Rivas was another flying site, inland from Dominical. This is a more advanced site. Conditions can be strong and the landing is quite far and in a soccer field surrounded by trees. Last time Shelley and I hadn't flown here because conditions weren't good. It didn't seem like we'd get to fly this time either since it was cloudy and windy when we arrived. But in the morning it looked better and a couple of us got flights in. We stayed at Hotel de Montaña El Pelicano which had nice gardens and lots of trees and birds.
We were leaving the restaurant one morning when the manager called us back. They had found a leaf mimic katydid and had seen our interest in wildlife. It's quite amazing how closely they resemble a leaf, even with fake veins and damage. It had crazy long antenae.
The other reason to come here was to visit Mariposario Casa Alegria (butterfly house). When we first arrived one of the group found a Praying Mantis in the women's bathroom. Not wanting to be seen taking photos in the women's bathroom, I transferred it to a plant outside :-) Praying mantises (and spiders) weren't popular at the butterfly house because they catch and eat butterflies.
Some of the caterpillars were almost as pretty as the butterflies.
In a protected environment like this the butterflies live longer than they would in the wild, and so quite a few of them were ragged and damaged.
The owner himself gave us our tour of the butterfly house.
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