atitlan butterfly sanctuary

The Atitlan butterfly sancutary is very prettywith all sorts of butterflies fluttering about.It only takes a half hour or so to wander throughthis venue but its worth the visit.

The butterflies were very active, flitting about. One landed on my husband's hand while he was taking pictures. It's a self-guided walk so you can stop and take as many pictures as you want.While we were there one staff member brought in very new butterflies and placed them on a tree trunk until their wings would be dry enough to allow them to fly. Very special place!

The Butterfly Sanctuary is part of the larger park of Reserva Natural Atitlán and is covered in the basic park admission. The entire park is very nice. Plan on 2-4 hours to cover everything in the basic park. You can swim in the lake, hike to a waterfall, cross suspension bridges, even see spidermonkeys and coati. The Butterfly Sanctuary is an excellent self guided section with wonderful information boards in English and Spanish. You can walk to the Reserve from town.

The highlight of walking through the Reserve as spending time in the large dome. Thousands of butterflies all around. Plenty of flowers. All you have to do is focus your camera on a flower and one will come within seconds. Super fun for all!

A fun little stop during your visit to the Reserve and included in the entrance fee. There is a small educational building where you can learn the life cycles and see firsthand the caterpillars, cocoons, butterflies emerging, and butterflies curing their wings. Within the Geodesic Dome are several very beautiful species fluttering amongst a variety of tropical plants. There are a couple of small places inside to sit and watch the butterflies. Keep your eyes open, there is even an adorable little turtle hanging out in there.

This is a large tented structure filled with a large variety of tropical plants. Really, I felt that I had walked into a terrarium filled with butterflies. It was amazing if you are already here. I am not sure I would make a special trip. It is a great part of experiencing the preserve.

The reserve is beautiful, the butterfly sanctuary is a small structure within the large reserve. There are also a couple of trails with swinging bridges through the rainforest, and a large (very large, to my happy surprise) enclosure for rescued monkeys. You can see them pretty close and throw them a banana! The trails are lovely, bring water an maybe even a snack so you don't have to rush.

If admission (65Q adult, 35Q under 12) were solely for butterflies, might skip as one sees many elsewhere in Pana's gardens. There are an impressive number here within the small geodesic done however and hence a nice place to relax for 15-20 minutes after the hike.

The eco dome that housed the butterfly sanctuary was just large enough to walk around and observe the evolving butterfly strains that were being carefully sheltered. A nice spot to take children for some basics on butterfly metamorphosis or just a pleasant spot to observe the butterflies around a flower habitat.

I highly recommend a visit to the Atitlan Butterfly Sanctuary. It is so peaceful being in a closed eco space with hundreds of butterflies. There are many stunning flowers within the space, and you can just sit and watch the butterflies feeding off the nectar of the flowers. It is definitely a great experience and will lift anyone's mood!

This was included with the entry fee of the Atitlan Nature Reserve (which I highly recommend). Unfortunately, the butterfly sanctuary doesn't live up to the rest of the place's high standards. It's a cute little garden with some beautiful plants, but their weren't that many butterflies. Maybe I was there in the wrong season or something (it was September). I've been to a butterfly garden in rural Quebec where their were hundreds flying all around and landing on you in a lush greenhouse, so I was expecting better from this one in Panajachel. However, considering it's included with the entry of reserve, it's worth a look.

I happened to visit the butterfly sanctuary while it was under reconstruction. The staff and construction workers were very friendly and considerate. I just regret that some of the displays were not labeled.

This is apart of the reserve, but not really worth mentioning separately. There weren't many butterflies.

As it was near the end of the day, the butterflies were not around when I went here. I walked around the garden enclosure and could see that the plants and fruit trees seem to have been planted for the butterflies. Also saw caterpillars in cages.

I was really excited about this and was not disappointed. There were many butterflies of different varieties as well a several new ones that I had never seen before. They have a building with the caterpillars and chrysalises so you can see the butterflies at different stages. Quite lovely!