Cañada de la Virgen

At last - an adventure to report.

On March 4 we donned our double masks which included an N95, and joined 5 other expats for a special visit to Cañada de la Virgen which is about 15 miles outside San Miguel de Allende.  It is a recently-excavated archeological site of the Otomí people, and our guide, Albert Coffee, is an archaeologist who helped with the excavations.  This date is special because it is when the sun sets in direct alignment with the slot in the pyramid and is considered to be the Otomí new year.  

The pyramid complex is controlled by the Federal government, but the surrounding spectacular land and canyons are privately owned by the family that produces Cañada de la Virgen organic meat.  They are committed to preserving the land, flora and fauna and have done a good job of keeping the area unspoiled.  

As you enter the ranch, the pyramid is visible in the distance. The shape of the buildings reference the mountains on the horizon. (Click on photos for larger ones.)

The buildings in the pyramid complex are constructed to provide a solar/lunar calendar to indicate the times for planting and harvesting, and the engineering and astronomical skills of these ancient people are amazing.  We could not go inside the site itself because the government closed it at 3pm, but Albert has a good relationship with the ranch owners, and they gave him special permission to enter their land later in the day.  You can read about the site here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%C3%B1ada_de_la_Virgen and also see a good video here: https://albertcoffeetours.com/canada-de-la-virgen/ .

Before heading off to the site, we enjoyed a lovely late lunch on a patio with great views of the surrounding land.  The pyramid is that little bump on the horizon.

Albert told us a lot about the history of the complex and then we were driven part way up to the pyramid.  While some folks got a ride up the gate, Erich and I chose to walk up the ceremonial path with Albert, who is a walking encyclopedia.  We arrived with plenty of time to watch the sun as it set behind the pyramid.  If we had been able to stand inside on the ceremonial patio, the sun would have been perfectly aligned.  From our vantage point outside the gate, it was a little off to the right.  Our only cameras were older iPhones, but we managed to capture the scene as the sun slowly set.

A visit to the Monarch Butterflies

Erich and I just spend two wonderful days viewing butterflies at two sanctuaries on the border of Michoacán and State of Mexico, a bit over a 4-hour drive from San Miguel de Allende.  We arranged for a custom tour with Follow Me Tours who provided us with a fabulous driver and guide named Aldo who spoke perfect English and was extremely knowledgable and fun to talk with.

We were making good time on the highways until traffic came to a total halt because the Mexico City taxi drivers blocked the highways to protest Uber.  That same day, 140 highways across Mexico were blocked due to a variety of protests.  When our driver found out that our exit was also blocked, he made a U-turn, and tried to cross the median, an effort which took 5 or 6 tries as we kept bottoming out.  We finally made it onto the highway going in the opposite direction, and he managed to find an open route to the other sanctuary we were planning to visit.

(You can click on the photos for larger versions)

Our first visit was to the Sierra Chincua sanctuary which is very close to the better known El Rosario sanctuary.  The entire protected biosphere is 56,259 hectares (139,000 acres) but the butterflies roost in much smaller areas between about 9,000 to 12,000 feet in altitude.  After using the clean facilities at the entrance, we mounted horses for the uphill trek to where the butterflies were located.  The owners of the horses lead them along the trail, so no riding skill was required.  After 20 minutes or so, we dismounted and carried on up a gentle grade with a wide path to the "quiet zone" where the butterflies had massed.  It was a warm, sunny, glorious day and the butterflies were quite active especially because February is mating season.  They certainly weren't shy and we saw numerous amorous couples.

The forest here was beautiful with many tall, straight oyamel trees which are favored by the Monarchs.  There were also many pine trees and lovely open spaces filled with wildflowers and milkweed, the butterflies' favorite food.  Even if we hadn't seen butterflies, it would have been a delightful trip into the mountains.  We spent a good hour watching the butterflies flutter by, then descended on horseback.

Next we drove to the small resort town of Valle de Bravo situated on a pretty lake.  The town is a weekend escape for residents of Mexico City.  On a weekday evening it was very busy with local people, and we had a nice dinner at one of the restaurants.  Our hotel, Casa Dorada, was right on the charming central square and we enjoyed walking around the next morning looking at the market and the church.

View the video in full screen by clicking on the little square then hit escape to come back to the blog.

On Wednesday we headed to the Piedra Herrada sanctuary where we were greeted by thousands of butterflies that had come down to the lower elevations and were flying all around the highway.  All the cars were driving very slowly so as not to injure the little creatures.  Once at the sanctuary, we mounted horses for the much steeper climb up the mountain.  This was a longer ride, at least 30 minutes,  but we were glad we didn't have to do that hike uphill.  The butterflies were flying all around us as we rode up.  We got off the horses and continued uphill on a very narrow path through the trees with some treacherous footing in the soft dirt.


The viewing at Piedra Herrada was even better because we were able to get closer to the trees where they were clustered.  At the end of the trail, we stayed for a long time enjoying the amazing sight of millions of butterflies and the quiet of the wind rustling the trees and the birds singing.  Although the butterflies are very light, the clusters of them are heavy enough to make the tree branches sag.

A truly delightful experience and highly recommended.

Too many things to do and not enough time

October has been very busy for us what with unpacking and trying to get things arranged in the house as well as trying to do as many fun things as possible.  We had a delicious dinner on a rooftop restaurant with a Business School sectionmate of mine.  The restaurant is right next to a church and when the bells started ringing there was no point in trying to talk.  They were loud and went on forever.  Our friends who have lived here for several years were wearing jackets and thought it was cold.  We were in short sleeves and were very comfortable.

We went on an architectural tour, which was interesting, and on Sunday the 6th, we took our little dog and walked to St. Paul's Anglican Church for a blessing of the animals.  We are not at all religious, but this was a lovely ceremony with many dogs and a couple of cats in attendance.  Molly got blessed and was a very good girl.  Later in the day we attended our first ProMusica event, again at St. Paul's.  It was a violin concert by Susie Park, an Australian who was a child prodigy and has now played all over the world.  It is a small venue and she was about four feet away from us while she played.

The other thing we did was go to the dump to get rid of some furniture pieces and other items which were badly damaged during the move.  The dump is pretty far out of town on a very rough dirt road in a beautiful desert landscape, but the dump itself is a strange experience.  We drove on a scale to weigh the car and then drove up a fairly steep dirt road to the place to unload.  There must have been a hundred dogs laying around on the heaps of garbage, and as soon as we arrived, people carrying bags came running up to the car to see what we were dumping.  Some boys helped unload the stuff and others looked to see what was salvageable.  We could see some little shacks where these poor people lived, or at least stayed at during the day.  Very sad.  We gave the boys who unloaded the car some nice tips, then drove back down to weigh the car again and pay the fee.

Every Friday a local newspaper comes out, in English, with a calendar of events.  There are so many things we want to do, but there is no way to fit them all in.  Tomorrow we will go on a house and garden tour which will benefit a local charity.  We will get to see how the more well off folks live.