El Mariposario:

A Sensory Portal Back Into Presence, Along A Trail Lined With Butterflies

‘At first there may be a sense of feeling uncomfortable when truly in the jungle. But then…something catches your eye, because that’s what happens in nature, and next thing you know, the feeling of time disappears. It’s this very essential moment of beingness that I want to invite people into feeling through El Mariposario.’ — Marleen, Founder of Jungle Magic

Dalya, Christian and Marleen at the start of the trail

I met Marleen through a shared respect for the organic world. At the time, I had returned to Costa Rica, searching for a way of life that echoed the off-grid existence I had been living in Sardinia. I was following an inner necessity; drawn to the kind of space where nature’s music was not drowned out by the thickness of concrete walls, where its presence was not barricaded from where I slept, ate or bathed. A place where nature was not architecturally treated as a scenic backdrop, but experienced as the force it truly is; one that sets the rhythm and leaves you no choice but to fully feel and commune with it. 

I remember visiting Marleen’s land for the first time and noticing different handpainted wooden signs imbued along the rugged path. They were decorated with drawings of butterflies, arrows of guidance, and one, closer to the nucleus of her home, bore the name El Mariposario. I understood why. The trail was teeming with butterflies, species I had never seen before. It felt like walking through a painting in motion, color unfurling with every step. It was not a butterfly garden in the curated sense, it was like this by nature; a result of the jungle’s protected and intact ecosystem.

Later, she told me about her project and how El Mariposario was a tour she created as means of inviting others into the land to experience the scope of its essence. 

“The butterflies are a good hook for people to come to the property, but once they're there, they’re gonna get… I don’t want to say something completely different, but they’re gonna get so much more than a ‘butterfly’.”

Here, you do not simply learn about the flora and fauna by scientific name. You learn them with your whole body: through scent, taste, feeling, and inquisition. It is a portal which reminds us of our human capacity to engage with full presence, to perceive what appear to be ‘hidden’ realities, and comprehend the deeper language of life: our telepathic communion with the living world. It is not mythical. It is simply part of our human design, belittled and denied by a lifetime of overstimulation and disconnection.

I remembered a conversation we shared one afternoon, sprawled across the wooden floor by the open kitchenette, about sustainable living and how we both understood why it can feel so distant to many. How the systems around us are designed to numb the senses and keep people disconnected and reliant on structures that do not truly sustain them. It felt natural to me to offer to take videos of her tours, to help her by any means in sharing a glimpse of the living intelligence of her land, just as it is: raw, unfiltered, and real.

At one point, mid-conversation, she said simply:
“Nature always takes care of itself. Like yes, I rely on nature, but I also believe and trust in it, you know?”

Marleen truly lives in direct relationship with nature: her water comes from the rain, collected into water tanks, her food is grown from the soil around her, even her home and furniture are built from wood gathered from fallen trees. She began to tell me how she and her husband handcraft everything: the shelves, the benches, even the canvases for her butterfly art. 

As she spoke, I found myself looking at one of her homemade wooden stools. A few days earlier, its bark had fallen off naturally. When it happened, she smiled and said,

 “Oh nice, another fruit bowl.”

It made me laugh, because it was true. The bark, curled in on itself, had become the most beautiful, organic platter. Beneath it, the stool leg was exposed, bare and dotted with intricate holes left by the insects that once lived inside. It was mesmerising to be able to peer into something otherwise unseen, this underground world, beyond the surface, revealing imprints of tiny lives and their stories carved over time.

This same essence lives in El Mariposario. The ability to see value in what already exists, letting nature’s timeline and creativity influence your own. The tours themselves are not shaped by the logic of profit at nature’s expense, but is born from a living question: How do you sustain sacred land within a capitalist system, and share its importance, without turning it into something it is not? 

Marleen’s first opening tour was shaped by an organic unfolding of who showed up, what the land offered that day, and what obstacles and assets presented themselves: a landowner sharing her off-grid jungle life, her connection with the animals and plants of her land, a herbalist friend of hers drawn in by curiosity and resonance, and a bird guide I stumbled across on my way to Marleen’s property, binocular in hand, seemingly out of place, yet on the exact same path. Moved by intuition, Marleen invited him to join the walk, sensing he and his binoculars would appreciate and connect with the land’s trails. With equal trust, he openly accepted and entered.

This is what sets El Mariposario apart, it is not a curated performance or a commercial tour. Like all truly living things, there is no fixed itinerary, just life as it flows through with human and non-human elements collaborating in real time. And that uncertainty, that unpolished, beyond human conditioned quality, is the gift. 

20th March 2025

Behind The Scenes: Christian and I interacting with the Heart Of Palm

Behind The Scenes: The Spontaneous Team Of Four Together

Behind The Scenes: Camera and Sour Cane in hand, Marleen with her Machete

The income Marleen receives from the tours does not extract from the land, it cycles back into it, ensuring regeneration and continuity. It is a more intentional flow of economy, one rooted in reciprocity. It benefits the land, its guardian, and the inner landscape of those who visit.

In a world saturated with synthetic experiences, the deeper question the jungle land asks is rather simple:

Does value lie in manufactured exclusivity that appears ‘special’ yet exploits nature?

And in aesthetic facades that disconnect us from the living world?

Or is it in places that root us deeper into what is real.

Should we continue to give our energy to what depletes us and the world around us, when realities like this still exist?

Instead of being a mirror that fragments and distracts, El Mariposario is one of those clear portals that reflects you directly back to your true self.

Thank you so much for reading, may we all continue to question, re-evaluate, and reconnect with what truly matters in this life we have on earth. 

To book a tour with Marleen or collaborate with her, click here

To support Marleen’s work, click here (waiting on the link hehe)