Roger had business in Austria and I had an invitation to stay with my friend Gabriela in Guadalajara. Gerrado, the marina manager very kindly offered to look after Beaujolais and run the engine each day to keep the fridge and freezer cold, which was a weight off our minds.

Gabriela met me at the airport and we drove south to her summer home in Chapala on the shores of Lake Chapala. It was a beautiful house in a beautiful area. Lake Chapala is 80km long and 30km wide.

Just a couple of kms down the road is a little town called Ajijic. It is very Mexican, with lovely cobbled streets and brightly painted houses.

The region of Michoacan is very mountainous and it seems that there are 3 modes of transport, car, quadbike and horse.

It was surprising, after only having seen the Caribbean coast of Mexico, to see people riding into town on horseback.

My trip, it turned out, coincided with a Fiesta in the town. As I was wandering through the little town one day I saw a large crowd and heard a lot of noise. Me being me, went to investigate. I had stumbled upon the last day of the Fiesta, which was the parade. There were floats and a band.

 But the real spectacle were the Rancheros, all dressed in their finest, riding their horses through the streets. Little girls and small children were on horseback too.

Every now and then they would stop on a corner and proceed to give a display of horsemanship that was impressive. Their horses danced and pranced and all with what seemed like little effort from the riders. The levels of machismo was very amusing, as each rider tried to out-do the others.

Some years ago I remember watching a documentary about the migration of Monarch Butterflies. It was so amazing. They migrate in their millions and winter in the forests of…….yes, you guessed, Mexico. So you can also imagine how excited I was to learn that the forests were in the same region as myself and that they were about to depart for their migration North. So Gabriela, booked an hotel in Angangueo, which is in the centre of the 12 sanctuaries in the area.

It is surprising just how big Mexico is. For some reason I had never thought of it as the huge country it is. However, after the five and a half hour drive (all on fast motorway) to get to Angangueo, I was left in no doubt.

We were up in the mountains and had expected it to be colder than in Chapala, but I never imagined it would be so cold we would need a fire in our bedroom…..of course we did. The little night watchman lit a roaring wood fire for us and we sat for a while enjoying the peace of the mountains and the heat of the fire, before retiring (wearing more clothes than I have had to wear for a while now) to bed.

The next day we hired a driver to take us up to the San Rosario sanctuary. 45 tortuous minutes later we arrived after having climbed several thousand feet along, what can at best be described as a dirt track. We had passed through several little communities, where old women carried huge bundles of fire wood on their backs and mules were used to carry both people and produce. The amazing thing about the mules is that they are not on reins or tethered to each other and yet they walk along very obediently in little mule trains.

Once we had paid our $35 entrance fee we met up with Serge, our guide.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the butterflies only eat certain plants and live on certain trees. The pines they live on are at 11,500 ft. Which I believe is either the same altitude as the Matterhorn, or the Kleine Matterhorn (not sure but I know it’s one of those). So we were told to take our time and drink plenty of water on the way up.

The first part of the ascent was steps, 670 to be precise.

Fortunately Serge omitted to mention this on the way up. 2 gentlemen on their way down took pity on us and gave us their staffs to help us, I will be eternally grateful to them and passed mine on to some other deserving person when we got down.

The steps led to a plateau, then it was a dirt track up through the forests for the final part. We climbed 1000mts over 1.5km, up to the 3500mts where the butterflies were.

The photos I took go some little way to showing the marvel of this forest, but it no way does the event justice.

It was truly magical. These tiny creatures fly 4000 kms at an altitude of 3500mts, covering up to 120kms a day.

There were millions of them everywhere.  As you walked you had to look down to avoid trampling the ones who were dying on the path.

 I will put just a few photos on to try and give you a feel of it. I have to say I feel honoured to have witnessed what I consider to be one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.

It will be hard to beat the Mariposas Monarcha that’s for sure.

We headed off to Morelia to the evening.Like many Mexican cities, Morelia has been spoilt by its growth, but when you get into the historic part of the city, you can see the former beauty. Magnificent architecture and a nightlife that I can only equate to Leicester Sq on a premiere night make Morelia attractive to many.

But for Gabriela and I it was all too much after Angangueo, so we had dinner and headed off to Patzcuano.

Patzcuano is unique in all of Mexico. It is a totally unspoilt little town nestling on the shore of a lake by the same name..

People from the surrounding areas go there to sell their traditional handicrafts. Many, in fact, sit at their market stall making the items as they sell them.

Everywhere you looked there were beautiful traditional buildings and people enjoying the squares.

Now before you start thinking what a wonderful time I was having while poor Roger was in Austria working, let me put the record straight. Yes, I admit I was having a wonderful time. But those of you who know Roger well, will know that a/ working is fun to him; b/ working in Austria is even more fun for him; c/ he was partying, sorry networking, when not working and d/ he went skiing. So I hope that dispels the myth that Roger is a martyr.