Today we headed out of town to Butterfly World. It was an amazing experience to walk into the humid butterfly enclosure and see these magnificently created creatures fluttering around and drinking nectar from the flowers. The colours were just awesome! I thought much of my mum who just loves butterflies and wished she was there to share the experience with us.
Butterfly World imports the pupas on a weekly basis. Up to 500 per week! The butterflies emerge from the chrysalis and once their wings are dry they take off into the safety of their enclosure. Apparently they live longer in this environment that in their natural habitat as there is plenty of food provided for them and there are no predators. Their life span is a couple of weeks.
This one was resting on the ground .We had to watch our step so we didn't tread on any of them.
This ones wings were totally transparent except for the edges and the kids called it the transparent butterfly.
Only the underside of this ones wings have this striking red colour.
Awesomely created!
The chrysalis are pinned to these racks until the butterfly emerges. These two have recently emerged and the wings are unfolding and drying.
This little fellow was hanging around in the butterfly enclosure and seemed rather tame. It is the first time I have observed a bat so up close and personal. It was amazing to see so many of the creatures we have been studying over the last few weeks.
There were many reptiles on display too.
This cheeky marmoset climbed onto Eric's back and decided to wee on him! Z tried to stroke him and got a little nip on his hand!
K was thrilled that they had snakes too and she went back to hold the corn snake numerous times. She is determined to get her own snake....
We saw some interesting birds too. We had a delicious lunch at the restaurant and made our way back home. We all thoroughly enjoyed the experience! A great family outing.
Oh I laughed at the monkey peeing story! That is truly funny :) What wonderful memories to look back on as a family. :) Thanks so much for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteIt was funny! And a fabulous outing was enjoyed by all :)
ReplyDeleteButterflies are so interesting, we did a trip to a butterfly farm a few months back and even my toddlers were able to appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteWow, I can see lots of those are imported species for sure! Where is Butterfly World? I've been to one butterfly farm in the SW Cape and one in Mpumalanga, both years ago. We tried the one on Natal coast, in 2009, but it was closed. We collect butterflies of South Africa and they are so interesting. My children each have a net and in Summer and SPring they charge around the garden after them. We only "pin" what we don't have, so it's mostly catch and release.
ReplyDeleteTo the Greaves family, Butterfly world is just off the N1 on the way to Paarl. Sounds like you have fun with butterflies!
ReplyDeleteWe also loved our trip here! We watched those little monkeys eat the butterflies - gross!
ReplyDelete