One of the wonderful places we visited last summer, with our oldest granddaughter, was the Butterfly Pavilion, which is conveniently located just 15 minutes from downtown Denver off Hwy 36 at 6252 W. 104th Avenue in Westminster, Colorado.
The Butterfly Pavilion, founded in 1995, is the first stand-alone, Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited non-profit invertebrate zoo in the world! Their immersive exhibits provide guests the opportunity to discover the wonders of nature's hidden heroes through hands-on, interactive experiences that are catered to all ages. (All photos and collages will enlarge if clicked on)
As you can see in my video above, as soon as one walks into the extensively skylighted conservatory area called "Wings of the Tropics" you are surrounded by over 1,200 butterflies that hail from around the world. They are all flying free within the brightly lit climate-controlled environment which is kept at 80 degrees, making it the ideal climate for butterflies and the over 200 lush tropical plants and flowers that grow inside.
It was quite exciting to have butterflies flying all around you as you walk on the paths inside the pavilion. They sometimes even land on your clothes and hands.
It can also be a photographer's dream to be able to take photos of all the different colorful butterflies as they rest on leaves and flowers...
...and I could spend hours there!
There was a butterfly release, and a few different educational demonstrations presented to the children during our visit which added to the overall experience.
Some of the many different tropical flowers, ferns, and fauna within the rainforest area.
The Butterfly Pavilion purchases butterfly chrysalides (butterfly pupae) from butterfly farms in tropical rainforests around the world. This allows people that live in or near rainforests the opportunity to make a living to support their families without having to cut down the rainforest trees. Visitors can watch the butterflies emerge from their chrysalides, and twice a day can watch the staff release them into the rainforest.
In another section of the pavilion, there is an area called "Water's Edge." It has exhibits about animals in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean tide pools. Visitors can see and touch sea stars, sea cucumbers, and horseshoe crabs. Also, there is an exhibit area called "Crawl-A-See-Em" which allows visitors to observe tarantulas, leaf insects, scorpions, beetles, giant millipedes...
...and even hold Rosie, a Chilean rose hair tarantula!
That was really the highlight of our visit for my granddaughter--she is a brave little girl!
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44 comments:
Wow, i would like to see that. Thanks for sharing
Happy mosaic Monday
Much💛🌺💛love
Wonderful shots - love that first shot
Hello,
What a great place to visit, especially with your granddaughter. The butterflies and flowers are gorgeous. I would like to visit the Butterfly Pavilion. Lovely photos and mosaics! Take care! Enjoy your day, have a happy new week ahead.
So many beautiful butterflies!
What a wonderful place. If you are ever in Key West, you need to check out their butterfly conservatory. Here is a link to their website:
https://www.keywestbutterfly.com/
There's a lovely butterfly pavillion near us but of course it is closed. Darn it!
Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2020/05/quarantine-baking.html
...WOW, you can never have too many butterflies!
Hi,
Awesome shots of the butterflies and plants...thanks for sharing your trip...Have a great day!
I've only been to a butterly pavilion once and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The photos here are fabulous -- I love each and every one. And how fun to do that with your littles. Love this, Pat.
That was such a great place to visit with your sweet granddaughter ... she is just the right age (although so would I be as old as I am). I do love places that are fun ( and a learning experience) for all ages. I hadn’t thought about how much needed revenue places like this are losing due to this crisis. I’m sure they’ll appreciate your help.
Wow that's amazing! So many different butterflies and pupa. Great memories as well.
Dawn aka Spatulas On Parade
How wonderful to visit a place like this with your granddaughter. She'll appreciate the butterflies she sees now even more. Love your beautiful mosaics! Take care!
Nice colourful post great photos that first photo made me smile heheh!
Have a fluttertastic safe week 😷😷😷
What a wonderful variety of beautiful butterflies. I'm sure your granddaughter was thrilled!
My grandchildren would love this! How cool!
each butterfly is like a perfect jewel of nature
Wow~ I love the spider! What a brave girl!
That would be a dream come true, to spend time among the butterflies. You captured some lovely shots.
We visited a butterfly sanctuary up here in New England a couple of years ago and I too felt like I could have spent hours in there watching all the different species of butterflies flying around. I liked all the tropical plants too but since we had visited in December we were dressed for New England winter and could only stay so long in the tropical weather.
God's creation is an amazing thing to see and appreciate. Thanks for these beautiful photos! Happy May to you and yours!
That's fun.
How wonderful to see so many butterflies.
Pat - a photographer's paradise - flowers AND butterflies (and more)! How terrific that you could enjoy this with your granddaughter - it gives me such joy to see the world through a child's eyes! Thanks for sharing this national treasure with everyone at Mosaic Monday!
It looks a beautiful place to visit especially with grand children. She was very brave to handle that spider. Not for me.
these are beautiful photos, such a fascinating place with all the butterflies and flowers! Thanks for showing and your family had a lot of fun there!
Greetings Elke
This is a wonderful idea for young children. I will have to find something similar in Texas! Beautiful photos and a sweet memory, I am sure!
A great place to take the grandchildren. Like you I could spend hours in there admiring the butterflies.
Excellent photos! That spider looks creepy though.
Those butterflies are so beautiful, but they pale in comparison to your sweet granddaughter. I can't believe she agreed to letting the tarantula rest on her.
Thanks for giving me a virtual day out which was so educational. I grew up in the South of Germany and the closest Zoo was the Wilhelma in Stuttgart. It has a Butterfly house but its nowhere near as good as the Butterfly Pavillion. Happy Wednesday despite everything 🙋♀️🐝
What ana amazing place and such a great selection of beautiful butterflies
This is so much better than the one we have, but I suppose being the first stand alone one makes a big difference. Ours is attached to a nice botanical garden and when I went it was raining hard and the parking lot flooded so I guess the butterflies don't like that and don't fly around much.
It was still pretty cool though and the tropic climate was a challenge, but I probably sweated out a few pounds (:
You got a lot of great photos and the ones of your granddaughter are sweet, it looks like she had a wonderful time. Nice job on the flowers too.
Oh, my, that looks like so much fun! Love the expressions and awesome colors :)
It's great to see you at 'My Corner of the World' this week!
May butterflies never vanish from Earth. We need them so much.
Oh I loved this..butterflies and kids..what could be better...
Lovely seeing your photographs and collages.
This looks such a great place to visit, no wonder your granddaughter loved it.
All the best Jan
Well, I just love this. The butterflies are so beautiful and I like how the people of the rain forest are able to earn a living from this, too. The Tarantula, I don't know about! lol Thanks for linking up.
What a wonderful place to visit! Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ's.
Your granddaughter is indeed a brave little girl. My granddaughter looks to be similar in age, and would absolutely LOVE seeing this!! Outstanding butterfly photos!
A photographer's dream indeed. I am totally in love with this place. While your granddaughter must have been ecstatic am sure you had a wonderful time too. Beautiful captures of the flighty beauties. Have a happy weekend Pat!
There a butterfly attraction on Vancouver Island in BC on the road heading out to Tofino. - Margy
Gorgeous!!! I spent a good ten minutes in the garden chasing a pretty butterfly with my camera but couldn't get a decent shot.
Amalia
xo
I did so enjoy this post. As always your posts tend to bring back wonderful memories. We haven't been to Denver's Union Station for about five years. We had a wonderful lunch there. I also remember the times we picked my grandmother there when I was a kid. It was always such a wonderful adventure pretending we were the ones leaving on the train! Thank you again!
Very nice post :)
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