Millions of monarch butterflies

Ruth and I have been to see the monarch butterflies many times, but it never gets old. In fact, it's a magical experience. 

Ruth just added it up... including yesterday, we have been to the Mexican wintering grounds of the monarch butterflies eight different times, at four different locations. Yesterday, we went to the Piedra Herrada sanctuary located on the old highway between Valle de Bravo and Toluca.

The closest thing that you can do that feels like flying like a bird

Valle de Bravo is well known as a world class paragliding destination. It has near perfect wind conditions and the international paragliding community holds annual competitions here.

So we finally talked ourselves into doing tandem paragliding when we were with one of RV Caravan groups back in January of 2019. 

The wind didn't co-operate.... again!

So we tried to go paragliding on Wednesday and the wind didn't co-operate. Then yesterday, we tried to go so sailing. And we actually did go sailing... but eventually the wind didn't co-operate again!

We ended up on the water for about four hours!

The wind didn't co-operate

We left here about 9:30am and took a collectivo taxi into town. We were lucky to get one with three empty seats at that hour. 

Then we had a 2.5 km hike up through town to the trailhead at Monte Alto State Park, and then another 2.5 km hike to the paragliding take off point.

Our pictures arrived!

A day early. They were supposed to arrive today, but when we got back from Mexico City there they were sitting outside our front door.

Really pleased overall, but the two smaller ones are actually a bit too small.

The rooftops of Mexico City

Monday morning we took the entire Line 8 underground Metro route from downtown Mexico City to the suburb of Iztapalapa. We were 18 stops on the subway and it cost 5 pesos ($0.38 CAD, $0.28 USD) per person.

There, we got on the relatively new (2021) "cablebus" system... the public cable car system. That line runs for 10 kms, with one free transfer point. Cost for the entire ride, including the round trip if you don't exit the system is 7 pesos ($0.54 CAD, $0.39 USD) per person.

Always lots going on in Mexico City

Ruth and I took the bus from Valle de Bravo to Mexico City yesterday morning. It's a two hour direct bus ride and costs 310 pesos ($23.75 CAD, $$17.25 USD) per person each way.

We arrived at Ponitente Bus Terminal and walked to the new Observatorio Metro subway station. There, we bought a transit card for 15 pesos and filled it with another 10 pesos for the two of us to be able to do the 8 stop trip to the center. The Mexico City subway is super cheap.

We are off to the big tamale!

Most people know that New York City is often called "the big apple". So it's only fitting that Mexico City's unofficial nickname is "the big tamale"! Here's our plan for the next two days...

We're taking the 9:00am bus this morning from Valle de Bravo to the Poniente bus terminal in the western part of the city. It's about a two hour ride.  They now have the Observatorio metro station open again after a couple of years of renovations. Apparently it re-opened on November 15th.

Mexican Fireworks! And our furniture arrived!

But before we get to the fireworks, we have some good news...

Almost all of our furniture arrived yesterday! They said they would deliver it around 10:00am. It was almost 10:45am when they showed up... but they only had one piece with them!

We took your advice!

I can't remember now who suggested it, but we took your advice to decorate our walls with photos of Mexico that we took ourselves.

I found a Mexican online company called Canvas Lab that prints your own digital photos onto canvas so that you can hang them on the wall.

The view up there is spectacular!

Our friends Fernando and Yessi (she is also our Spanish teacher) invited us to go for a hike in the state park that overlooks Valle de Bravo. Yessi's sister Blanka and her 10 year old son joined us.

And so we combined our hiking trip with our Spanish lesson!

Too bad about Trusted Housesitters

Long time readers will know that we have done a fair bit of house sitting over the years. 

One of the more popular platforms that we have used is called Trusted Housesitters. We were actually among the original members of Trusted Housesitters when they began operations back in 2010.

A house is just a place to keep your stuff.

We have a few Canadian visitors who are camping here. 

When we rented this place, we hadn't thought of the benefit of meeting the other travelers who come through here, and we enjoy doing that. We like telling people about the things to see and do in the area, as well as helping them plan their journey through other parts of Mexico.

A good time was had by all

We were invited to a Mexican birthday fiesta that took place yesterday. Our long time readers know that we have spent quite a lot of time here in Valle de Bravo, and this is where we originally met our friends Paco and Oti.

Yesterday was Paco's 70th birthday and they had a big celebration that took place in the nearby city of Toluca where they live.

Such is life in Mexico...

Our furniture is supposed to be delivered this weekend, and we need enough cash to pay them. The total bill is 31,500 pesos ($2,395 CAD, $1,733 USD), but we've already given them a 10,000 peso deposit. 

So we still need to give them 21,500 pesos in cash. The problem is that I'm only able to take out 6,000 pesos at a time with the limits on my ATM card. So it's meant a few trips into town this week to go to the bank.

