Recinto del Pensamiento: Lured by a Butterfly Obsession

Yes, we were lured by a butterfly obsession to the unique experience that is Recinto del Pensamiento in Manizales, Colombia. But our fascination with architecture, birds, flowers, forest and beautiful environments in general, were also satisfied.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Juergen has a bit of a butterfly obsession (you can buy the best butterfly photos in our shop [prints, postcards, and more]!). He loves to follow them patiently until they settle long enough for him to photograph them, preferably with their wings open.

Since arriving in Colombia, we have noticed many more butterflies than we had seen further south, except maybe in Peru. With a little research we discovered that the tropical Andean countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia have the greatest diversity of butterfly species in the world. The estimated total is nearly 5500 species, almost one third of the world’s species .

Recinto del Pensamiento: butterflies, birds, bonsai, orchids and sustainable architecture. Also in a World Heritage listed area, Paisaje Cultural Cafetero.

We had read in our Footprint guidebook that the Parque Ecológico Río Blanco, about 8Km from Manizales, has 350 butterfly species, along with other interesting flora and fauna. So we researched how to get there. It turned out that we needed permission, a guide, and an appointment, among other things. It all sounded too hard and too organised. During this research we discovered Recinto del Pensamiento (translated: Thought Enclosure). Among other attractions, it had a butterfly house. And you could just turn up any day of the week, except Mondays.

So turn up we did. It’s just on the edge of the city and has a parking lot that was easy to enter and park Berta. The gatehouse guards sent us up a staircase and we were met at the top by Jessica, our tour guide. We had arrived just in time for the 11 o’clock tour – we were lucky because we hadn’t realised that tours begin on the hour.

We gathered in the plaza, which has a Juan Valdez Café and other conveniences. After a short introduction to the place and our fellow group members, we were off on a 2 hour walking tour of the park. The tour was in Spanish, but fortunately Jessica and most of our fellow walkers spoke some English.

Pabellón de Madera – Wooden Pavilion

This amazing structure catches the eye as soon as you leave the plaza. It is built primarily of bamboo with other sustainable materials. A local architect, Simon Vélez, designed it as a prototype for a pavilion, which was presented by the ZERI network at the Hannover 2000 Expo.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

The Pavilion is used as a function centre and is a real focal point of the park’s commercial activities. It would be a beautiful location for a wedding.

Mirador de las Aves – Viewpoint for Bird-watching

From the Pabellón de Madera we walked up and up and up some more. Juergen was already lagging behind as he spotted butterflies along the way. And the butterfly obsession is apparently reciprocated – he spent most of the walk up with a butterfly riding on his hat. There is a chairlift system to take visitors up this way, but it was out of action when we visited.

Finally we arrived at the Mirador de las Aves. Although there are some 150 species of birds in the park at some time, we were focussed on the colibris (hummingbirds), who come to the building to feed. We had a well-earned rest and were served very good coffee, while we sat and watched the birds. There were also more butterflies to photograph, although the one who sat on Juergen’s camera wasn’t making it easy…

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Senda de Oriente – Path of the Orient

There are several features of the Senda de Oriente. The first is the large collection of amazing bonsai trees, the oldest being 75 years. There is a Zen garden, but it could use a resident monk to rake the gravel a bit more often. And there is also a grove of 80 Sakuras – cherry blossoms – which were presented to the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros by the government of Japan in recognition of 80 years’ service to Colombia’s coffee growers. Unfortunately they weren’t in flower, so we didn’t notice them, but I bet they make a picture in the right season.

Path of the Orient at Recinto del Pensamiento – we are standing next to 3 of the impressive bonsais to be seen.

Recinto del Pensamiento: Senda de Oriente is a path through an area dotted with bonsai trees.

Observatorio de Mariposas – Butterfly Observatory

And then we finally reached the butterfly observatory. It’s not huge but has plenty of butterflies. There are around 33 species from the coffee region and the cloud forest. The garden is purpose built to serve the needs of each of the species present.

Jessica had difficulty getting us out. There were so many butterflies, and most of them sitting relatively still. Guess who was last to leave the enclosure?

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

Bosque de Orquídeas – Orchid Forest

Bosque de Orquídeas: an easy to follow path through the orchid forest, with thousands of plants on display.

This forest covers 2.5 hectares. There are great walking paths to follow, and 250 species of orchids to be seen. Photographing these plants almost eclipsed the butterflies in this case. There are some really strange and interesting flowers produced by orchids.

Please click thumbnails below for a larger photo with description.

By now Jessica was really trying to hurry us along to finish the tour, but the walk was just too fascinating. In the end we were about 20 minutes overtime, but I don’t think she really minded.

The Recinto del Pensamiento is the property of the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, administered by the local Comité de Cafeteros de Calda. As such it is part of the Paisaje Cultural Cafetero Colombiano (Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia), a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Bosque de Orquídeas; this small orchid appears to have the face of an old man

Recinto del Pensamiento: this beautiful blue dragonfly was another attraction in the Orchid Forest

Recommendation: Visit Recinto del Pensamiento

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