We started this day driving a short distance to the Quindio Botanical Garden. It was founded in 1978, registered, and became the first legally recognized botanical garden in Colombia. It received a plot of native forest in the 1980's and acquired a larger site in 1989. It opened to the public on December 16, 2000.

The garden boasts over 850 plant species, 180 bird species, and 30 butterfly species. It has a handful of museums, a birdwatching area, and a butterfly house. The garden is a leader in biodiversity, sustainability, and environmental awareness.

We took a two-hour walk through the forest. To me, it was more like a botanical forest than a botanical garden. We had a guide which was a good thing as we saw very little in the way of informational postings.

The first photo will show that much of our walk was through some wild forest area. But then, on occasion, we would come across a bright flower or some colorful plants.

You can see our botanical garden guide in the next photo, next to a large tree. The area did have some large specimen trees and the bamboo was very large as well. In the following photo, my own hand is behind the bamboo, so it had to be at least over eight inches in diameter.

There have been some upgrades to the garden, such as the bridge over a very steep canyon. It was a good opportunity to get to see some of the forest, while not being right in the forest.

We came to a butterfly viewing platform. I looked up at the 110-step structure and said to our garden guide that there had better be some butterflies up there to see, if I'm going to climb all the way up there. I was skeptical because of my past experiences. By the time we were here, it was getting close to mid-day, and I suspected that the butterflies had all settled down for the day. Our botanical garden guide told me that he guaranteed that I would see a butterfly from the top. I had to climb all the way up, just to prove him wrong!

Our garden guide proved to be too clever for me. He pointed out a butterfly, the ONLY one that I saw from the high platform. It turned out that the garden's butterfly house is shaped just like a butterfly. The joke was on me, but it was a good one!