After checking in my jungle hotel Thursday, I drove 6 km up the dirt road to a beautiful garden:
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| Gardens carved out of the rainforest, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and threatening rain, near my hotel on a dirt road buena vista |
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| Miles of paved or maintained trails with every tropical plant imaginable! sendero del jardín |
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| You know you are still in the jungle! Technically it is the last remaining “Transitional Rainforest” in the Americas, transitioning from the dry forests of Guanacaste and the montane forests near Atenas to the lowland rainforests. selva de transición |
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| What I hope my “Maraca Plant” will look like in a year or two! Also called “Shampoo Ginger” or in Spanish plantas jengibre But local Ticos call it the Maraca Plant which is the name I’m using. |
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| And hoping I get several blooms like this next year! flores jengibre |
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| Many unknown to me flowers like this and too many to show here! Desconocido para mí |
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| A Water Hyacinth like we had in The Gambia Eichhornia crassipes |
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| One of the many Heliconias like I have in my yard My blooms are dying out now and will return in the dry season I’ve been told. Heliconia L. es un género que agrupa más de 100 especies de plantas tropicales |
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| On the edge of Carara National Park just like my hotel grounds. Tomorrow’s post! Parque Nacional Carara |
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| And a view of Manantial de Agua Viva Waterfalls, one of tallest in Costa Rica. I was going to hike to bottom, but decided safer to not do it solo! Maybe later! |
The Pura Vida Gardens website with short video clip: http://www.puravidagarden.com/
Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.
~Rumi
I only spent a week in Costa Rica but I have always wanted to return. Great blog.