butterflies – Ex-pats in Mexico

This is the “before” picture. Lots of changes coming.

The crew has been hard at work since Oct. 20, and the outside walls are almost done for the new master bathroom. The guys should be starting on the plumbing in just a few days. Then the outside work will be finished and they can start converting the bathroom to a laundry room.

Architect Cristina Allera has been working closely with Leslie to make sure we get all the nice touches, like a vanity in the new bathroom where Leslie can sit to do her makeup. Similar to what we had in our Westmont master bath.

Our excellent carpenter, Heriberto, is building the kitchen cabinets in his Guadalajara shop. We’re excited about having more storage space and more counter space.

The window you see will be right over the two sinks. They’ve got about two more feet of wall to build. Eventually we will change the entire facade to get rid of the bars and the purple. That’s next year, though.

Here in Mexico there are no studs and no drywall. All walls are made of brick with cement/stucco over the brick. Trees are hard to come by here — bricks and concrete are cheap and easy. Plus, there’s no reason for termites to invade your home because there’s very little wood.

In another development, we both got Mexican driver’s licenses last week. Leslie’s Illinois license expired on her birthday (Oct. 16). There’s no chance we would go back to the States right now, so the option was to get a license from the state of Jalisco. So we both got brand new licenses, even though my Illinois license is good for a few more years.

We hired someone to get all the paperwork put together, then they walked us over to the license bureau where we took a 10-question test — all about road signs — in English on a computer. Then we got pictures made and in about 15 minutes we had our new licenses.

While the Lakeside area is still not seeing a lot of new COVID cases, the governor of Jalisco has clamped down because hospitalizations statewide are at a critical point. Leslie and I are still doing everything we can to stay safe — even avoiding friends we think are not being careful enough.

I will leave you with a few shots of the hummingbirds and butterflies that hang out in our yard. Our Canadian next-door neighbors Sharon and Quentin have two hummingbird feeders on their back patio. I’ve seen as many as 15 to 20 hummers over there, and most of them pause in our yard to dine on real flowers. They’re fun to watch.

More renovation updates coming! Hasta luego!

We get lots of hummers visiting our yard.

Unsure about the name of this butterfly, but we see it a lot. It may be a Giant Swallowtail.

on-a-white-horse — *Leslie and her horse got along great.*

Show of hands, now — how many of you thought you would ever see Leslie riding a horse? I know you just can’t wait for the explanation, so here we go.

On Thursday, we went to Santuario Sierra Chincua, a monarch butterfly sanctuary high in the mountains about a three-hour drive from San Miguel. This is one of the places where the mariposa monarca spends the winter.

They migrate from Canada and the northern U.S. down to Mexico every year. Millions of them. And we spent a few hours with them.

Leslie and I went with five other people and Daniel, our driver. Getting there was not easy or fun. The van ride is very long and sometimes quite bumpy, and there’s not much to see along the way. But Daniel did a great job and got us to the sanctuary.

Sierra Chincua sits a little above 8,000 feet, and the difference in elevation is obvious — it’s cooler and breathing is slightly more labored, for example. We had a choice of walking up a dusty trail to where the monarchs were, or paying an extra 100 pesos to ride a horse. If you want to come back on the horse, that’s another 100 pesos. So we shelled out 400 pesos (about $20 USD) and we both mounted up. The horses were very gentle, and guides led us the whole way.

We dismounted after a 30-minute ride and walked a bit farther up a narrow trail into the forest. Soon we could see butterflies. They were in the trees, on low bushes and plants, flitting through the air. They were everywhere. They flew right past us sometimes.

Daniel taught us how to tell the difference between males and females, and he said many males die in the sanctuary after mating. He said that last year there was snow in the sanctuary, which is highly unusual. Many butterflies died. He also explained that birds eat dead butterflies, but only the body. The wings are toxic to birds. Sure enough, we found several places where wings were lying on the ground, but there was no butterfly body.

We could only see a small part of the sanctuary, which covers several acres. But in the small area where we were allowed to stand, we could look up into the sky and see them wafting around. We could look into the forest and see trees heavily laden with butterflies at rest. And there was no sound. All you could hear was the wind in the trees. Amazing!

untitled-1468 — *Those are clusters of monarchs taking a nap in the trees. You can also see them flying.*

Then it was time for a late lunch. Daniel took us to one of several small restaurants in the sanctuary compound, where he said the owner made a great mushroom soup. Several people, including Leslie, had the soup and all agreed Daniel was right! I had a potato and chorizo quesadilla, and it was fantastic. The hot sauce they served with it was great too. And really fresh hand-made corn tortillas — so much better than store-bought. Even better than our favorites, El Milagro.

Daniel explained that the local indigenous people make a living by taking care of the butterflies, and of the tourists who come to see them. They start as children, offering to watch your car for you while you’re spending time with the butterflies. As they get older, they work as horse wranglers or guides, or they do other work in the sanctuary, such as selling tickets or working in maintenance. Most don’t get paid much, if at all. They depend on tips, so our group tipped well.

According to Daniel, former Mexican president Vicente Fox provided substantial funds to build a nice entrance to the sanctuary, as well as quality buildings for restaurants and gift shops. This made the experience better for the tourists, and helped the people who work there.

Next time, arts and culture in San Miguel de Allende. Spoiler alert: There’s lots of culture!

Tag: butterflies

Walls are going up!

Butterflies and a white horse