Butterfly Madness!

A piece of info for you all: Butterflies are cool. But a million butterflies, that´s pure magic.

When I came to Mexico, I didn´t really have any set plans, or ideas of what I wanted to do. Honestly, I really didn´t know that much at all. But there was one thing I was determined to accomplish while I was here: visit the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. I told myself that I would not leave Mexico until I had done it. And my god, I am so glad I did.

Mexico is home to one of the world´s most interesting, yet least understood natural phenomena - the migration of millions of butterflies 6500km from Canada (and parts of the US) to Mexico. And in Mexico, they all congregate in the same area, a small patch of forest in the state of Michoacan, which is now a protected area. Millions of Monarch Butterflies in the same place at once? I had to go!

Originally I had wanted to camp, but seeing as I don´t have a tent, or a sleeping bag, and I couldn´t find any other travelers or couchsurfers brave enough to attempt it (at over 3000 meters, it´s mighty high, and mighty cold), I had to settle for staying in a cheap hotel in the nearest town and making a day trip of it.

I got to the reserve early (well, relatively early. 10:30am), made my way in, and paid for my mandatory guide, Jose (who spoke no English whatsoever). That was it. Off we went to see the butterflies!

The hike itself was nice, and I would have been happy even sans butterflies. Filled with beautiful views of rolling, lush mountains and that fresh scent that you only get in dense wooded areas, I was so happy to be outside again, exploring nature and all it has to offer. The weather was perfect: a clear sunny sky, and moderate temperatures of about 25C. I was in heaven.

After about an hour of hiking we began to see the first traces of the butterflies - an odd one here and there. At this sight, both myself and the other person hiking would get enormously excited, start pointing, and even start clapping like a bunch of seals performing at the aquarium. Jose, who has been doing this hike since he was a small child, would just give us a sly smile, as if he was thinking, ¨you have no idea what´s coming next¨.

We hiked on for a bit longer, and reached a big clearing, towered on all sides by green mountains. I initially thought this was our destination and that we had reached the end of the hike. Seeing a few dozen butterflies, I couldn´t help but feel initial pangs of disappointment. Was this what all the hype was about? Everyone talked about this life changing experience for 30 butterflies? Either I had become a really disillusioned traveler or everyone else had a very sad idea of ´magical´.

Luckily for me (and everyone else) this was not the grande finale of our hike. There was still the last final stretch. And that´s where it all really began.

As we began to ascend past the clearing, they began to appear. Unlike before, when they were just a few stray butterflies, they began to appear in much greater numbers. First dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, until finally the air was so saturated with butterflies that I had a hard time distinguishing individual ones out from the great orange and black mass that filled the sky. At least tens of thousands of butterflies were flying through the air simultaneously, so gracefully and elegantly. (With such a large number like that, you completely lose perspective. They may have numbered in the millions).

I could feel them brushing past me as they flew by, skimming the edges of my face, my hair and my neck. Suddenly I felt this light sensation tickling the fine hairs on my arm, and looking down, I see this tiny, beautiful creature resting on me. The feeling continued, and within seconds I had 4 or 5 butterflies on me at the same time. Looking around, I couldn´t believe I was still on planet Earth. It felt as if I had entered a seperate universe, a completely different realm not inhabited by humans, but by something much more powerful, by a force so connected with nature that for all your technological might and prowess, you feel completely powerless and ignorant. Compared to the power and beauty of all that surrounds you, knowing you are in the midst of one of Earth´s most captivating forces, you feel so insignifcant and small. I couldn´t help but feel incredibly humbled by nature´s awesome power.

But I was also taken over by a sense of calm and peace as I stared at these beautiful creatures around me, on me, and formed some sort of symbiotic relationship with them. This is a place where it is our turn to step back, to take a secondary role, and to take our cues from nature instead of trying to so hostiliy place our rules on it. This is a place where our rules don´t even make it past the front door. They mean nothing out there.

I spent over two hours up there, in awe and admiration of what was happening around me. Just soaking it all in, cherishing that moment as much as I could before it slipped away into the deeper annals of my memory. Connecting with nature and life around me as much as I could, before I had to slip away again into the grind of our realities.

I´ve never seen, or experienced anything so magical in my life. Magical. That´s the only word I can find that does it the least bit of justice. Nor have I felt so humbled by nature and its power. I can honestly say I left that mountain a different woman than the one who went up it.