire North American population of monarchs were wintering in just a few small locations such as this in Mexico.
Though we saw some evidence of logging it appeared to be kept at a minimum thanks to the military, federal police and locals who benefit from the ecotourism.
For dinner we stopped by the beautiful old town of Tlapujahaua for dinner of enchilada and soup.
Okay two questions:
First – It took us 8.5 hours to get to Angangueo. How long would it take a 1/2 gram monarch to make the same journey flying 40 miles a day?
Second question, The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico is a Unesco World Hertiage Site, what is the criteria used to become such a site?