Our home Wifi in Mexico

We hopped on the ATV and did a trip into town yesterday. Had some running around to do... go to the bank, do some shopping, etc.

And, we signed up for home internet WiFi.

Our furniture is almost ready!

We rented this place partially furnished. There was one good bed, some decent outdoor tables and chairs, a good fridge and stove. and a usable sofa. But that's about it. Very little in the way of kitchen accessories. No television(s). No closets.

And we knew that. In fact the price we're paying in rent is more reflective of a totally empty place that you would have to furnish yourself anyhow.

What's on the agenda for December?

On Sunday, we went for a long walk in the forest. We followed an old trail in the state park near Jiltotepec that wasn't showing on any of the maps, so we didn't know where it ended up or how far it went.

We ended up doing 13 kms (8 miles)!

November Expenses... pretty reasonable!

Our budget was $2.125 CAD ($1,522 USD) for the month of November, and we ended up spending $2,258 CAD ($1,618 USD).

And that includes the rent on our house!

Busy place! The parking lot is full!

We only made it out for a short hike yesterday, but it was a relaxing day overall.

Oh, I never told you about the problems with our gasoline furnace. A bit of a pain, but the fix is in progress.

There is a Mexican camper club arriving today

We got a decently early start yesterday morning, on the road at about 9:30am. Not the nicest weather though... it was raining pretty steadily when we left.

We had to drive 164 kms (102 miles), but most of it was on secondary roads and it's probably a 4 hour drive. Lots of topes (speed bumps) and built up areas. The choice was to partially take the toll highway (one section of which we had no choice but to do), but it really wouldn't have saved that much time, and it would cost more.

The Hacienda Santa Maria Regla

Looking down over the ridge from the park where Igor has spent the last two nights, we could see a large and interesting looking estate. Further research showed that it is an old silver mining hacienda built between 1760 and 1780 that has been turned into a hotel and event center.

They charge 100 pesos ($7.65 CAD, $5.45 USD) to access the grounds, and we thought it was well worth it!

Fantastic spot in Mexico rarely visited by foreign tourists

Of course most foreign tourists come to Mexico for the warmth and the beaches. But we found out early in our Mexico exploration that most of Mexico's best attractions are actually inland.

You would think that we have seen everything there is to see in Mexico, but not yet! In this instance, Ruth has had the Prismas Basalticos on her list for quite some time and we finally made it here. And, it is definitely worth a visit!

Interesting stuff... the English cemetery at Mineral del Monte, Mexico

I've mentioned in previous posts that mining specialists arrived from Cornwall, England to Veracruz, Mexico in the early 1800's. They had an arduous journey to get from Veracruz to the Pachuca area in Hidalgo dragging their steam engines along the way. Some died of yellow fever along the way.

There were about 130 men originally, followed by many more in the 1840's and 1850's. Eventually, about 350 men, some of whom had brought their families, had emigrated to this area of Mexico to work in the silver mines that had been bought by a British company.

No garbage cans... and yet no garbage!

Monday morning we drove up the hill from Mineral del Chico to Mineral del Monte. 

Mineral del Monte is a larger town, and at a higher elevation. Population about 14,000.

Back to Igor

We didn't have to be out of our room until noon, so we went for breakfast around 9:30am and then did some more wandering around in Pachuca. We had seen all the highlights, so weren't really looking for anything in particular.

Into the city of Pachuca for an overnight stay

We ended up having to move Igor. Not a big deal, but it certainly would have been more convenient not to have to. 

And then when we got to the new location a few minutes away, it wasn't the same guy and the price had gone up from 250 pesos to 280 pesos. Whatever. At least he's secure.

We'll be eating huaraches for the next few days!

Well, it turns out that we stayed in our spot for another night, which is convenient. They are cutting down some large dead trees in the area, and they started on the other side and likely won't even make it to our side until Monday. We might even be able to stay where we are for the weekend, but we'll find out this morning.

Oh, we never did show you a photo of where we are parked...

We need to find another overnight spot

Yesterday, I booked us a hotel in the nearby city of Pachuca. We're going to leave Igor here in Mineral del Chico, and on Saturday morning we're going to take the collectivo to Pachuca, do some exploring, spend the night, do some more exploring Sunday, and return to Mineral del Chico on Sunday late afternoon.

I had just booked and paid for the non refundable hotel room when our host came to tell us we won't be able to stay here on the weekend. 

Well that was an adventure!

Yesterday's blog was posted late because we got sidetracked into an adventure! If you missed yesterday's, here it is... https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2025/11/the-cost-of-entrance-is-happiness-and.html

And now... the adventure...

The cost of entrance is happiness and a smile

We woke up Tuesday morning, and we were the only ones in the park other than a few employees cleaning up a little trash left over from the long weekend.

But it was time for us to move on as well. Just to another part of the park to access some different hiking trails.

