Choose your rooms

One of the world’s most astounding wildlife photography opportunities features one of its tiniest creatures, the delicate monarch butterfly. While monarchs may be familiar sights during a New England or California summer, nothing prepares you for the marvel of their migration, when they congregate by the millions in Mexico’s Central Highlands each winter. Entering a grove of fir trees on a remote mountaintop, we see trunks and branches that appear to be blanketed with rusty autumn leaves. A closer look reveals they’re quivering. Then, as the sun emerges from behind a cloud to warm them, our cameras capture hundreds of thousands of monarch butterflies as they take flight—so many that we actually hear the beating of their wings, which glow translucent orange against the blue sky as they flutter overhead. Sometimes, they even float down to alight on our hats and cameras. Guided by our Expedition Leader, who is both an expert naturalist and photographer, learn to capture amazing images of this moving phenomenon.