I am an entomologist, both amateurly and professionally. This means that my job is to study insects, but that I also collect insects as an amateur out of passion. In fact, the monarch is the first butterfly I got when I learned how to pin and preserve specimens. In addition, we have planted milkweed in front of the house (the monarch's host plant) and we follow the development of caterpillars and chrysalis every summer. It was therefore natural to visit them on their wintering grounds with the rest of the North American population. This WHS was definitely made for me and it was the main reason why I chose Mexico as my destination in 2019. My expectations were very high and, fortunately, I was not disappointed.

I landed in Mexico City from Montréal and took the metro to the Observatorio bus station, from where buses to Angangueo frequently leave. This small town on the border of the states of Mexico and Michoacán is the perfect base camp to visit the sanctuaries. I spent three nights there in mid-February, the first night to arrive and drop off my suitcases and the next two nights to visit two sanctuaries. It is also a convenient town to thereafter reach Morelia via Zitácuaro. Monarchs were already flying in the village when I arrived. On my first day, I met a very friendly guide and driver with whom I planned my two excursions. The price may have been too high, but I was not yet used to Mexican standards. However, I was happy with him, as he led me to the two sanctuaries that I visited and waited for me while I contemplated the butterflies, the guides of the sanctuaries having taken over for the visits.

We left relatively early the next morning for the sanctuary of El Rosario. The advantages of being there early were the solitude, the calm and being able to enjoy the heavy bunches of butterflies bending the branches while they are still clumped together to protect themselves from the cold. The disadvantage was having to wait for the mid-day heat to be surrounded by clouds of orange butterflies. The El Rosario sanctuary is rather small, but well laid out. The presence of a guide is obligatory. He makes sure that visitors follow the instructions and gives some information. However, my extensive prior knowledge and the language barrier prevented me from asking the more in-depth questions that inspired my visit. It is possible, however, that he would not even have had the answers (But don't get me wrong! I consider offering these jobs to city workers during the tourist season to be a great idea, a great way to involve the community in the management of the property and a good way to protect it since many of these workers could otherwise become loggers. They are simply not professional guides with a deep expertise in the subject matter.). So I went on a first tour of the sanctuary with him. At one point, he caught a hummingbird in his nest to show it off. I doubt the success of its breeding if it is disturbed like this frequently. When we returned to the entrance, I left by myself to contemplate the show again and again and wait for the butterflies to fly away. The oyamel fir trees on which the butterflies land are gigantic, but the masses of butterflies nevertheless manage to bend the branches (and not just one, but hundreds of branches in dozens and dozens of trees!). We are talking about millions of butterflies! The light conditions were harsh for my poor travel camera, but all the black masses you see in the photo are butterfly clusters, while all the pale dots are flying butterflies. In the course of the morning, rivers of butterflies began to flow down the mountain towards the village.

The next day, I visited the Sierra Chincua Sanctuary. This one, located closer to the town, receives fewer visitors, but also fewer butterflies. However, it offers a pleasant hike to reach the butterflies (as at any good Mexican site, horses are also available to ride a part of the trail). It takes between 45 minutes and an hour to reach the colony, depending on your walking pace. The trail offers several panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and allows you to observe many bird species, including several hummingbirds. I arrived early again and was led to the colony by the obligatory guide. The colony is much smaller than El Rosario, but it is still a nice sight. I again wanted to have a good time watching the butterflies fly away in swarms, but my guide seemed rather inclined to turn back. He even took me out of the permitted observation area to get a better view of the colony (I think that he wanted to satisfy me and convince me to leave, which failed. Don't do it yourself to avoid disturbing the butterflies, but my guide's transgression of the rules was well worth it!). It is only after I understood that he was waiting for his tip and didn't care much about letting me alone that I gave him his well deserved money and that he finally left me to my butterflies. This way I was able to take my time to enjoy the show and observe the abundant nature on the way back. The sanctuary's visitor area boasts several restaurants and craft stands to satisfy hordes of tourists (the capacity was far from being reached when I was there).

Although this site is not a geological wonder, nor does it have grandiose landscapes or a unique biological richness (it is only listed under criterion 7 after all), it is one of the most fascinating places I have ever seen. Many of the mysteries of this masterful migration have yet to be solved by science, but there is nothing to stop us from being amazed by the resulting spectacle.