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 Travel & Outdoors | March 2007 
A Real Mexican Adventure
 Terry Peters - CanWest
| | Monarch butterflies are part of a multi-generation cycle that sees them make an annual pilgrimage from locations around the western portions of North America to Mexico for the winter. |
A winter vacation in Mexico will often revolve around the beaches and nightlife in one of the resort towns like Puerto Vallarta. With plenty of shopping available, large sun-soaked beaches and an abundance of restaurants it is easy to relax and forget about exploring the surrounding regions.
If you are prepared to venture further there is a great deal to see. Some of it is easy to get to while other areas will take more effort. Just a one-hour drive north of Puerto Vallarta is the sleepy little village of Sayulita. Well-known for the excellent surfing there the place has a wonderful laid-back feeling that is casual even by Mexican standards. With plenty of local crafts for sale, small winding streets and a spectacular beach it is well worth the visit.
Continuing on Highway 200 the route changes from the twisting coastal road and connects with the well-maintained freeway south of Tepic. The wide roadway is comparable to any North American freeway and will reduce your travel time dramatically from the much slower secondary roads. This comes at a cost, however, as there are frequent stops along the way to pay tolls, which can vary from 40 pesos to 200 pesos. On a longer trip you can end up paying more in tolls than what you spend on gas. If time is not a consideration you can get to all the same locations on the free (libre) roads, but be prepared to go through every small town and village along the way and for the other unique Mexican traffic control device, the speed bump.
Speed bumps in Mexico are everywhere. Some of them make sense, like the ones at intersections where the Alto traffic sign indicates that vehicles will alternately enter the intersection. In other locations they just seem to appear, some of them like asphalt monsters blending into the road surface lying there waiting for the chance to destroy your exhaust system and ruin your suspension. Some speed bumps are so high that as you slowly approach them the moment your front tires make contact it will actually stop your car.
Leaving Highway 15 at Tequila there is the opportunity to enter the centre of the local liquor distilling area. The surrounding fields are blue with the agave plants growing in rows. Their spiked leaves are chopped off at harvest time when the plant is in its 12th year, leaving a huge rounded "heart" that is taken to the factory to be heated in order to extract its sap which is key to the making of tequila. This plant has been used since the 16th century to produce tequila spirit and for over 2,000 years for making fermented drinks and cloth. The mineral-rich volcanic soil of the region makes it an ideal place to grow the blue agave plant.
You can visit the Jose Cuervo distillery and tour the plant. The original distillery was built in 1795. Near the central plaza of the town is a tequila museum, which shows the history of cultivation and the distillation overview. There are also an enormous selection of bottles and label designs from over the years on display. In the town itself tequila is for sale everywhere. It can be purchased in small sample size bottles all the way up to three-litre plastic jugs.
Less than an hour drive eastbound will take you to the outskirts of Guadalajara, a city of over four million and home to several universities. Apart from two sets of traffic lights it is possible to easily move through the city's highway system with minimum delays.
Two more hours of travel through the changing landscape will get you to Morelia. The city's beautiful historic downtown area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 and contains over 1,000 historical buildings and sites. It is the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan de Ocampo. At its centre is the incredible 15th century Catedral de Morelia, which was completed in 1744 after 84 years of construction. With an imposed heritage standard the surrounding buildings have been wonderfully restored and maintained. The inner city is built of reddish sandstone, which gives it a unique appearance in the sunlight. It is surrounded by the Punhuato and Quinceo hills with the Santa Maria mountain range lying to the south.
Located several hours' drive southeast of Morelia in the area near Angangueo are several Monarch Butterfly sanctuaries. The larger of the two that are open to the public is at the end of a 16-kilometre uphill road along old cobblestones. Once you have navigated this obstacle course of enormous speed bumps, potholes and occasional livestock on the road, you face a three-kilometre uphill hike. In this high elevation the air is thinner and the hiking is harder but perseverance has its rewards. Leaving the trail behind you are welcomed into an open meadow where suddenly the bushes seem alive with movement. Everywhere you look you see Monarch butterflies. The air is literally filled with them.
It is like an orange snowstorm. Looking into the forest you can see the branches of the trees are weighted down by the thousands of butterflies that are perched on them. They gently fly past your face and occasionally one will land on you, taking a brief rest before flying off again. These butterflies are part of a multi-generation cycle that sees them make an annual pilgrimage from locations around the western portions of North America to Mexico for the winter. Their normal lifespan is just six to eight weeks but the last generation of the summer lives up to seven months during which they fly to their winter location. They will not reproduce until they leave their winter location and it will be their children and grandchildren who will eventually return to their northern homes.
The hike down is much easier and even the drive down seems better as the wonder of what you have just experienced acts like a soothing balm on your spirit. This journey may not improve your tan but it will offer an experience that will never be forgotten.
tpeters@nsnews.com |
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