(no subject)
So we've started to plan more of our Texas trip, and we're likely going to spend most of it in Mexico. Well, if we can do that without totally insulting my parents, who I know want us to spend all our time with them. We'd love to bring them along, but they don't like unfamiliar places and things, especially if they aren't in the same country as their own. But I'm still going to try to bring them.
Why are we going? Because we discovered that just a few hours south of the Border is the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve. It is the world's northernmost cloud forest.
We're thinking of staying here (Ingles at the bottom, prices in pesos).
The reserve’s biodiversity is among the highest in the world. Within the limits of El Cielo, it is possible to find 255 resident birds and 175 migratory birds, 21 species of amphibians, 60 species of reptiles and 40 species of bats (who knew there were even that many?). El Cielo is one of the country’s protected areas where it is still possible to find important populations of black bear as well as all the species of wild cats that exist in Mexico such as the jaguar, cougar, margay cat, ocelot, jaguarundi (isn't that one weird?) and the bobcat.
With elevations ranging from 600 to 7,600 feet, the Reserve encompasses four distinct ecosystems: tropical jungle, mesophyllic mountain forest or cloud forest, pine-oak forest and chaparral, all of them comprising a remarkable and unique mixture of flora and fauna not found elsewhere in the world. The Reserve is a paradise for bird and butterfly watchers, as well as orchid lovers.
So, knowing all this, how can we not go?