One of my favorite things on our cruise was our stop in Key West. We didn’t have anything planned while we were there, and just decided to walk around instead. On our walk we came across the Key West Butterfly Conservatory. I debated about whether or not it was worth the admissions price to go in, but in the end decided it was worth a try. It was worth it!

The exhibit started with an informational area where there was a video playing, and lots of posters about the butterflies. We could also see some caterpillars etc. I had forgotten a lot of my grade school science about butterflies, so it was a good refresher.

Then we entered the butterfly area. There were hundreds of butterflies flying around — it was amazing. I especially loved these one with bright blue wings. It was difficult to take pictures of all the butterflies because they were flying around so fast. Ross and I noticed some really ugly brown butterflies sitting on pieces of fruit. Only later did we realized that these brown butterflies were the same ones as the blue ones – just the underside of their wings is brown. There were all kinds of flowers and some fruit around the conservatory to give the butterflies something to eat. There were also all kinds of pretty finches in the conservatory.

At the end of the little walkway that snaked through the conservatory were clear glass windows with caccoons hanging in them. It was really cool to see the large variety of different caccoons from the different species of butterflies. I must say – they were way cooler than Drosophila pupae – if only the ones I worked with everyday were that cool.

If you’re ever in Key West – be sure to stop by and visit =)

Here is a link to our pictures from the Butterfly Conservatory:

http://thecamaras.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/slideshows/butterfly/