Destinations Menu
RSS
COSTA RICA | Cartago, Costa Rica Travel Guide
Saturday, November 30, 2024
3 Of 6
Lankester Gardens
Lankester Gardens
In 1917, 40-year-old British botanist Charles Lankester laid out 10 hectares/24.7 acres of gardens six km/four miles east of Cartago on the road to Paraíso (506/551-9877). Surrounded by tall pines, Lankester worked to catalog and develop new species of orchids, a delicate bloom treasured by flower aficionados. Costa Rica is world renowned for its beautiful orchids. Exotic blooming orchids are the largest family of flowering plants in the world and they thrive in warm, humid climates. The many varieties have different styles of flowers, from tiny delicate petals running along the stem to bold blossoms and big thick green leaves. Costa Rica claims up to 1,500 different varieties, 75% of which are epiphytes.
By the time Lankester died in 1969, at the age of 90, he had cataloged 80 native species previously unknown in Costa Rica, and developed another 110 hybrid species. Upon his death the gardens were taken over by the University of Costa Rica. Marked paths point out the over 800 different species on display as well as other flowering native plants. The gardens have orchids in bloom all year, but blooms are most prolific between February and May. Open 8:30 am-3:30 pm; US $3.50.
If you’re on a public bus from Cartago toward Orosí (marked with Lankester as a stop) ask the bus driver to let you off at the gardens. Follow a short dirt road past a go-kart racetrack to the gardens Across the main road at the bus stop is a very good restaurant with hotel rooms, Casa Vieja (506/591-1165), in a Caribbean-style main house.
Last updated October 28, 2010
Posted in Costa Rica | Cartago
Explore the Destination
Amenities and Resources
Overview
Hotels(15)
Restaurants(1)
Attractions(6)
Weather Forecast
- Reported on:
Sat, 11/30/2024 - 20:00
- Reported on:
Trending Themes:
Guides to Popular Ski Resorts
-
Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More
-
Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More
-
Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More
-
Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More
-
Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More
-
St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More
-
Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More
-
St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More
-
Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More