Butterfly Conservatory

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The Butterfly Conservatory near Arenal Volcano was an unexpected treat early in the morning during our visit to the volcano. We woke early and went for a drive around the lake ending up in a little area called El Castillo. We’d parked in front of the butterfly conservatory to let Bear get out for a walk when the gentleman working inside came out and offered to let us in for a tour. We hadn’t been to see any of the butterfly farms since we’d been here so we were game.

We continue to be truly amazed daily with what others sometimes take for granted here. Our tour lasted about two hours walking thru five or six different butterfly habitats and two for frogs and other creatures. The stages of the butterfly were amazing. Seeing specimans, live specimans going thru the changes in front of our eyes was captivating. We also saw innumerous plants and were given their names as well as their medicinal qualities AND we saw our first wild sloth!

I don’t know if it’s proper to call a sloth ‘wild’ as they really don’t do too much but we thought it was WILD to finally see one after five months. Callista climbed the tree with the assistance of our guide Edward and got to pet him/her. HOW COOL!

When driving back towards the hotel we stopped along the road to see what a group of bicyclists was looking at. There were 5 or 6 howler monkeys in trees right along side the road, another unexpected treat.

We had a great time in and around the Arenal Volcano area this trip. We learned more than we ever expected to. Our last trip to Arenal was nice but this trip was really a treat. If you haven’t been to a butterfly conservatory yet, I highly recommend visiting one. You’ll be amazed at what you learn.

The frog pics are for someone special, you know who you are. A little gift from Callista!

Pura Vida!
Jen, Bill, Callista and Bear (who had to wait in the car this time)

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Photos

Mailman Butterfly
This one's for you Tom!

Butterfly Conservatory
Blue Morpho

Museum area
This is where you start the tour looking at samples of bugs, insects, butterflies and a couple of snakes.

Butterfly conservatory
Can't remember his name

You CAN touch butterflies
All my life I've know you can't touch butterflies or they'll die. WRONG!!! Callista touched lots and they lived.

Playing with the sloth
Callista climbed the tree to pet this guy. Kinda cute, isn't he?

Emerging butterflies
The blue morpho looks brown on one side and beautiful blue on the other seen when flying.

chrysilis'
Every butterfly has a unique chrysilis with different shapes and colors.

red eyed leaf frog
I stand corrected, this is a red eyed tree frog not a poison-arrow frog.

sniffing a red torch
These are beautiful plants with a delicate aroma.

Comments

[Aunt Carole]

Kudos to the photographer
Jen -- I am assuming you are the photographer since you don't appear in the photos. They are fabu !! Really, you have an eye for composition and color (altho I'd say Mother Nature gives you a lot of help with the color). So many great adventures, so much to see that's different from "just more heat" here in AZ. Sounds like you are VERY happy. . . and that makes ME happy. Hugs to all. :-)

[Just Jen]

Thanks Carole
Yep, it's me... We're headed to the caribbean coast tomorrow for a few days. I'm calling it my B'day trip. All I want for my b'day is to hold a sloth. If I get my hands on one I'll let Callista take my pic. If not, you're outta luck been eating way too much banana bread and not walking lately. Life is rough in the rainy season. Yep, sitting on the porch with binoculars trying to identify birds and plants. It takes a lot out of you. I count my blessings everyday! :) Hugs, Jen

[Mrs. Montoya ;)]

frogs!!
What a feast for my little eyes! Those frogs are almost unbelievable they are so perfect and cute! I'm printing some of the pics off to share with others...thanks so much for thinking of me! Better than anything I've seen in National Geographic ;) I'll write more soon!! Jenn

[Naomi]

Saw it, too!!
I was so excited to see your blog about the butterfly conservatory. Not only were the mariposas and ranas (butterflies and frogs) amazing but my guide Evert was also very knowledgeable about biology and a fun tour guide!! I had an awesome time and plan to visit again! FYI--I was just there in early July...just missed eachother!

[Bertha]

wrong.
you're so called posion dart frog is really a red eyed tree frog. you told me to correct you if you were wrong. sometimes the truth hurts. bye.

[Just Jen]

Thanks for the correction
No problem at all Bertha, I welcome the correction. We see so many new things here it's easy to get mixed up. I try to be more careful these days but...ya never know.

[Jessika]

your green frog
actually your picture of the green frog on the green leaf is a red-eyed tree frog. when resting they seal up all their color so they look all green, but once moving they have the yellow and blue sides, oragne feet, and red eyes. I know this because we sell them at the PetSmart I work at, in Utah. I remember when I first saw it, I thought a different frog got into the red-eyed frog's cage some how. But when moving it I saw that it was indeed a red-eyed tree frog. They are pretty intersting little frogs!