Monarch Butterflies & Meaningful Travel in Central Mexico

El Rosario is one of several sanctuaries operated by local people within the Monarch Butterfly Reserve.

Traveling to Morelia to see monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico’s volcanic mountains was a bucket-list experience. My small-group tour with Troy and Rene of Camiba Cultural Tours introduced me to the work local people are doing to preserve and protect the habitat of these important pollinators.   To learn more about my monarch butterfly experience, please watch my Earth Day podcast on YouTube. I joined Rene and Troy to talk with Big Blend Radio’s Lisa Smith about the importance of meaningful travel that protects nature...

Morelia and Monarchs: A Journey into Mexico’s Rose-Colored Colonial Heartland

Looking up at the twin towers of the Morelia Cathedral.

Mexico’s allure for many visitors begins at the beach where white sand and turquoise water meet. But inland, a different kind of magic unfolds in the country’s Spanish colonial cities.   One colonial beauty often overlooked is Morelia, the capital of Michoacán in north-central Mexico. Built largely of rose-colored Cantera stone, the city of about 750,000 is more visually unified than many colonial cities. That architectural cohesion isn’t boring; it gives the city a sense of refined elegance.   I arrived in Morelia on a small-group...

Chasing Monarchs to Mexico: Visiting the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

Monarch butterflies flood a meadow in mountains of Mexico.

Every autumn, monarch butterflies drift through my backyard in Austin, Texas. Their luminous orange-and-black wings spurred me to trace their migratory trail to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the volcanic mountains of central Mexico.   With two girlfriends, I gazed in awe at millions of butterflies clustering in trees in their winter home in the monarch butterfly reserve.   Our small-group journey with Camiba Cultural Tours paired a monarch encounter with time in the colonial city of Morelia and visits to artisan towns in...

To receive new posts on Barbararedding.com, please enter your email address.

totop