Xoco

So after a long flight and a long day (6 hours longer than normal due to the time zones) we arrived safely in Mexico City. This is a mega city with a population of 22.2 million so we picked the quiet suburb of Coyoacan for our first two days to allow us to settle in.

This area has a bohemian and hipster vibe with plenty of street entertainers, local food and markets and interesting architecture.

The area is most famous for being the home of celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and her husband the muralist Diego Rivera. We visited her childhood home where she stayed much of her short life. Called Casa Azul (blue house) it had lovely grounds and provided rich insight into her challenging life and the art it fuelled.

We then went to the Leo Trotsky museum, the house where he lived in exile from Stalinist Russia, suffered multiple assassination attempts before he was eventually murdered (with an ice axe).

We spent the rest of the day exploring the streets, market and did some birding in the local park. Because this is a new country for us most of the birds were brand new. Of the 18 species we identified 16 were life ticks. Highlights were the small Ladder-Backed Woodpecker and the brilliant red Summer Tanager.

Tomorrow we are heading to Valle de Bravo for a few days (a 3 hour bus ride) to see the Monarch Butterflies.Read more