5 Sept
Yesterday was National Park day, today was support local tourism. We took a cab to our first stop at La Aripuca, which is billed as "Un Monumento de la Naturaleza". There's a building constructed of 27 different large reclaimed trees from the selva that tourists pay to see. The wood was hauled in from a variety of places over a 9 month construction period and put in place by the use of heavy duty cranes. The Centro de Interpretation is constructed of 4 different varieties of bamboo, available in the jungle as well. The center had lots of tidbits of information, including that there are over 200 variety of orchids found in the area, with over 20,000 different varieties in the orchid family. There are several times fewer varieties of bamboo.
We then walked over to BIOcentro Iguazu, where we went thru several different centers. First was the serpent and snake (native and exotic) building. Then a stop to see the crocodile and cayman, followed by the turtle exhibit. After that was the python exhibit, then the turtles with serpent heads. My favorite stop was next, the butterfly building. Where I tried to re-create a Reid experience. While there, the staff brought out a 11 month old toucan, that I got up close with. After the butterfly exhibit was the orquidearias, then the laguna de patos and of course the restaurant that had some very nice stained glass windows.
From the BIOcenter we walked through the Minas shop, which was a gem shop selling wares from the local mine. No picture taking was allowed.
Our final stop was Guira Oga, which started as a local jungle animal rehab center. It is the only wildlife refuge in Argentina, which has as its mission the "ransom recovery and realising of native wildlife, the ideal place to enjoy the magic of the forest, to see endangered animals, the worrying situation and what we are doing for them." There were a lot of rescued animals that were once pets and now too human adjusted to fend for themselves in the wild. Think lots of cage areas that didn't allow good pictures. There were several capuchin moneys that were pets, as well as large predatory birds.
We then walked back to our hotel, which was a lot farther than we both thought it was going to be. But walking was good for us and helped create an appetite for empanadas.
Yesterday was National Park day, today was support local tourism. We took a cab to our first stop at La Aripuca, which is billed as "Un Monumento de la Naturaleza". There's a building constructed of 27 different large reclaimed trees from the selva that tourists pay to see. The wood was hauled in from a variety of places over a 9 month construction period and put in place by the use of heavy duty cranes. The Centro de Interpretation is constructed of 4 different varieties of bamboo, available in the jungle as well. The center had lots of tidbits of information, including that there are over 200 variety of orchids found in the area, with over 20,000 different varieties in the orchid family. There are several times fewer varieties of bamboo.
We then walked over to BIOcentro Iguazu, where we went thru several different centers. First was the serpent and snake (native and exotic) building. Then a stop to see the crocodile and cayman, followed by the turtle exhibit. After that was the python exhibit, then the turtles with serpent heads. My favorite stop was next, the butterfly building. Where I tried to re-create a Reid experience. While there, the staff brought out a 11 month old toucan, that I got up close with. After the butterfly exhibit was the orquidearias, then the laguna de patos and of course the restaurant that had some very nice stained glass windows.
From the BIOcenter we walked through the Minas shop, which was a gem shop selling wares from the local mine. No picture taking was allowed.
Our final stop was Guira Oga, which started as a local jungle animal rehab center. It is the only wildlife refuge in Argentina, which has as its mission the "ransom recovery and realising of native wildlife, the ideal place to enjoy the magic of the forest, to see endangered animals, the worrying situation and what we are doing for them." There were a lot of rescued animals that were once pets and now too human adjusted to fend for themselves in the wild. Think lots of cage areas that didn't allow good pictures. There were several capuchin moneys that were pets, as well as large predatory birds.
We then walked back to our hotel, which was a lot farther than we both thought it was going to be. But walking was good for us and helped create an appetite for empanadas.
Beautiful pics of butterflies and orchids. Especially like the one with you winking behind a butterfly. Stained glass windows also georgeous. Did you teach the toucan to say "Roger"??
ReplyDelete