Costa Rica Butterfly Farm

We’re at a butterfly farm—or mariposario—on the outskirts of La Guácima, a friendly village in central Costa Rica. One of the world’s leading suppliers of butterfly chrysalises for live exhibits, it’s aptly named The Butterfly Farm. The bulk of the “farm” is a 7,500-square-foot greenhouse, open to the air but enclosed with wire mesh so the butterflies can’t escape—and predators can’t get in. Narrow pathways wind through shaded jungle, interspersed with sunny patches of bright red, yellow, and orange flowering plants: cosmos, passionflower, heliconia, lantana.