skulls
Sunday, February 17, 2019
We Survived the Butterflies
Just a quick post to let everyone know that we (Alejandro's family and I) survived the tour which we took yesterday to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary at Piedra Herrada, the most accessible of the butterfly reserves to Mexico City. I had been concerned that Alejandro's father would not be able to make the hike up the mountain. Indeed, just the walk from the parking lot to the entrance was enough for him. He sat comfortably in the shade at the entrance while the rest of us made the trek. (There were loads of people around, food and beverage stands and restrooms nearby... so it's not as if we had left him by himself in the middle of the wilderness.) The rest of us... Alejandro, his sister, his eight year old nephew, and I... took the hike up into the sanctuary. We were there for about three hours. Although I am glad that I had the experience, I also felt guilty for being part of the mass tourism circus which I fear might eventually destroy the delicate ecology of this place. I will write more about the pros and cons, and post pictures in my next blog entry.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There is a bird migration stop in Oak Harbor Ohio that attracts 70,000 visitors between about May 3-9. People come from around the world and spend an average of $650 a person on hotels, shopping, gas and restaurants. The event creates $45,500,000 in income for the businesses in the area. Wonderful for the economy, but I can't bear the idea of fighting mobs of people who are, in fact, interfering with nature's course just to take pictures.
ReplyDeleteI am sure that there were at several thousand people at the reserve that day, and when you multiply that by the entire winter season, the number of tourists is quite staggering. Be sure to read the rather critical review of the experience which I just posted.
Delete