Name: Fred Rump Naples, Fl enjoying what nature has to offer
We stopped at various botanical gardens when my wife and I toured Costa Rica last year to celebrate our 50th anniversary. I was mainly looking for orchid gardens but there are lots of bromeliads in Costa Rica too. I won't bore you with all my orchid close-ups.
Robert and Catherine Wilson started this garden in 1963 and ten years later control was transferred to the Organization for Tropical Studies. There are more than a thousand species of plants on the grounds, and the gardens serve several purposes. They are used as a training ground for scientists, and their education programs for the public are excellent as well. Research programs on tropical botany, including conservation, horticulture, sustainable development, agroecology, and reforestation studies are carried out, and the gardens preserve endangered species.
......................Heliconia Wilsonii ............................................................................................animals seemed to freely roam about