This is a continuation of our trip to Costa Rica in November 2019.
Casa Orquideas is the private island botanical garden of U.S. citizens Ron and Trudy McAllister, who have lived in this remote region since the 1970s. The beautifully landscaped private tropical garden shows off hundreds of species of ornamental and edible tropical plants that have been collected and cared by the McAllister's.
The gardens meander through the colorful gardens to see countless species of tropical plants, including palms, heliconias, orchids, exotic fruit trees, spices, flowers and medicinal plants that the McAllister’s have collected and cultivated over these many years.
After returning to the mainland we traveled by bus to into the mountains and stayed at Las Cruces Biological Station for the next 2 nights. It is set in a wonderful garden setting with many bromeliads and tropical plants.
The gardens there were wonderful, with a small garden designed by the famous Brazilian architect, Roberto Burle Marx loaded with bromeliads.
The garden is surrounded by acres of additional tropical gardens and forests.
Las Cruces Biological Station is owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies in Costa Rica. It is located near the Panamanian border on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast.
The station is home to the Wilson Botanical Gardens featuring beautifully diverse plantings of tropical and subtropical ornamentals, representatives of unusual plant families, and rare and endangered plants from Costa Rica and elsewhere. The forest is classified as a Tropical Premontane Rainforest and the wide range in elevation allows for a high diversity with the forest home to over 2,000 plant species.
After lunch visited to Finca Cántaros located in San Vito. San Vito was founded in 1952 by Italian settlers. The property is over 17 acres with a cool, comfortable, tropical highlands climate. Finca Cantaros is constantly adding to its plant collection with an eye to attractive landscaping.
After several days in around San José. we boarded small planes and flew to the Pacific side of Costa Rica to Golfito, near the Panama border.
Upon arrival we boarded small boats and visited a private garden on a island in beautiful bay.
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| A love Bahinia in front of the private airport in San Jose |
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| Golfito, near the Panamanian Border |
Upon arrival we boarded small boats and visited a private garden on a island in beautiful bay.
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| Lots of tropical jungle...well, lots of tropical jungle everywhere in Costa Rica |
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| One of the many remote houses built in jungle |
Casa Orquideas
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| Our arrival at Casa Orquideas |
Casa Orquideas is the private island botanical garden of U.S. citizens Ron and Trudy McAllister, who have lived in this remote region since the 1970s. The beautifully landscaped private tropical garden shows off hundreds of species of ornamental and edible tropical plants that have been collected and cared by the McAllister's.
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| A pathway into the garden from the beach |
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| Many of the plants were labeled...or in this case signed |
The gardens meander through the colorful gardens to see countless species of tropical plants, including palms, heliconias, orchids, exotic fruit trees, spices, flowers and medicinal plants that the McAllister’s have collected and cultivated over these many years.
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| Delicate Heliconia flower |
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| Unusual Flower |
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| Thunbergia grandiflora swallowing a tree |
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| Thunbergia grandiflora closeup |
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| The bamboos get very large in the tropics |
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| A delicate and colorful bromeliad |
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| Saw a close cousin of the plant in the Peruvian highlands the previous month |
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| Something red and fuzzy |
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| Don't stand still or things will grow on you |
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| Orchid sprays |
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| Where the owner's lived |
Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge
We had a wonderful lunch in a nearby in a treehouse like private resort. |
| Tropical downpour beyond the dock at Casa Orquideas, where we had lunch |
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| Ginger |
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| Gardens leading up to the resort |
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| Scott recuperating from the tropical heat in the treehouse-like resort |
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| We dodged the downpours on our return to the mainland |
Las Cruces Biological Station
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| One of our somewhat chilly accommodations |
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| A really nice bromeliad display |
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| How cool is this? Red flowers on the ground |
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| Lots of bromeliads |
The gardens there were wonderful, with a small garden designed by the famous Brazilian architect, Roberto Burle Marx loaded with bromeliads.
The garden is surrounded by acres of additional tropical gardens and forests.
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| A nice Philodendron |
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| Colorful palm seeds |
Las Cruces Biological Station is owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies in Costa Rica. It is located near the Panamanian border on Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast.
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| Bamboo with algae |
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| Palm trunks with thorns |
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| How cloud forest gets its name |
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| There was a large display of Heliconias |
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| Another Heliconia |
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| A very large leafed Philodendron |
There was bird feeding area near the dining hall that drew many colorful birds.
Casa Botania Lunch Stop
After exploring the gardens of Las Cruces Biological Station we stopped for a leisurely lunch at Casa Botania. Here we saw toucans and monkeys in the trees and explored the grounds and gardens. |
| A colorful Toucan |
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| One of several monkeys in the trees |
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| Scott in Bamboo |
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| Looking up inside Bamboo |
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| They had some cute accommodations |
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| Shampoo ginger |
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| Blooms on a banana |
Finca Cántaros
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