Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 12: The IIIrd Ohm's Law
"Contacts always disappear from where they are needed, and occur where they are not needed"
February 19, 2006
While still in Morelia, we'll take a moment to tell you about the most mysterious
things that have been happening with all our electronic devices from the very
first day of the trip. First, there goes the wine straight onto the laptop
(luckily the sun brings it back to life), then all of the sudden the cell
phone charger dies (fortunately not the phone itself…), and finally -
the last but not the least! - smoke starts coming out of the power inverter
in our Nissan for no reason at all, and the inverter dies while we are standing
helpless beside it. This leaves us in an extremely bad situation because no
inverter means no power for the laptop in the car, and, consequently, no regular
in depth news reports for the web site. Must admit we had no plan B for this
type of accident. To make things even worse, there seemed to be no inverter
to buy in the entire Mexico.
Once again we get saved by a mere twist of fate: one of the "El Leon
de Mecenas" employees whom we happen to talk to during the Pancho Madrigal
concert tells us that he bought an identical power inverter in the local Costco
2 days ago!! Guess where we went shopping the very next morning :)
Hence, in retrospect, the Pancho Madrigal concert wasn't a complete fiasco
:)
Tip #1: Any Costco in Mexico requires you to purchase a USD 35 annual membership. However, if you nicely explain them that you forgot your US membership card at home and badly need something for your car you can buy only in Cosco, they will issue a temporary membership card for you at no cost (and without an expiration date, which means you can use it as long as you stay in Mexico, just in case your second inverter burns… :)) Most of the times, the people in Mexico are very friendly and cooperative, just don't be afraid or shy to talk to them.
Late in the afternoon of the 12th day of our Pan-Americana, we finally feel ready to leave Morelia. Following Salvador's advice, we take the old Mex 15 (libre) which pretty much parallels the toll Mex 15D but helps us avoid a couple of expensive toll booths located right at the toll road entrance at Morelia. The old highway is also unquestionably more scenic: past Morelia, it winds straight through 2 national parks, and the views are startling. Yet, be very careful if you ever take this route. First, the road is really old and probably the worst maintained free highway we have driven in Mexico up to today. Second, we have seen many winding roads but this one is really WINDING, and the sharp curves are not necessarily always marked. Finally, we had heard about "bandidos" on the Mex 15 stretch between Morelia and Mexico City. Might be a myth or an echo of the political turmoil of the 90s, but… better save than sorry. Avoid this stretch after sunset, if not because of the bandidos, then because of the bad road conditions and unmarked curves. There is a very nice and cheap ($15/ night) hotel called "Hotel Los Sauces"on this stretch of Mex 15, just a few miles before Ciudad Hidalgo. Spend a night there to avoid driving in the dark and then continue to Tlalpujahua for the "Mariposas Monarcas".
The gorgeous Sanctuary of the Monarch Butterflies is not easy to find, and
once you are already there, not so easy to reach (another 2 miles by foot
or an extremely dusty, rocky and rather steep, gradually descending trail).
Yet, it is worth every drop of sweat.
The Sanctuary of Sierra Chincua ("Santuario Sierra Chincua"), which encloses the Biosphere Reserve of Monarch Butterflies ("Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca") is so well hidden in the Angangueo Natural Park ("Parque Natural Angangueo") that it is almost impossible to find the butterflies if you try to follow the road signs. In fact, there are no logical signs from Mex 15 to the sanctuary. We followed Salvador's advice to first go to the little town of Tlalpujahua (Mex 122 to Mex 126 off Mex 15 libre) and then ask for directions. Tlalpujahua itself is a lovely little town well worth a visit. From there, make a U-turn and go back to the direction you came from for about 2 miles, and then make a left at the sign to the village of Santa Maria. Drive slowly through Santa Maria and don't miss 2 Y-shape intersections - bear left at both of them. From there, you will start seeing the signs to Anguangueo/ "Parque Natural Angangueo", most of them with a picture of a butterfly in the corner. GPS coordinates of the sanctuary: N19°39.683' W100°15.935'
What you will eventually see is millions of migrating Monarch Butterflies. Imagine the most gigantic beehive you can… now just replace the bees with the huge butterflies…. And now get back to reality and take a look at the video :) - Clip#1 and Clip#2 or if you have a fast internet connection click here for full experience with sound!!
Practicalities: The sanctuary is open from 9 AM to 3PM, November through March, peaking in December. (According to the park employees, what we saw was "nothing compared to December"). Arrive early to beat the crowds and the heat, and have your hiking shoes ready. Either it's wet or dry, you will get dirty from dust or mud, so dress down. The charge is USD 3 for the vehicle and USD 3 per person. It's absolutely worth it!
Finally, late at night we arrive in Mexico City, somehow manage to get straight
into the center which we originally planned to avoid, and miraculously run
into a $25 hotel in the very center of the city. (We didn't check the alternatives
but it's very unlikely you could find anything cheaper in the center of Mexico
City). "El Colon" Hotel is located at the intersection of Insurgentes
Sur (major street) and either Sinaloa or Colima (cross streets) (can't remember
exactly, but it is a multi-storey building with a neon sign well visible from
the distance, and it is just a couple of blocks south of Zona Rosa).
Cick on the pictures to enlarge
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Tlalpujahua market: would you like some flies with your watermelon? No thanks, I'd rather go for some butterflies...
