Flag Raising
In Mexico City our hotel was located in the Plaza de la Constitución, otherwise known as the Zócalo. At 6:00 every morning we were awakened by the trumpets from the flag raising ceremony.
CIMMYT
We visited CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, located in Texcocco. CIMMYT leads a global maize and wheat innovation network that serves the poor in developing countries.
Norman Borlaug
Norman Borlaug, who won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in bringing about the Green Revolution, talked about his long career in agricultural science.
Red Coats
We spent the aftenoon touring CIMMYT's greenhouses.
Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán is considered to be the first great metropolis of the Western Hemisphere. Construction of the city began about 2,000 years ago.
Exploring the Ruins
Ruben Cabrera, senior archaeologist with Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, was our guide.
Burial Site
We were granted access to an excavation tunnel underneath the Pyramid of the Moon. Archeologists are uncovering new information about burial sites that reveal a Mayan link to Teotihuacán's history.
Pyramid
Here we are atop the Pyramid of the Moon. The Pyramind of the Sun is to the left. The Avenue of the Dead is directly behind us.
Butterfly Sanctuary
We drove high into the mountains to visit the Sierra Chincua Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. Every year millions of monarch butterflies migrate from as far away as the eastern Canada to spend the winter in the coniferous forests around Michoacán.
Snow Ride
It was snowing and sleeting when we arrived. Most of us rode horses into the sanctuary. The ground was muddy from rain and snow and even the horses were slipping on the wet terrain.
Monarch Mariposa
We left the horses at the top of a ridge and hiked down a muddy slope. Everyone fell at least once. We reached the oyamel trees clustered with monarchs. They were alive, but too cold to fly.
Close Up
We picked a branch of butterflies off the ground for a closer look.
Ruins
On our last morning we visited the ruins of the Templo Mayor, located on the northeast corner of the Zócalo. Here the Aztecs erected their most important religious building on the spot where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus devouring a snake, still the symbol of Mexico today.
