SchoolsEstela RomeroNovember 10, 2021

Monarchs breed somewhere in México!

SchoolsEstela RomeroNovember 10, 2021

“Independencia” Middle School

“Macheros” Village

“Cerro Pelón” Sanctuary

Coordinates: 19.3641617 -100.2908518

At every monarch sanctuary, there is an officially authorized main entrance for visitors. This arch designates access for tourists and conveys the best protection for monarch habitat. With this last school visit, the Symbolic Migration will say goodbye to the small beautiful natural village of “Macheros.” It is the official entrance to Sanctuary “Cerro Pelón” which was the first discovered of the four main Sanctuaries in Central México.

We visit today “Independencia” Middle School. Our visit was full of wonderful exchanges and learning. Students and families in “Macheros” and the surrounding villages to Sanctuary “Cerro Pelón” are privileged to witness monarchs breeding in minor quantities. At one thousand meters lower in elevation, Asclepias curassavica grows wild and as an ornamental plant at school and home gardens. The local average weather is now 20 - 25 degrees centigrade with incredible bright sunny days and warm nights.

“Middle school level in México is the academic stage where students indeed broaden and reach the deepest on their knowledge of nature conservation. Seeing monarchs breeding is an experience that families, teachers, and students at the Sanctuaries of “Sierra Chincua” and “El Rosario,” just 50 kilometers further north, shall never see,” teachers commented.

“The subjects we attend are Spanish, math, natural sciences, history (World and Mexico’s), geography, civics, English, arts (dancing, music, plastic arts, theater), technology (computers) and socio-emotional education.” We, unfortunately, have no computer room yet, since we have no wi-fi signal in the area. Our smartphones and our books continue to be our main communication tool,” students commented in turn.

“Cerro Pelón” Sanctuary is the second, if not the first, most visited Sanctuary by foreign visitors, experts, and scientists. We receive our northern friends’ Ambassador Monarchs as a sign of direct connection in our responsibility to care for the habitat of the real monarchs. This makes us a unique, special destination for nature lovers to experience.”

Bringing the Symbolic Migration lesson on “the benefits of trees and the importance of forest conservation” was, at every school visited in “Macheros,” a welcomed topic for teachers and students. It reinforced pride in the richness of the local ecosystem.

Your Ambassadors landed here at the same time real monarchs were flying up to their overwintering spots at the “Cerro Pelón” mountain!