Centrinis Tlalpujahua turgus. Jums arbuzo su musemis ar nubaidyti? |
The streets of Tlalpujahua
Tlalpujahua gatves |
Tlalpujahua, the starting point in search for the butterflies
Tlalpujahua - pakeliui pas drugelius |
|
The oversized kind of mariposa
Kai kurios mariposos - smarkiai peraugusios |
They are smart and can be easily trained
Mariposas lengva dresiruoti |
As a bee to the hive...
Idomu, kaip tada visa tai atrodo gruodi |
|
What a lack of chemicals can do to a forest!
Stai kuo gali pavirsti miskas del chemikalu trukumo! |
Let's have a party!
Balius paciam ikarsty! |
And how about some privacy?
Prasytumem gerbti musu nora pabuti vieniems... |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
12-oji diena: III-ciasis Omo Desnis
"Kontaktai visada atsiranda ten, kur ju nereikia, ir dingsta ten, kur ju reikia."
2006 m. vasario 19
Morelija dar ilgai geru zodziu minesim ir todel, kad ten pagaliau radom pirkti nauja inverteri. Verta pamineti, kad su visais iki vieno elektroninias itaisais nuo pacios pirmosios keliones dienos dedasi mistiski dalykai: nugirdom vynu kompiuteri (dziugaujam, kad atsigavo), paslaptingai sugenda masininis telefono pakrovejas (dziaugiames, kad, laimei, ne pats telefonas), bet viska apvainikuoja be jokios aiskios priezasties perdeges inverteris (prietaisas, kuris 12V pastoviaja itampa pavercia I 110V kintamaja, ir suteikia mums masinoje elektros saltini laptopui ir kitiems prietaisams maitinti). Dziaugtis inverterio atveju nebera ko, nes atsitiko blogiausias variantas: senas sugedo, atsarginio neturim, o naujo nusipirkti nerandam. Jau beveik susitaikom su ta mintim, kad Meksikoje inverteriu nera, ir masinoje elektros nebeturesim (labai liudna perspektyva), kai Jungenu Kapeliono koncerte mus netiketai uzkalbina vienas is kavines darbuotoju, kuris, kaip isaiskeja, dienos metu buna elektrikas, ir kaip tik vakar pirkosi sau lygiai toki pati inverteri, koks mums perdege!! Aleliuja… Ir uzgriuna gi laime kartais netiketai :) Vel turim masinoje elektra (kol sito inverterio nesudeginsim :)).
Ka gi, Morelijoje galetumem buti dar savaite, o ir Salvadoras ikalbineja dar bent dienai-kitai pasilikti: moketi uz kambari nereikesia, be to jis aprodysias tik vietiniams zinomas ispudingas vietas; bet… jau ir taip uzsibuvom. Laikas I sostine. Bet pries tai - pas drugelius :)
Nemokamas Mex 15 tarp Morelijos ir Meksiko - ispudingas. Keliukas vingiuoja per net kelis nacionalinius parkus, vaizdai nuostabus; bet pagrindinis zodis siame sakiny - vingiuoja. Plius labai siauras, gana duobetas, ir didziaja dali kelio vaziuoti tenka per kalnus ir miskus. Nesunkiai supratom, kodel nakti sito kelio vengia netgi vietiniai. Teko girdeti, kad sitame kelyje pasitaikydavo banditizmo atveju. Mes to negalime nei patvirtinti, nei paneigti - pravaziavom saugiai. Panasiau, kad meksikietiski "bandidos" liko 9 desimtmecio politiniu neramumu dalimi. Kita vertus, jeigu kada tektu keliauti per Meksika, sutemus sito ruozo tikrai venkit. Net jei ne del banditu, tai del netiketu duobiu ir staigiu, nevisada pazymetu posukiu.
Tarp Morelijos ir Meksiko, I sona nuo Mex 15, yra gana neblogai uzsleptas Drugeliu Monarchu nacionalinis parkas (Sanctuario Sierra Chincua: Reserva de Mariposa Monarca). Sierra Chincua priklauso Angangueo parkui, tai jeigu kada ieskosit mariposu, vaziuokit link Tlalpujahua miestelio, o ten jau ieskokit zenklu I Angangueo/"Parque Natural Angangueo". Kelia pas drugelius rasti sudetinga, o pagaliau ji privaziavus, tenka dar 3 kilometrus paejeti akmenuotu ir dulketu misko sunkeliu, kuriuo periodiskai prarisnoja ispaike turistai ant arkliu, sukeldami siaubinga dulkiu debesi. Ciaudejom, kosejom ir atrodem kaip po gera purvyna issivolioje parseliai. Labai "paguode" tai, kad sunkelis visa laika leidosi gana staciai zemyn, o tai reiske, kad grizdami turesim 3km kopti I virsu. Ne Didysis Kanjonas, bet vis tiek malonumas menkas. Taciau parkas buvo vertas kiekvienos jo beieskant ir jame praleistos minutes. Sunkelis galiausiai nuveda I misko propersa, I kuria ziemoti kas metai suskrenda milijonai Drugeliu Monarchu. Vaizdelis neeilinis: kaip milziniskam biciu avily, tik bites pakeiskite didziuliais drugiais: (Klipas #1 ir Klipas #2 arba Kilpas #3 su audio (turintiems greita interneta)). Mes, beje, atvaziavom jau sezonui besibaigiant: monarchai ziemoja nuo lapkricio iki kovo, ir vasario pabaigoj ju, atseit, jau like nebedaug (mums taip nepasirode…). Idomu, kaip tada tas parkas atrodo gruodi…
Jau sutemus pasiekiam Meksika. Ten ir apsinakvojam. Rytojaus rytas mums isaus Meksikos sostineje!
