Monarchs of Mexico

Betty had, let’s just say, a ‘significant’ birthday coming up and I wanted to do something special for her. I knew she had always had a fascination with and appreciation for butterflies and we had discussed some time back, the phenomenon of the monarch butterfly migration. After doing some on-line research and talking with a number of tour groups, I decided to surprise her with a week long trip with Natural Habitat Adventures, http://www.nathab.com. This is an ecco-destination group I cannot speak highly enough of. Really outstanding.

The story of the monarch migration is truly fascinating. A wonder of nature, described thusly; “One of the world’s most astounding natural events occurs each year in North America, featuring one of its most unlikely creatures, the delicate monarch butterfly. Every autumn, up to 300 million monarchs set flight on a remarkable 3,000-mile journey from the northeastern U.S. and Canada to their ancestral wintering grounds in the volcanic mountains of central Mexico. Until recently, the location of their breeding grounds remained a mystery. How an infant generation of butterflies finds it anew each year is still an enigma”.

What follows are some of the shots taken during our trip. Of course, it’s impossible to really capture the wonder of being in the midst of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of butterflies with still photographs, but I did what I could.