Monarch Butterflies - millions of them

We flew back from PV to Guadalajara, hired the most dented hired car I've ever seen, took out every conceivable insurance on it just in case & drove south through the sate of Jalisco & into Michocan. Our destination was a small town of Zitacuaro & a delightful Rancho on its outskirts.

The lodge style ranch with it's 3 chocolate lababors was a haven from the dusty pot hole riddled roads we'd driven to arrive

a peaceful evening of waiter service was extremely pleasant, but with the cool crisp alpine temperatures the pool failed to appeal.

The following morning we were driven up into the surrounding hills.

Mounted a couple of hay burners & rode up hill for an hour. The effort of the horses was evident & I was thankful not to have had to walk it. 50 minutes in to a really enjoyable woodland ride we started to see the odd flutter-bye high up in the cool crisp blue skies. Emerging from the trail into an opening we could see the swarm above us. 10 minutes later we were thick in the middle of it.

The sky, the trees & the path were simply covered in orange & black. The audible sound of millions of beating wing filled the mountain silence.
The pine needles are made to look like leaves. The normally horizontal branches bend under the shear weight of so many tiny creatures.
Respecting the "Don't touch" conservation requests was all but impossible.