Beautiful views, and some crazy rock climbers

We've pretty much exhausted the hiking trails that are within walking distance from where we are, but decided to stay another day anyhow.

And good thing we did, because we found a nearby viewpoint that wasn't marked on the maps... and only a half hour walk away!

Just another beautiful day in Mexico...

We totally forgot that this was a long weekend here in Mexico!

Today is Revolution Day... a federal holiday. So when we saw a few more tents set up that looked like they were staying the night, it finally clicked. 

It's actually quite busy!

The last time we were here in March of 2020 it was only a two night stay and those were Wednesday and Thursday nights. It was pretty quiet then, and our group were the only people here. 

But we arrived on a weekend this time, and it's actually been quite busy. There are even tenters braving the chilly overnights.

We have finally returned!

The last Mexico RV caravan that we did was just ending when Covid began at the end of March 2020. Hard to believe that was five and a half years ago!

Anyhow, one of our favorite campgrounds on the trip was in El Chico National Park.

Hiking in Parque Los Peñas de Dexcani Alto just north of Mexico City

We are about 70 kms (42 miles) as the crow flies north of the center of Mexico City.

Yesterday, we went hiking in the nearby state park. Uphill all the way!

Trip in to town, and good news!

We did the 6 km (3.7 mile) walk into the town of Jilotepec yesterday morning. It was an absolutely perfect day with mostly sunshine and a high of 21C (70F).

First stop was Parque Urbano Las Sequoias... a municipal park.

Felt great to get out for a hike!

This was only supposed to be a short stopover to break up the drive to El Chico National Park, but it turns out that this is a worthwhile destination itself.

Yesterday we went for a nice walk... about 6 kms (4.2 miles) through the forest in behind the campground.

First day adventures

I figured we might get on the road around 10:00am, but that turned out to be too ambitious. It was just after 12 noon by the time we got going! A very late start for us.

We weren't going that far... only 153 kms (95 miles), but it's a three hour drive!

Ran out of gas!

We're taking off in our campervan Igor for three weeks. We're heading to El Chico National Park in the state of Hidalgo to do some hiking. 

It's going to be cooler up there... calling for highs of 19C (66F) during the day and only 4C (39F) at night. Perfect hiking weather though!

Lots of visitors

We started loading everything back into Igor to get ready to leave tomorrow. A few more items to go, but it's mostly kitchen stuff that we need to use in the house as well, so that can wait until tomorrow morning.

The main job remaining is to give him a bath! He hasn't been washed since last May! 

Never again!

As long as we own some kind of campervan, there are two things I'll never pay someone to do. The first is to wash it. I have never paid someone to wash my motorhome. If I'm still able to drive it, I'm still able to keep it clean myself!

And the second is an oil change...

There's a reason the lake is full!

Because we've driven by it before, we knew there was a waterfall that you can see beside the road that leads to Avandaro. We were going into town anyhow, so decided to do a little detour to that waterfall because we had been told of a trail that leads up to another waterfall.

There's always something interesting going on

The house we are renting is located at an actual working marina. At this marina, the boats are not kept in the water. The marina stores the boats on land, normally under cover, and when the owner of the boat wants to use his boat, he calls ahead and the marina gets the boat out of storage, cleans it up, and puts it in the water ready for the owner to use when he arrives.

Most boat owners live in the nearby cities of Toluca and Mexico City and come here on weekends. So obviously things are busier around here at that time.

Where are we headed next week...?

We have been to all 32 states in Mexico, and although we have seen almost all there is to see in Mexico, there are still a few items to cross off the list. As well as a few places that we don't mind returning to!

One of those places is El Chico National Park and the town of Mineral del Chicos.

Life goes on...

Sunday of course is the weekly market in Valle de Bravo, and we did hop on the ATV and go in to town to do some shopping and have some lunch.

But because it was the weekend of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), the town was actually pretty quiet and many of the regular market vendors weren't there.

October Expenses

October was an interesting month from an expenses perspective for several reasons. 

Bottom line... we spent quite a lot of money! 

It's going to be a nail biter!

We've been busy here, but nothing really worth reporting on. In fact I went two days in a row without taking a single photo. That doesn't happen very often.

We've got our garage area totally cleaned up. It actually looks a little empty with just our ATV in there! But at least visitors who are driving will have a decent parking spot.

That was a productive morning!

We drove Igor over to the mechanic shop at 8:00am, went over a few things with them, then walked back to the house. They weren't exactly sure how long it would take because I had asked them to check the brakes, but they said to check back with them in a couple of hours.

Took Igor to the mechanic this morning

We got up early this morning because we had to take Igor to the mechanic shop at 8:00am. 

Now, this is Mexico and so things don't always happen the way you think they should. So we wouldn't have been the least bit surprised to arrive at 8:00am and find nobody there.