Blue Morpho Butterfly is New National Symbol

That now makes 18 national symbols for Costa Rica! Read about why this one and what the other national symbols are in this Tico Times Article. And be sure to check out my collection of Blue Morpho photos in my Blue Morpho Gallery! Including this one below.

Blue Morpho Butterfly in Butterfly Garden of the Greentique Wildlife Reserve, Hotel Si Como No, Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica.

And you might also be interested in this article in Tico Times this week: Costa Rica Increases Forest Protection by Over 16 million Hectares

¡Pura Vida!

Unique Insects

I didn’t actively search for insects on this trip, but as in any rainforest you can’t help but notice some unique ones! Here’s three:

¡Pura Vida!

Best Night Hike Ever!

All photos made on my cell phone camera during a light rain. Amazing!

Red-eyed Tree Frog
Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Long-billed Hermit Hummingbird Sleeping 
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica
Baby Basilisk 
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Tropical Rainforest Frog 
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Katydid 
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Fleur-de-lis Spider 
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Fleur-de-lis Spider hiding in curled dead leaf 
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Blue Morpho Butterfly Sleeping 
 They are bright blue on top with underside like an owl butterfly
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

Red-eyed Tree Frog 
 Danta Corcovado Lodge, Costa Rica

I got a new guide for this hike who specializes in night hikes, a more mature man than the 18 year-old David. He was really good and helped make some of the photos. His name is Jairo, but the way everyone pronounced it, sounded something like “Hydel,”  I almost backed out of the hike because of the light rain and sure glad I did not. Today’s hike in the park was postponed until tomorrow (Friday) because I was the only one going today and they need a minimum of two to afford it. There’s 5 of us for tomorrow. But they do the night hike solo and I was glad as the only one because I got more attention and probably saw/photographed more creatures!

A few of the BUTTERFLIES at Monteverde

Isabella Tiger

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica
Owl Butterfly

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica
Malachite Butterfly

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Bluewing or Blue-Banded Purplewing

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Colubura Dirce

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Thoas Swallowtail

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Postman

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Heliconius Sara

Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Blue Morpho Butterfly on Charlie Doggett

Selvatura Park, Monteverde, Costa Rica

Heliconius Hecale Zuleika

Selvatura Park, Monteverde, Costa Rica

The Selvatura Adventure Park Butterfly House was bigger and fancier and maybe landscaped better or prettier but did not have as many species as the smaller, family-run Monteverde Butterfly Garden which also had a more lively insect exhibit, again not as big, but with more live insects shown up close by one of the owners. If you can go to only one of the butterfly gardens, I would recommend Monteverde. Plus if you go hiking in the Cloud Forest Reserve or Curi-Cancha you will see lots of butterflies in the wild.

Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.
-Henry David Thoreau
My Costa Rica Butterflies PHOTO GALLERY

Volcanoes and Waterfalls!

Templo Falls one of five falls at La Paz
Jaguar at La Paz, my favorite photo after the waterfall above.
Though my arm was scratched by an Ocelot when I tried to photograph
through bars of his cage. (That’s another story for later maybe!)

Blue Morpho Butterfly at La Paz
Poas Lake Caldron

Active Portion of Poas Volcano that smelled like sulphur
Tree Fern in tropical cloud forest of Poas Volcano