I’m writing an article for a magazine about visiting botanic gardens in Costa Rica. From talking with a few tour guides and research, I’ve started with a focus on 3 places: InBioParque/biopark just outside San Jose, La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and Wilson Botanic Gardens in Las Cruces Biostation. I would love to hear comments from anyone who has been to these places in the past year or so about what they liked the most about these gardens, i.e. did they have good signage or readily available guides to help you understand what was around you?

What made the trails and gardens enjoyable?

Were trails well-maintained and easy to maneuver through (magazine’s audience is 45 and above).?
Is the garden someplace you would bring kids or grandkids?
Any special plants that you think someone new to Costa Rica should keep an eye out for at the gardens?
And was there anything you didn’t like about the place?

Also, for La Paz, they were hit pretty hard by an earthquake last year, but are open again. Are the gardens as good as before, or different?

Are there any public places in CR with gardens I’m missing that I should consider?

What transportation option-car rental or pre-arranged vans, etc.-- would you recommend for a newbie to the country? Most of what I’ve seen suggests not trying to drive yourself in Costa Rica, particularly to get to Wilson from San Jose by going over Cerro de la Muerte into San Isidro. But I don’t want to limit older readers to just considering package tours if there’s a good chance of getting a good bus option on your own.

I appreciate any advice, and hope to make this trip myself sometime soon! Thank you,
Ana

http://www.moon.com/.../central-high...kester-gardens

Lankester is the most interesting with best guides

Wilson is interesting but quite far away

unless you pick it up headed for www.corcovado.org

www.waterfallgardens.com touristic but pretty ok...

Happy Hunting,

Thanks for your comments/every bit helps. How long ago were you at Lankester? I spoke with a travel tour arranger who was there this summer and unfortunately recommended against it. Thanks for suggesting the site near Wilson too.

Will be looking into these garden options to visit for spring/summer of next year. Ana

Perhaps I have misunderstood the question, but it seems that you want to write an article recommending or comparing places which you have not visited. Or do you mean you are gathering information for your own research visit in the spring and summer of next year? I can't help with the project as I understand it, nor would I if I could, but I am happy to render some opinions that might guide you to a different approach.

The old concept of Zoological Gardens and Botanical Gardens is that exotic and often foreign species or animals or plants are displayed in a carefully designed, but often not naturalistic setting, labeled according to name and geographical origin.

We've (wife and I) have made a number of trips to Costa Rica and never have felt any interest whatsoever in traveling to or visiting anything called a Botnical Garden. This despite my wife's being an avid gardener, active in the local gardening club and producer of local public access TV programs on local plants and their cultivation, etc., etc.. The simple reason is that Costa Rica itself offers so much amazing flora in its native setting that there is little point in (or time for) wandering about seeking out bedded displays of foreign exotic flora or non-naturalistic settings of native flora.

For simple naming exercises, many parks, hotels, and lodges label their plantings and also exhibit the use of native flora used in landscape design. Such places generally have the staff available for maintaing garden plantings, and indeed may call their plantings botanical gardens. And this replaces the need to criss-cross the country looking for botanical gardens as one's source of plant displays.

If your interest is primarily in finding out what some plant is called, there are lots of plasticised cards and folders that will do the job for you. The real joy of Costa Rican flora is to be found in jungle walks where things are sprouting, growing, and dying naturally in their native settings. That joy can be enchanced by the use of a trained guide. Such guides in Costa Rica are usually very well trained and will be able to tell you about botanical diversity and the wonderful stories of the interaction of plants and animals.


I suppose the point of all this is that there is so much of the real thing all round you in Costa Rica, that the real plant person will be drawn to the jungle rather than formalized displays. If displays of world-wide flora are what you are after, you might find it closer to home in D.C., NYC, or Chicago.

Obviously, I am not trying to cast aspersions on places I haven't visited. I am just trying to explain why readily accessible flora makes such places less interesting, and therefore, in some cases, available only by appointment. I speculate that a commercial tour of "The Botanical Gardens of Costa Rica" would never be offered more than once.

