We finally made it to the Tropical Botanical Gardens in Belem. Not without some difficulty. traffic put us 30 seconds late for the Metro so we left the station and got into an Uber. We got to Belem only 5 minutes behind Omar and Carlos. It took us another 5 minutes to actually catch up to them. We had 20% off coupons that I stashed in my wallet weeks ago only to find that I tore off the part that made it the combo ticket so they would not accept the coupon. The lady taking my money felt a bit bad so she gave us the senior discount with a slight wink on her part. We think the other lady in the office gave her some flack for that. No matter, we ventured off into the gardens finding delight in all the peacocks ducks and chickens making this garden their home. The Japanese gardens were fun to explore and an old decaying greenhouse was particularly creepy. There were water features and old buildings from the 1940 World Exposition. Many familiar and unfamiliar trees and flowers were seen and enjoyed. We started leaving when it was realized that we had missed a large part of the garden. Leslie and Omar were just outside the roped off area and when they turned around to return, the cranky lady started telling them that they can not re-enter. They had never really left but Omar took care of everything. Soon we were back in the garden admiring the Araucana trees from Patagonia and the cranky lady just had to mumble under her breath.
Guards out side of the Palace
Up close it looks less like a duck than it does from far away
Grand rows of palm trees for the entrance
Statues of Portuguese slaves
Bright
Spikey
Some Iberian Warblers, can you spot them?
More palms
A forgotten statue
Heading into the Japanese Garden
Pagoda
Bridges
Hills
Water path
More Peacocks
Great portal
A garden cat
The puzzling tile plaque
The green green waters of Belem
The easiest maze ever
More heads
The Directors house
Dilapidated
Fern flowers
Stone flame
The remails of a flower
Dried up but soon to produce a fruit
Plant in a bucket
Cactus loved this area
Many kinds
Some in fruit
Worse for wear
So rusty
A suspended flower caught in a spider web
The beginnings of the peacock's feathered fan growing out
The skeleton of a cactus
More green water
Nipple nozzles
One antler deer
This was super cool to find
Here today bloomed out tomorrow
Berries not tasted...poison avoided
A very scaly leaf
A courtyard at the Director's house
Adorned with tiles
Large sections were tiles
Very nice ones at that
The courtyard
Big blue bee
Ducklings
Coffee plants
A gate forgotten
A type of amaryllis
So pink and pretty
Splashy red
Delightful
Another overgrown feature
I think it says Macau the Portuguese Trading Port in China
Extra beefy
A little kinky
Ponytail palm
Big cycad center
Delicate purple blooms
In this alcove
Was a mystery formation
Araucana tree
Also spikey
The Miami House
Where the peacocks were all hanging out
Cool feather
A pied flycatcher
A pink person?
The famous Belem Pastiche bakery
The pink man and the duck!
