A Frenetic Race Up the Mountains
Published: 11/10/2021
Dear friends,
Monarchs made their arrival official exactly one week ago, amidst the typical weather conditions for our great festivities on the “Day of the Dead”, this means, cloudy, chilly and even rainy during the day.
Now, the weather has changed to more typical fall and winter conditions. Bright, blue sky and sunny days prevail while temperatures have dropped rather considerably at night.
Sierra Chincua Sanctuary
I made my first visit to Sierra Chincua Sanctuary facilities this weekend.
At the Sanctuary entrance that morning, I did not see many monarchs flying in the blue sky during the morning. Their arrival to the sanctuary should be happening anytime along their journey up the mountain. We must be prepared to watch for them to appear at a location along this impressive mountain range.
As one of local guides remarked:
“Tourists are surprisingly arriving already, even though the official opening of Sanctuaries is due for November 18-20; meanwhile, we greatly appreciate their visit and we are inviting them to walk around our beautiful natural promenade, to have lunch at our typical Mexican restaurants getting open already and to close picking-up nice souvenirs made by our local craft-families.”
El Rosario Sanctuary
I also visited the El Rosario Sanctuary and encountered a different experience.
Hundreds of monarchs were frenetically moving about. They were arriving from the valley of Angangueo to reach the mountain top. They were strong, flapping their wings looking as if they were young bats or even birds! They stopped to nectar from flowers and collect water from ponds everywhere, even on the roads wherever wet spot might have been found.
El Rosario Sanctuary entrance was already crowded with visitors this past weekend considering the season has not been announced through any media source yet.
As the El Rosario Ejidatario families remarked:
“Our Sanitary restrictions shall be strictly observed this season too. We want our visitors to offer a “Safe Return Home” trip, and we have been trained to manage a successful season”.
While monarchs recognize and choose their exact overwintering spots, our Ejidatario elders, assisted by the Reserve biology experts at both sanctuaries, are totally concentrated now in guaranteeing that monarchs have the forests all for themselves. The monarchs need peace and silence to finally come to rest for the winter months. They also need to nectar and drink unimpeded. Thankfully, the ancestral Oyamel forests offer fresh water, nectar sources and safety to monarchs after their long journey to Central Mexico.
Estela Romero
Angangueo, Michoacán, México.
Note to our readers: This article has been edited from the original English version for clarity and readability.
