Mariposario de Machu Picchu and Back to Cusco: Week 12 / Day 79 / March 30
Cusco, Peru: First thing this morning we headed out to drop off our laundry so that it would be done before we needed to leave Aguas Calientes. As we were searching for a laundry place, we saw a train being unloaded with supplies for the town.
This ritual seems to take place every day with a constant stream of supplies from the train to restaurants, hotels, and stores.
Our train back to Cusco departs at about 4:30 PM, so we have some time to kill before leaving. Along the river is the Mariposario de Machu Picchu (Machu Picchu Butterfly Zoo) that is only a short walk away. After breakfast, we headed down river to spend some time there.
From the entrance of the Mariposario, we could see the outlines of the buildings of Machu Picchu up on the mountain peak.
At the Mariposario, we were given a brief tour of their facilities where they have caterpillars / butterflies in various life stages, and do research on them. We were then each given a butterfly in a plastic tub to release outside in the netted-in area. Of course, the cynic in me imagines them going back to collect the butterflies so that other tourists can release them tomorrow.
Within the enclosure there were many flowers and two main types of butterflies.
The most prominent butterfly was the Owl Butterfly pictured above. Its wings are pale blue with black on the inside, but I was unable to get it to pose for a picture showing those colors. Linda, however, was able to get a video of one flexing its wings.
We spent quite a while within this enclosure looking at the butterflies and the many flowering plants.
Eventually, we decided to leave the enclosure and went to sit beside the river in a small pavilion.
We ate some snacks we had brought with us and watched as it began to rain again. As the rain picked up, we decided to wait it out and spent about an hour napping and watching the river. The rain paused briefly and we used the opportunity to walk back towards town.
Arriving in town, we went to a cafe for lunch (I had the Alpaca again, and, once again, it was excellent).
Our train ride back to Cusco was uneventful, although we did get to see some snowcapped peaks we had not noticed on the ride to Aguas Calientes. Our hotel in Cusco was a short walk from the train station and we stayed in for the rest of the night.