I am sure that there are many good rebutals to all this, and it may take first-hand observations on your part to weigh this point of view against the rebutals.

While Wilson Botanic Gardens is in the Southern end of Costa Rica, this region is unlike others, in the fact that it is far off the typical tourist trail and will give visitors a truely "tico" experience. If you have specific questions about this garden, feel free to email me and we can have a discussion about it.

Were trails well-maintained and easy to maneuver through >YES
Is the garden someplace you would bring kids or grandkids? >YES
Any special plants that you think someone new to Costa Rica should keep an eye out for at the gardens? >It is a educational school, so there are many.
And was there anything you didn’t like about the place? > No

Pura Vida, Ballardo Diaz
Jungle Guide - Corcovado, Osa, La Amistad and all So. CR
[email protected]

Bookmarking.

I'm with you,Kinka.

Nothing in my original posting stated that I thought botanic gardens were better than other options for viewing plants of Costa Rica. From what I am aware, they can have benefits, such as ease of access and of information for an older traveler or ones with young children, and have been a good travel stop for decades in some instances. But it is helpful to be reminded there are alternatives others find useful.

Biopark focuses on natives and education about and demo of native ecosystems in CR, and I'll likely present it as a starting point in the story I'm writing/also hope to have room to mention a trip near Poas volcano to see wild orchids. As for the native vs. invasives distinction, I am well-versed in it, but appreciate the reminder, and would love to hear of any suggestions of accomodations/other options with a native garden element near Inbio/La Paz/Wilson.

Thank you jaguarman, for your input on Wilson, which was helpful. I may be in touch, and hope that I will hear from others who don't mind sharing their thoughts related to a CR botanic garden review. Ana

Yep, with Kinka on this one. Sorry.

Are you writing an article based on secondary sources? Why don't you contact the botanic gardens of interest and ask them these questions?

Lankaster is the oldest garden in Costa Rica and is amazing, for their orchids alone, although so much more! I live in Costa Rica (Nosara) and have friends in Orosi. I go to the gardens every time I visit them. It's beautiful, and the trails are very, very easy. Would kids like it there? I never had any so it's hard for me to say. I would think kids would be bored just walking trails and looking at names of the plants, but what do I know!

I think Kinka said exactly what I would. I've led garden tours all over the world, but in Costa Rica the botanic gardens I've visited pale in comparison to what nature offers on its own.

Lankester, Else Kientzle, Heliconia Island, CATIE are all quite nice, but I look at the entire country as one huge garden.

I plan to mention the non-garden approach, but they've done that story already/ a botanic garden focus is what they want, and could very well serve as the starting point for a broader trip by readers. The reason I'm looking for comments from travelers who have visited there instead of just asking the gardens is the perspective of a visitor may differ somewhat from someone who works in a garden and sees a place day in and day out, and I'm writing the piece for visitors.

Thank you Allylam and Colibri for your added comments/suggestions. Have either of you been to Lankaster this summer? As mentioned earlier, a travel guide wasn't impressed by it this August, in terms of a new visitors experience.

And colibri, is there an email where I could contact you for your impressions of the other places you mentioned if you've been to any recently/research suggests I should swap one of the current highlighted options for one of them? Logistics is part of what's driving the choices. Thank you.

Last time I was there was in August 2009. I thought it was wonderful, as I always do. Weather was very nice. They were doing a lot of work though, so a couple areas were closed (Bamboo forest and Fern area) but I still found it enjoyable. But let me add this....I would not specifically go out of my way to visit this garden...(I don't consider it a 'must see')but if you're in the general area I would certainly make a visit there!

Though this can only be reached by water, I think you should check in to Casa Orquideas
http://www.fodors.com/world/mexico-a...ew-180935.html

We found it much more interesting than Wilson Gardens.