Since rain was predicted for the afternoon, we decided to switch our plan and visit the Botanical Garden or Estufa Fria. It was located near the Parque Eduardo VII, which was easily accessible by bus and featured an expansive esplanade as well as what looked like a topiary maze.
The botanical garden had three sections – a cold greenhouse, a warm greenhouse, and a sweet greenhouse, as well as many ponds, chickens, ducks, and swans. My favorite was the warm greenhouse with its many cacti.
I bet Gates a gelato that the small turtle on the rock was a statue. I had watched it, and it had not moved. But then it did move...
The construction of the greenhouses was very interesting. The roof consisted of bamboo poles arranged in a slat formation (first photo) which allowed rain to enter. The second picture is of the intricate metal supports for the glass. That greenhouse had small windows that could be opened (not sure how) to control the temperature. The open windows are show on the right below.
I liked how water dripped off the ferns into the pond.
An interesting curly cactus on the left and, sadly, graffiti on some of the large cacti.
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