The botanic garden of quindio

From Salento I took the bus to Armenia where I had the intention to sleep in order to visit the botanic garden next day, but at the bus station they told me the botanic garden is near Calarca, so I took the next bus to Calarca, found near the bus station a nice hotel for €11 per night for a room with private bathroom and in the morning I took a taxi to the botanical garden. it is beautiful. Unfortunately they don't let you walk around by yourself, only with a guide, but our guide Paula was so nice and let me go in the mariposario (butterfly house) 15 minutes earlier while she was showing the rest of the group some museums, so I could photograph butterflies undisturbed. That was wonderful.

Here some impressions from the botanic garden:

This is the first thing you see when you go in.. A beautiful jungle, where they made paths to walk through.

Ecuador is the second country after Malaysia with the greatest number of different palm trees in the world. This one has thorns around its trunk to protect itself. 

and these are the fruits of another kind

This is not really a palm tree. It is a fern (Farn in German). i know it from Austria only as a small plant .

Isn't that plant interesting?

In Ecuador there are 150 different types of Heliconias. You see many growing wild in the forests. This is one in the botanic garden

Did you know that Bambus can grow 15 cm. a day? And get amazingly tall? Here a young one.

and here some tall ones.

there are so many beautiful flowers we never see in Europe.

and this tree is an interesting one. it spreads its seeds through the air. When a seed lands on a tree it grows from the top to the bottom and strangulates the tree it is growing around . Not nice, but beautiful. 

and look how wide its trunk is at the bottom. Notice the little girl standing on the right also near the tree. 

In the garden they have a very cute bird observatory. You step into a hut where one of the walls is a transparent glass from inside so you can watch the birds, but it is made of polarized glass so the birds can't see you from outside! How smart!

Isn't this tree interesting?

and look at that one. it grew naturally like that!

and look how delicate this flower is.

This is a very interesting tree. It has its roots above the ground and it walks up to 1 m. in distance a year, looking for a better place in the sun. Isn't that fascinating? It is the first walking tree I ever met. 

and, at last, some butterflies from the mariposario of Quindio, the largest in Antioquia. 

This is a very modern butterfly, it has a ring in its nose, like the newest fashion! isn't it amazing?

and this little brown butterfly landed on one of my favorite flowers. 

here a dinner party

and here I like the colors in the background. Could be a pretty drawing, could't it?

I love all of them.