Last drops of Rio...

I left Rio yesterday but still had a few more pictures in my camera. 

I kept noticing orchids growing attached to trees in the city. Not wild, mind you, but put up as an extra treat for those who look up. 

This set of sculptures is at the Botanical Gardens. Lovely movement in stillness!

Rio has distinctive sidewalk mosaics. Yesterday on my last visit to the Copacabana beach, I noticed street vendors selling serapes in this pattern.

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.