I finally made it out to the Botanical Garden on Monday. The Jardim Botanico is a big, cultivated park with historic sites that are under renovation, museums, and greenhouses for various plant varieties. It’s got lots of wide boulevards that criss-cross the park, some fountains, and busts of various historic figures here and there – a reminder (to me) of Brazil’s European roots. It also has many smaller, winding paths you can follow, a small pond with massive fish and curious lily pads, man-made rivulets and waterfalls, and a cactus garden. Don’t ask me how they manage to keep a cactus garden alive in the middle of a tropical jungle.
My favorite part of the Garden was the orchid greenhouse. I love orchids, and they have an incredible collection of varieties – teeny tiny ones; big, fat, luxurious ones; ones with long, skinny petals that look like spiders; spotted ones; striped ones; bright ones; muted ones… Below are just a few of the orchids I snapped.
TL;DR: Spent a lovely hour enjoying the abundant display of Brazil’s varied plant life at Jardim Botanico.
