Mariposas to J-24's

People have raved about it, we’ve read about it, and we almost skipped it, but finally we made our way to one of the well-known butterfly sanctuaries of Mexico. Personally having spent a few years in Costa Rica I thought I had seen butterflies before, thought I knew when I had seen a lot of butterflies, but it was nothing like this. The whole way up the trail in the park I was getting excited about a little group of “mariposas monarch” and some very educational signs on the trail but John was busting ahead at full speed and kept saying “no don't stop here for THAT, you just wait”! ....He would like me to mention that he had THE total ITYS (I told you so) moment when we reached the top of the trail and the air and the trees were full of “mariposas monarch”! Yes, the trees! There were MILLIONS of butterflies hanging in huge pods on the fir trees weighting the branches down like snow or ice. The monarchs are clumping together these days for warmth, to reproduce and to eat a heck of a lot of plant material before they start their migration back to the north. Well, these particular butterflies don’t make it all the way, first they mate, then the males die and then the moms and babies start the trip. The grand-babies will get to Canada and their great-grand-babies will start the return trip back to the same place, however the stamina and the survival system that these tiny creatures use is well documented. Hike up the trail at “El Rosario Santuario de Mariposa Monarca” and stop to read the signs to find out more, or just run to the top and be swarmed by butterflies.

We don’t usually do this, maybe because we don't see many, but we picked up a hitchhiker, how bored on the road were we? We thought it was a gringo, but it turned out to be an interesting Czech-guy who showed us the turn to the butterfly place. It was a great change in the monotony of a driving day to chat with someone who had been hitching and hiking all around central Mexico, with little showering, and he had a lot of fun feedback on his experiences and on his perspective of politics in the US. He had been traveling three weeks in Mexico and was excited to share his stories with his geography class in the Czech Republic.

A short trip later we entered Valle de Bravo. A lakeside community only two hours from Mexico City that is renown for its sailing. Yes, sailing. We had actually come to “Valle” because our friends had told us of some great mountain biking right in town, and it was such a surprise to see all the great racing boats! We walked into a great looking bike and sailing shop and talked to a guy named Hector who drew us a map of how to get to the biking trails. After a little poking around on tiny, narrow streets (read: John and Tonto were struggling) we got up to the trails and did a beautiful evening bike that turned into a moon-light ride back to the van and our campsite in the parking lot of the park. The next morning we were preparing to go for another ride and Hector came by with his dog Nuri! He invited us to tag along, and we went for a great two-hour ride to the top of the mountain, past the paragliding take off. Yes, paragliding is also a huge sport here. Of course Hector and I got talking about sailing, and then he said he would help us get a boat to rent! We took our solar showers, changed clothes and went down to meet Hector on the docks. He was sorry that his sailing club was closed during the week (since most members are only around on the weekend) so we couldn’t use his boat, but we rented a very old J-24 and had a great cruise!! It is a beautiful place to sail and the clubs are really gorgeous! On the lake there are about nine different sailing clubs, a J-24 class of approximately 225 boats, and a very active junior sailing program in optimists and lasers. Can’t wait to come back to show ‘em how its done! Anyone else want to sail in Mexico?





That night we also had a great invite for dinner with a new friend “Debbie” who is doing her one year mandatory volunteer service as a doctor in a tiny town outside “Valle”. All Mexicans in any profession have to do one year of service before they are licensed. Imagine what we could accomplish with programs like that! Debbie hooked us up with a huge cheese platter, (my fav) pasta and then Ate (a gelatin) and more cheese for dessert!! To end our perfect day we watched the lunar eclipse from the porch and then returned to Tonto, now in Hector’s driveway, to fall exhausted into sleep!