Mexico Week Part 2: People, Butterflies, and Architecture

On Monday, Jerry and Paula Gale showed us beautiful Mexico through their article, “Feast For the Senses”.  Mexico Week continues as Jerry and Paula show us the people, butterflies, and architecture of Mexico.

People of Mexico

Fisherman near Isla Janitzio	Jerry with 'Dance of the Old Men' dancers	Mariachis in San Miguel de Allende
Shoe shine in San Miguel de Allende	Transportation Mexican style in Tingambato	Woodcarver in Patzcuaro

Paula: We drew a lot of attention as our truck camper traveled through the small villages and towns.  A lot of heads would turn and we often got lovely smiles and waves.  We became close to one family and invited them into our truck camper to check it out.  We could tell they were very curious.  They were in awe.  The Mexican people don’t have counters, cabinets, and skylights in their home, or running water, for that matter.  It was unbelievable to them.

Jerry: People didn’t understand how the camper went on the truck.  I had to explain the jacks to them.  We would have people walk over to watch our jacks going up and down.

Paula: The children and the adults were warm and friendly.  They had a great sense of humor.  People in Mexico were so helpful.  They would lead us through the city or the town to pick up the highway, without even being asked.  Sometimes driving through the cities was confusing because signage wasn’t always where we needed it to be.

The people of Mexico are very family-oriented.  Each town and city has at least one main square and it is filled with families.  It’s wonderful to see them together.

Jerry: Especially on Sundays. It is a huge family day.

Paula: We could not believe all the people walking along bright and early in the morning, with all their goods to set up their little stands for the day. The people are industrious.  They work out in the heat all day and then take everything down in the evening and cart it all back home to do it all over again the next day.  It is remarkable.

El Rosario Butterfly Sanctuary

Jerry's new amigo	One of millions	Paula enjoying the magical Monarchs at El Rosario
The Scene on the way to the Monarch sanctuary	Trees laden with Monarch butterflies	A watering hole At El Rosario

Paula: The trip to see the winter nesting grounds of the Monarch butterflies was such an incredible experience.  We feel it merits its own category. A wonderful thing about this trip is that only rigs less than twenty-five feet are able to drive all the way to the sanctuary.  Truck campers rock, once again!

The road to the sanctuary is very winding, steep, and paved with bricks.  The scenery is beautiful on this road.  Although there is a huge parking lot at the reserve, we would encourage campers to have someone stay with the rig at all times for security.  We actually took a cab from our campground in San Felipe to the sanctuary to save wear and tear on our rig.  It is doable in a truck camper; it would just be extremely slow-going and bumpy.

The sanctuary is in El Rosario through Ocampo.  Some people prefer to take a mini bus from Ocampo to the monarchs.  Our cab driver waited for us for approximately five hours in the sanctuary parking lot.  It gave him an opportunity for a great siesta.

Jerry:  When we got to the parking lot, we hiked about two kilometers up the mountain.  It’s a gradual, but pretty steep climb and it’s well maintained. It is best to go first thing in the morning when it’s cooler.  Also be sure to go on a sunny day as the butterflies will take flight.  There is a very small fee to enter the area and guides are also available.  We chose to walk on our own.  Guides really aren’t necessary.  There is only one way up and one way back!

Paula: As we were walking up the trail we would first see a couple butterflies fluttering through the air.  A bit further along we saw about fifty watering at a little stream.  Shortly after that, we came upon clusters and clusters of butterflies hanging from the bending tree branches.  What an unbelievable sight!

There were millions of them! The butterflies along the trail were landing all over us.  It was truly amazing and very humbling!

Jerry: Look closely at the pictures.  What looks like leaves on the tree branches are actually clumps of butterflies.
 
Paula: When we heard their wings, it was like music.  We would call this trip a “must see”.  It was a major highlight of our Mexico trip.  Just awesome!

Architecture of Mexico

Paula on ruins in Tingumbato	Cathedral in Zacatecas	Plaza de Armas, Guad
Streetscape in San Miguel de Allende	Parroquia Cathedral, San Miguel de Allende	Incredible architecture in San Miguel de Allende

Paula: The cathedrals were gorgeous!  In Colonial Mexico the Spanish influence is very evident in the architecture.

My favorite cathedrals were in San Miguel de Allende and in Zacatecas.  In San Miguel, the cathedral had open-air spires because, we learned on our walking tour, it is bad luck to contain the wind.  The cathedral in Zacatecas had six gold altars from floor to ceiling. Everything was so intricately carved.  Rose-colored sandstone was used on the exterior here and it looked just like whipped icing.  It was unbelievable.

Jerry: We saw so many cathedrals.  They were all amazing.

Paula:  You’ll see me in the picture on top of the ruins in Tingambato.  The ruins date back to 440 through 990 A.D.  We also toured ruins in Tzintzuntzan, another lovely village just outside Patzcuaro.  It is helpful that the archaeological sites are well outlined in the Mexico travel guides.
 
I also loved the stunning windows and doors in Colonial Mexico.  I took so many pictures of these wonderful features.
 
Jerry: And pictures and pictures and pictures...

Mexico Week Part 3: Planning A Trip to Mexico

If you have never been to Mexico and would like to go, our next story is for you.  Jerry and Paula Gale will tell us, detail for detail, how to plan a truck camping trip to Mexico.  We will learn all about insurance, safety, campgrounds, crossing the border, banking, accessing the internet, and communicating while in truck camping Mexico.  It’s a story you don’t want to miss.