Beaches, Crocodiles, and Monarchs

During December and January we traveled a lot, sometimes by bus and sometimes by car. Bus travel in Mexico is quite comfortable, reasonable, and convenient. Buses go everywhere, even to remote places, and major destinations are serviced by multiple schedules. We took an overnight bus to Puerto Vallarta; it was a full size bus with only 24 fully-reclinable seats with foot rests. Sleeping on the bus gave us an extra day at the beach, not a bad trade-off. Our son Dan met us there and we had a very relaxing week on the beach. After the over-stimulation of Mexico City, I did nothing but relax on the beach; Bill and Dan went scuba diving and saw humpback whales en route.

In January we spent a week full of good memories in Mazatlan (beach scene 1) and traveled north to check out San Carlos (beach scene 2). And finally we made it to Zihuatanejo, so far my favorite Mexican beach, beautiful and still wild enough to have a crocodile cross over from his lagoon to the bay each night. (last 3 beach scenes)

We did the Mazatlan - San Carlos trip in Rocinante, so we were able to take the Mil Cumbres (1000 peaks) scenic route along the old road between Morelia - Toluca - Mexico City.
Old Roci was in her glory, since we had to use four wheel drive to maneuver the last few miles into the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. Tens of millions of Monarchs migrate from Canada and the U.S. in November to hibernate in this particular corner of Mexico until the warmer sun of February stirs them to flutter around and mate. In March they head back north and lay their eggs on milkweed plants in the southwest before dying. These eggs hatch and go through their metamorphosis, and the fragile, beautiful butterflies fly further north, mate, lay eggs and die - all within 6-8 weeks. Two more generations complete their cycle and continue even further north into our part of the world, and Monarchs of the fourth generation, those who have made it to the far north (who live 6-8 months) find their way back to Mexico, where the multi-generational, amazing saga continues. You can find more information at this site: http://www.units.muohio.edu/dragonfly/cycle/butterflylinks.htmlx