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Published: February 22nd 2018
El Jardin de Los Helechos (Fern garden)
Along a busy main road we pulled up at to what looked like a non de script property if it had not been for a wrought iron sign at the entrance it was not an obvious attraction.
As soon as we walked through the gate we knew we were in for a treat. The owner had lived in the house for over 40 years and in that time has developed this lush haven by collecting more than 400 species ferns from around the world.
Our group was split into two and we were lucky to have Manuel (The owner) explain how the garden evolved. Sometimes it was difficult to hear his soft gentle voice as we slowly wandered through the gardens, but his passion for what he had created shone through.I am going to check if there is a book available on this garden when I return home. An opportunity missed not to have something on sale at the house.
We saw another humming bird nest, slightly larger than the one we had seen in Mamiku Gardens, St. Lucia. How clever that the mother had created a nest with its own natural umbrella (A
Jardin de Los Helechos
Such a beautiful setting for a house.leaf from the hanging plant). The 2 chicks had flown the nest just five days earlier. We passed through a cascade of beautiful orchids suspended beneath a natural arbor with trailing tilandsia.As we made our way through this 1 acre site ferns and orchids created a lush haven, bench seats dotted around a central area was an ideal place to sit and admire the tropical surroundings. In 1984 Manuel donated the garden to the Cuban Acadamy of Science but he still has control & maintains his lush haven. The sun was setting as we left Santiago de Cuba.
It had been a lovely day full of history & culture, but the icing on the cake was meeting Manuel Garcia Caluff and visiting his enchanting fern garden.
We are now En route to TortolaWhen we arrived on board last Thursday we received notification that due to prevailing wind and currents running between the islands of Cuba & Tortola the ship would be unable to maintain the speed required to be able to call at Santiago de Cuba, Tortola & Jamaica. Tortola is regularly the higher rated port of call In terms of guests satisfaction and also taking into consideration recent
Jardin de Los Helechos
High or low always something to see concerns over visitor safety in Jamaica, Braemar will not be calling into Ocho Rios on this cruise. We have two days at sea now until we reach Tortola.
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