Bocas Botanical Gardens

A view through a small part of the gardens

When we arrived in Bocas we had a bent davit that needed repair. Dana gave me Kiwi Dave’s name and said to make sure that we visit the Botanical Gardens that Dave and his wife Lynn started almost twenty years ago. As it turned out we visited the Gardens first and later I got the bent davit to his shop.

When Dave and Lynn first bought the property the roads past it did not exist and they cut their way through the mangroves from the beach up to where the land rose up from the swamps. I can only imagine the effort required to tunnel through the mangroves and thick jungle while mosquitos and no-see-ums were eating them alive.

Lynn standing with palms she planted as 6' tall plants almost 20 years ago

Endless varieties of bamboo

 Lynn’s tour of the garden was incredible, especially when she explains that she planted these various palms as small potted plants and now some are over sixty feet tall. The variety of heliconias, orchids, palms, bamboos, varieties of bananas, herbs, spices, medicinal plants and tropical flowers of every variety was endless. It is amazing what they have accomplished. They are in the process of building a new visitor’s center and adding to their future rental accommodations. 

Dave did manage to repair the davit that was bent over at the Pacific end of the canal. I can recommend his work and prices to anyone in need of quality stainless steel welding.

Sorry about the formatting of the photos.

Self opening red ornamental bananas

another variety of red bananas