Having heard about the Heblekar's wonderful attempt at protecting and building a natural forest as a habitat for butterflies, my heart was set at visiting this conservatory located at Goa. And when opportunity knocked on my door to visit Goa, to compulsorily attend a friend's engagement, visiting the Heblekar's butterfly conservatory just jumped up in my to-do list for Goa.
Mystic meadows, is located just outside Ponda in Goa. Your regular tourists don't go too far from the sandy beaches and miss the lush forests of Goa, after all Goa is part of the Western Ghats landscape. There are numerous local buses running from Margoa to Ponda, and at a small fee, autos from Ponda will take you to this conservatory.
Clockwise from right (Vidhyan Cruiser, Tamil Lacewing cats, Malabar Banded Peacock and Common mormon, Grey Count)
The place is very tastefully built for a walk around the park, winding around the host plants where you will catch some of the rare endemic butterflies hovering around. I was lucky to see around 30 odd species that day, in 3 hours and some of these were lifers for me.
The Heblekar's very kindly offered me, simple but delicious lunch when they knew I had only packed an apple! They have a small canteen area in conservatory where one can eat their packed lunch. The park fee is just 100 rupees for just a majestic treat.
Tamil Lacewing and Yamfly
I was delighted to spot Yamfly, Grey Count, Tamil Lacewing, Malabar banded peacock and Vindhyan Cruiser among others. The area adjoins natural forest, and I am definitely planning to visit the place and explore more.
Another interesting aspect from the visit for me was seeing the Heblekar's house which is definitely something to look out for, for people interested in sustainable living. They have a garden on the roof and not the potted garden! The plants and a tree is planted on the soil that covers the roof! Rain water harvested is pumped back to the park to keep a perennial stream running. Read on more on this here - http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/personal-conservation-efforts/the-butterfly-conservatory-of-goa
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