Botanical Gardens of Puerto Vallarta

We took a tour of the gardens and old Puerto Vallarta the other day. The Gardens are highly recommended. It opened in 2005 and boasts a myriad of plants, trails, a lucious clear river and a delightful restaurant with tables on the second level overlooking the river. The lower level has a ceiling height of about 20 feet, all open air and is a lovely place to cool down and take in the tranquility. Take a look:

This is a vanilla orchid! I never knew that vanilla comes from an orchid. It grows a long bean and I am told that vanilla extract is one of the most labor intensive products made.

This is the restuarant, shop and museum with koi pond out front. Just a great place. They have cases of butterfly specimen as well as beetles and other creepy-crawlys inside. Some incredible things live in the jungle.

Next stop was Old Puerta Vallarta. I will put those in the next blog.