Mexico/Michoacan: Anganguego
Anganguego is the gateway to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (actually a collection of five reserves) where millions of monarch butterflies come to roost in winter in the highland forests (coming in next post). But the old mining town itself is beautiful and interesting. Rich veins of gold and silver and copper where discovered here in the late 18th century, resulting in a mini-boom – churches and cathedrals and large houses sprang up. The boom was short-lived and the town fell into oblivion until the ecotourism came here when it was discovered that monarch butterflies migrated to the forests just above the town. Now it is the center of butterfly migration and beautiful wall murals attest to the natural spectacle. It’s still on the middle of nowhere in Mexican highlands, with bad roads and hardly a hotel or a restaurant.
