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Monarch Butterflies - Mexico Trip
Travel to Mexico with Monarch Teacher Network and Discover the magic of Mexico’s monarch butterflies and its rich indigenous cultures.
We welcome people of all professions and interests to participate in this unique experience. Our trips have included families, student groups, teachers, master gardeners, business professionals, retirees, and people from all walks of life. Everyone is amazed and transformed by the experiences on this trip.
“Imagine standing still, like stone in a river. But instead of water streaming towards you, thousands of Monarchs are on the wing. As they reach you, they part, like water streaming around the stone, passing you on either side…. This is no dream. This is what you will experience as you walk through the majestic Oyamel fir trees from where the monarchs cascade down and join the stream.”
Since 2002, Monarch Teacher Network (MTN) has conducted trips to the Monarch overwintering colonies in Mexico. Most participants are graduates of the 2 or 3-day "Teaching and Learning with Monarch Butterflies" workshops, or spouses and others involved or interested in the project. The colonies are located in the Trans-volcanic Mountain range in the state of Michoacán, several hours west of Mexico City. The one-week trips are conducted in late winter and are led by an experienced Educator and Mexican guide. In February/March 2008, nearly 100 people from New Jersey, Ontario, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Connecticut, Ontario, and Manitoba participated in this professional development experience exploring monarch biology and Mexican culture. Many of the participating teachers received fellowshi ps from MTN or its Canadian partners, Monarch Teacher Network - Canada. We have completed two very successful trips to the monarch colonies in 2010. We are starting to plan our trips for February and March of 2011. Continue to check this website for the 2011 dates. Here's video from our recent Mexico Trip:
Can't see the video above? Click here to watch via TeacherTube.com
Saturday Day 1: Arrive at Mexico City International Airport. Transfer to designated hotel on your own. Meet members of the group and group leader/tour guide at the hotel at 5 PM. Evening dinner. Note: cost of lunches/dinners is each person's responsibility though we will eat as a group; typical cost per day is $25 depending on the amount/kind of food ordered. Our tour guide will select the restaurants. For those who arrive at the hotel by 3 PM, an optional guided tour of the Museum of Anthropology will occur.
Sunday Day 2: Following breakfast at the hotel, our bus travels into the state of Michoacan where we will see our first view of the forests of the Transvolcanic Mt range and perhaps our first glimpse of monarchs. Enroute we stop at the old silver mining town of Tlalpujahua for lunch, a walking tour of the town and market, local life, crafts and the mine. Overnight at a nearby hotel.
Monday Day 3: Following breakfast at our hotel we head for our first butterfly sanctuary, either El Rosario, Chincua, or Cerro Pelon (the best colonies vary from year to year). Hike up into the oyamel forests. At Chincua and Pelon, guide-led horses are available for those feeling the altitudes (9,000+ feet); at El Rosario, no horses are available. Hot lunch at the colony, and the chance to purchase pine needle baskets, local crafts. Return to hotel for the evening and dinner.
Tuesday Day 4: Following breakfast at the hotel, we visit one of the other monarch sanctuaries mentioned above. Hot lunch at the colony. By mid-afternoon we are on our way to the capitol of Michoacan: Morelia, "Queen of the Colonial Cities". Possible stop at Alternare, a project teaching sustainable living. Dinner at our hotel in Morelia or Patzcuaro.
Wednesday Day 5: Breakfast at the hotel. In the morning we travel to the town of Tzintzuntzan (Place of the Hummingbirds) to explore the history and culture of the Purepecha, the local people who have preserved their language and traditions since pre-Hispanic times when they were rivals of the Aztec. Afternoon in Patzcuaro with its colonial atmosphere, exploring the artisans of "The Seven Patios"; boat trip to the island of Janitzio. Overnight at hotel.
Thursday Day 6: Breakfast at hotel. Visit local school in Santa Clara del Cobre, famous for its copper artisans; explore Purepecha people and culture, then back to Mexico City and our hotel.
Friday Day 7: Following breakfast, we tour the Zocolo (Mexico City's central square) with its Templo Mayor (pyramid ruins of the original Aztec City), National Palace with its famous Diego Rivera murals depicting Mexico's history, the Shrine of Guadalupe , Alameda Park where the American Army camped during the Mexican-American War and the pre-Aztec Pyramids of Teotihuacan (3rd largest pyramids in the world) to see the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, etc. Farewell dinner. Overnight at hotel.
Saturday Day 8: Hotel, breakfast then transfer by taxi to Mexico City Airport for flight home.
Click here for trip application.
For participants of the workshops, you may be eligible for a fellowship. Click here for fellowship application.
