More from Rio

On Sunday, Patricia (my tour manager and now my friend) and I went out early. First coffee and fresh rolls at a cafe, then the bus to the Botanical Gardens. This was the one place I knew I wanted to visit in Rio and it was wonderful. We're hoping to go back this week. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures (more on Flickr):
Turtles on a raft.

Fountain with the statue of Christ the Redeemer, symbol of Rio, in the background.


There were lots of monkeys in the trees, crashing around, occasionally dropping debris. This one is a little blurry--they didn't sit still for long. Doesn't it look like a flying monkey from The Wizard of Oz? Yesterday there was a monkey on the wall of the British school, right in the city.

This was in a long alley of palms, many with this reddish trunk. I'm reminded of Christine Lavin's song about palm trees looking like Tina Turner from behind.

Check out the night-blooming cereus growing on this tree! Puts mine to shame! I keep seeing giant versions of the plants I have in pots at home. I loved the orchidarium and the bromelarium.

Here's a staghorn fern in the orchidarium.

We had a tasty lunch in the cafe, cruised through the sensory garden, and took the bus back to the hotel.