Saturday 20^th June 2015

Yesterday the wet and windy weather eased up a bit and the sun came out.  It seemed a good day to visit the tropical gardens about 5 km outside of Savusavu, so we hailed a taxi outside the marina and within ten minutes we were at the gates.  We were met by Enoch, a large and friendly Fijian who took our admission fees, gave us our printed guide sheets and invited us to stay as long as we liked.

We then spent a delightful hour or more following the boardwalk path through a lush garden of mainly palm trees, many of whose varieties are under threat of extinction.  At the top of the uphill section was a deck, shaded by trees, from which there was a beautiful view over the gardens to Savusavu Bay beyond.  Here we sat and enjoyed the view, and the calm, peace and quiet, for a while, before continuing the tour downhill.

At Fiji Flora Tropica Gardens, Savusavu.                                                                The well-constructed boardwalk leading through the gardens.

Foxtail palm                                                                                                                       Fishtail palm.

I named this the ‘corrugated palm’ – one of my favourites.                          Vanilla growing up a traveller palm.

A stilted palm.                                                                                   Liked the name of this one – the Diamond Joey.

Snakeskin palm, often home to the snake it mimics!        Bismarck palms – very grey/silver by comparison.

A shady spot under the palms

View from the boardwalk out over Savusavu Bay.                                            View from the top deck.

A splash of colour.                                                                           Interesting pattern on this palm trunk.

The gardens were established in 1998 and are accredited by Botanical Gardens Conservation International, a plant conservation charity based in Kew, England.  They are well worth a visit.