Unlike many others, we reach the sanctuary from a different route, avoiding many touristic hassles and giving the tour a more private and comfortable experience.
Posted By : Mark_S
First day was canceled. No explanation. Second day was a no show. Money was returned, but we scheduled with Viator and then flew to Mexico City for the sole purpose of seeing the Monarchs on my wife's birthday. Never went
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Posted On : 2024-03-04 15:00:19 
Posted By : Wayne_S
Viator canceled my tour on the morning of the tour.
Thanks viator for a bad experience.
I flew aero Mexico just to come to Mexico city to take this tour.
I changed my hotel to make it a pickup spot for the tour.
Never again will I book viator.
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Posted On : 2024-02-27 15:51:08
Posted By : Pat_O
No butterflies this year. All tours to this location were canceled. I flew from Northern Wisconsin to Mexico City and waited outside my hotel for 2 hours. Only after I called to find out where they were did I find out the trip had been cancelled weeks ago. This fiasco cost me over $1500.
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Posted On : 2024-02-05 14:18:47
Posted By : Bill_S
Guide Canceled the night before and only cuz I called to ask. When I tried to chat with viater after waiting forever for them to get back to me, they then shut down the chat because I didn't respond within 2 minutes. Well, at least supposedly they're sending me my money back but I haven't seen it yet.
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Posted On : 2024-02-02 20:52:17
Posted By : Connector521489
We signed up and paid for this tour. This was a "Life Event" for me, something I had dreamed of doing. We were to meet at the hotel lobby at 6:30am for a full day. No one showed up. We called the tour operator, no answer. We called TripAdvisor/Viator and they were not able to help us. I have tried to contact Trip Advisor for a Refund and their website provides no guidance or help. Very Disappointed
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Posted On : 2024-01-29 12:51:58 
Posted By : Dale_H
What a wonderful adventure! What an amazing guide and the family who hosted us was generous and gracious! I would recommend to anyone. Bring lots of cash as you will feel so grateful you will wish you could tip more! The trip was the mountain was hard, going over boulders but the men who helped us were experts and they made the journey look easy. Once there as I was taking pictures I realized I was missing it, for the rest of the time I was just there, just being in that place, smelling the sweet dirt smell, listening to the silence as the miracle played out before me. I wish someone had told me the way down was easy, it gave me a bit of anxiety thinking about getting back on the horse! Lol. It seemed the butterflies followed us as we made our decent. Wafting to and fro, not a care in the world. The family lead us into their home and made us an authentic delicious meal! Thank you for being our gracious host. The ride home, over two hours seemed like twenty minutes as the conversation was so ignited by our experience. All in all, a day I will remember for a life time! Thanks!
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Posted On : 2023-04-04 10:53:07
Posted By : karenhQ9057ST
We had an amazing tour with Jose to see the Monarch butterflies before they migrated back north. Not only was the experience incredible, our tour guide was the best! On time, fun, great taste in music (for the drive from Mexico City), kind and generous. We highly recommend him for any tour he offers. The monarchs swarming is a site to see - nothing I write here could do it justice. It is an experience of a lifetime. Note to those traveling to Cerro Pelon -read the disclaimer that this is physically challenging and it would take hours to hike yourself - you really need to ride the horse (included) and if you aren't experienced with horses (we weren't) it is harrowing esp. coming down. Steep, high altitude and rocks, lots of rocks - try to relax and trust the horse. Each horse has its own experienced guide leading it up and down the mtn (on foot). Hold on to the saddle (one hand in front and one in back of it) and lean back (for an hour) when descending. It is mentally exhausting and we were saddle sore the next day but we wouldn't trade this experience for the world. (bad weather could cancel this trip - too dangerous to do in the rain, hence some of the bad reviews for canceling). Four of us (in our 50s) were lucky to have such a beautiful day. If you are in decent shape and adventurous - ck the weight limit and do this trip!
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Posted On : 2023-03-14 10:56:03
Posted By : Debra_K
This tour was truly magical! The Monarch butterflies were plentiful, humming overhead and thousands amongst the trees and cerulean sky. Because this sanctuary is fairly new, it allowed us a personal experience vs other more established places that host bus loads. Jose A. was punctual, friendly, and the PERFECT guide! We were grateful to the park rangers and our horse's guides who coaxed them through a very rocky, primitive trail and challenging descent. Highly recommended but may not be for the faint of heart.
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Posted On : 2023-03-11 15:26:42
Posted By : Elizabeth C
My husband and I had a wonderful, adventurous time! Our tour guide, Rafael, promptly picked us up at 6:30 AM at our rental apartment in CDMX. He was very friendly, professional, knowledgeable, and spoke excellent English. We then picked up the two other members of our tour from their hotel and proceeded to our destination. The car was a standard-sized, pretty new, Volkswagon sedan.
It was a scenic 3 hour ride on the toll highway, with a couple bathroom/coffee stops included. When we arrived in the village, we were greeted by a lovely family and their horses. We then proceeded on a 1.5 hour or so horse ride up a steep, rugged, but beautiful forested trail. The horses were each led by a guide on foot, so we did not have to “steer”, but I could imagine this being a challenging horse ride if you are not fit for trail riding. We then dismounted and took a short but steep hike to the lookout location. My husband and I both regularly exercise, but did find ourselves out of breath at the 10,000 ft elevation (Note if you are sensitive to altitude.)
Once at the lookout, the butterflies are absolutely breathtaking! Do bear in mind their activity is dependent upon there being warm sun, as they did not fly around when it was cloudy.
After getting our fill of viewing the butterflies, we returned back to the village. The family then welcomed us into their home and fed us a delicious chicken mole dish with truly homemade tortillas; the meal was cooked entirely from ingredients in their village! After our meal, we returned with Rafael to Mexico City and were returned to our rental apartment on time.
It was such a memorable experience! I would recommend this tour to anyone looking to get off the beaten path and experience a true marvel of nature.
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Posted On : 2023-01-17 21:25:28
Posted By : Illybilly5
Most unprofessional, unreliable and inefficient tour operator. Paid for and booked a trip without any word from them. No answer even after contacting them to confirm the trip was happening. Viator/tripadvisor had to contact them before they responded two days alter, only to cancel our trip. It was by then too late to book any other trips as everything was booked for the holiday season. Extremely frustrating experience.
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Posted On : 2022-12-25 12:39:10
