Hi Mexico-loving friends! Last week I had the opportunity to have a magical Mexico experience that I have always wanted to have. I woke up at 3:30 am, grabbed a taxi to the airport for my 5:30 flight, and was in Mexico City by early evening (I am really not in a rush to have a layover in Dallas ever again  ). The next morning, I was having coffee at 5:15 am and hopping on a 6 am bus full of other journalists and travel agents from around the US and Mexico to drive several hours west. But first, breakfastFirst, we stopped in the town of Zitácuaro where we had one of the best meals I've eaten in a very long time. Handmade blue corn tortillas blistered to perfection on a woodfired comal. I stuffed my tortillas with steamed chard and huitlacoche and creamy queso Oaxaca, heaped spoonfuls of guacamole with tiny jalapeños that made my lips tingle. I washed it down with a sweet, cinnamon-packed mug full of cafe de olla as the sun warmed my face. The town is in the mountains, as is most of Michoacan, or so it seemed. That meant the mornings were crisp, but the sky was clear and blue, a good sign for what was to come. Now onto the butterflies!We climbed back onto the coach bus and after an hour we got off the bus again. My water bottle hissed when I opened it. My chest felt tight, and taking a deep breath felt impossible. "What altitude are we at?" I asked the guide as we geared up for a 1.5-hour hike to the top of El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. He tapped the screen of his watch and laughed a little, "We're currently at just over 2,800 meters, but at the top, we'll get to just over 3,000 meters". 2,800 meters is about 9,000 feet, no wonder I couldn't quite catch my breath. It's been years since I was used to this type of altitude. I took a few sips of water and tried to breathe as deeply as I could. I didn't come all this way to not make it to the top. So we plodded along. Remembering my hike up Iztaccihuatl back in 2020 which sits at over 14,000 feet, I took it one slow step at a time. It wasn't long before we started to see them. Bright orange against the blue of the sky made them easy to spot. Monarch butterflies are everywhere. Someone asked our guide how many butterflies there are in this sanctuary. "We can't count them of course, but we believe that is it millions." Millions?! We scoffed. As if we would see millions. We'd all been warned by tour guides and other friends who had visited the sanctuary in years past that they could be elusive. If it's too cold, they don't fly as much, which makes them harder to see. If the temperature drops too much, they move onto warmer areas of the area and you might not see any at all. There WERE millions
I mean, I didn't try to count them, but there were butterflies everywhere. It exceeded my expectations in the best possible way. They were huddled together on tree trunks, drinking water in groups on the ground, perching on branches, and feeding on flowers blooming. I cannot wait to share my video from this experience later this month because words cannot quite capture just how wonderful it was to stand amidst these magical creatures. | 
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ivan