Butterfly Garden

On Wednesday, my resident director took all of the AIFS students on a short trip downtown to the Butterfly Garden. When I heard that there was a butterfly garden downtown, I did not know exactly what to think. How would a butterfly garden look amidst the three or four tall buildings and hustle and bustle of downtown? (There are only a few tall buildings because of the frequent earthquakes...don't get me wrong, San José is a big city) We took a shuttle bus from Veritas to the butterfly garden. It did not look like anything special from the outside.

We walked in the reception building, and one of the staff members gave us a presentation on the facility. She told us a lot of information we had already figured out after two months. Costa Rica is one of the most ecologically friendly countries on the planet, but you would not know it if you only visited San José. San José is just like any other city. It is surrounded by a gorgeous mountain range that contributes to its cooler weather, but the city itself has a lot of poverty. There is still litter on the streets and that "smell" that many big cities seem to have. The purpose of the butterfly farm was to create a small haven for people in the city to experience the biodiversity and beauty of Costa Rica while still in the city. In addition to the butterfly garden, there is also preserved forest. (All of this in the busiest part of downtown)

After the introduction and a short video, we got to walk out into the enclosed butterfly garden. ¡Que bonita!  There were hundreds of different types of butterflies and plants. There were also a number of fountains and small pools within the enclosure. The butterflies would just land on us as we walked through the garden. I was impressed...

Then, we walked out of the enclosure into the forest reserve. I honestly forgot that I was in downtown. All I could hear was the flow of the river and the chirping of birds. It was like I was in La Selva! I definitely was not expecting much when I heard we were going to a butterfly garden, but the garden and preserve were gorgeous. I hope that other cities around the world will follow San José's example and promote such projects in urban areas.