Butterfly Botanical Gardens is just one of many tours offered by Finas Natural Wildlife Refuge in Manual Antonio
Did you know that there are approximately 2000 species of butterflies in Costa Rica? Or that of all of the eggs laid, only about 2% complete metamorphosis to become butterflies? Did you know that some butterflies copulate for four hours at a time? Or that all butterflies lay their eggs at mid-day? How many of you know that the Blue Morpho’s brilliant color is not a pigment, but actually a reflection? Have you ever noticed the snake’s head on the Owl Butterfly’s wings? Well you’ll learn that, and much, much more at the Butterfly Botanical Gardens in Manuel Antonio.
The Butterfly Botanical Gardens is part of a 30-acre nature reserve and conservation project created through the efforts of the guides from Adventuras de la Naturaleza, and Jim Damalas of Ecovision S.A., General Manager of the Hotel Si Como No and is supported by Association Grupo Manuel Antonio (GMA).
Once arriving, the best thing to do is pay (about $15USD) for a one-hour tour with a guide who will give you a short historical overview of the Fincas Naturales Nature Farms, as well as the goals of the conservation project.
The refuge is currently researching and developing nature exhibits to help protect and reproduce local species in danger of extinction, including orchids, bromeliads, and some amphibians. The refuge has developed three exhibits including the Butterfly Botanical Gardens, an impressive Aquatic Garden, and the new Crocodile Lagoon exhibit
The Butterfly Botanical Gardens is a large, mesh covered conservatory – a multi-level living laboratory. Inside the net is a magnificently landscaped Xanadu. Tropical plants and flowers abound, each chosen for a specific role they play in the life cycle of butterflies. There is a maze of walkways interlace here and there, over and under.
First thing you will learn benches are strategically placed so one can just site, photograph and/or just enjoy the peace. A babbling brook murmurs its way throughout the entire gardens. Butterflies bob, weave, float and zigzag everywhere. It is very cool to see these insects in their natural environment.
The second thing you will learn with a bilingual tour guide is just about everything you wanted to know about butterflys, like the host plants (where the eggs are laid and caterpillars develop), food plants (from which butterflies mix their nectar ‘cocktails’), and the many different species of butterflies and their corresponding eggs, larva and pupa. The Garden’s laboratory houses the ‘pupario’ – where the various pupas, or chrysalis, are sequestered until the butterflies emerge naturally to fly away and mate.
In the ground level of the laboratory, this is where they categorizes, labels, documents and organizes all of the information critical to making the project viable for use by biologists and botanists worldwide. It is quite impressive.
Fincas Naturales Wildlife Refuge is a 25 acre private wildlife refuge and nature exhibits with 1500 meters (4500 feet) of trails, designed for all ages. The Butterfly Botanical Gardens is open Monday thru Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Cost for the 1 hour bilingual tour is $15.00USD for adults and $10.00 for children under 12 years. To make a reservation for anyone of their tours, tel/fax: 2777-0973 and 2777-0850, or go to their website.
Interesting place. Have not heard of it yet but plan on giving it a visit. Thanks for the information. I would like to mention another place in the Arenal area that Ive visited with clients that they seem to enjoy called Danaus. They do an excellent job at running a very natural setting for butterflies. Thanks for the info and great facts at the start of the post. Have a great week!