January 23, 2016 - Santa Elena, Costa Rica

It was rainy when we got up today but we decided to go to the Monteverde Butterfly Garden anyway. The drive across town only takes about 10 minutes and by the time we arrived, most of the rain had stopped and the sun was out, but the wind persists!

The cost was $15 USD or $8000 Colones per person for the 1-1/2 hour tour. There was a large group of 20 going through with another guide, so David, the owner’s husband, gave us a private tour. It was very interesting to see the four greenhouses set up for the butterflies, as well as some of the insects they have at the gardens.

Morphos butterfly – beautiful blue when open


Grecian shoemaker butterfly

Orange Tiger butterfly

Clear wing butterfly – it is not dead! David caught it and put it in Tobey’s hand so we could see through the wings. After a minute, Tobey blew on his hand and it flew away.

Stained-Glass wing butterflyThe orange and black butterfly is a Small Postman and the black and white are Zebra butterflies.

Orange Julia butterfly

Malachite butterfly

Owl butterfly

After seeing the butterflies, David showed us some of the insects they have at the gardens.
Green-leaf katydid

Brown and green leaf katydids

Cockroach

Tarantula

The Monteverde Butterfly Garden has been in operation for 22 years. David and his wife, a couple from Canada, bought it three years ago and have become an important part of this Santa Elena community. They do educational programs for the local schools and allow the local people to visit at no cost. He told us that all of the profits from the gift shop go toward purchasing books for a free library they are helping start here. http://www.monteverdebutterflygarden.com/visit.html

After our tour, we had lunch at SaborTico, a local restaurant before heading back to our hotel where we napped and read. It has rained off and all all afternoon, often sideways because of the wind, even though the sun is out! The next big decision – what to have for dinner! Tomorrow we head for Nuevo Arenal.