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The Gardens at Monserrate

February 21st, 2013

This past Sunday, we spent the afternoon taking the cable car up to Monserrate, in Bogotá. Monserrate is a cathedral built on top of the mountains that surround the city. It is located 10,341 ft above the sea level.
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The gardens surrounding it are quite beautiful, filled with all sorts of plants, both tropical and familiar to those of us that live in the north. It’s quite wonderful to see banana plants intermingling beautifully with hydrangeas.
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We took the cable car up the mountain, it’s a half mile journey. From the top, there’s a fantastic view of the city below. Bogotá is a sight to behold, it’s one of the largest cities in Latin America, it’s expansive spread from high above. The population density of the city rivals many Asian cities.
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The gardens surrounding the church are spectacular. It’s quite amazing because you can’t really walk through them, you have to take them in from the cable car, catching small glimpses here and there. You can hike up to the top, I haven’t done that since I was in high school. Here are a few of the beautiful plants and gardens I spotted while we were there.
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Our tip to Colombia was a working trip, thus we spend most of our time behind our computers and behind the camera filming. I was happy to be able to spend at least a few minutes enjoying the beauty of the tropical climate. It was a refreshing change from Maine, which received 3 feet of snow in our absence.

Do you have a favorite tropical plant?

9 Comments to “The Gardens at Monserrate”
  1. Marina C on February 21, 2013 at 7:36 am

    Beautiful!
    What is the lovely yellow and orange trumpet flower?
    It looks quite a bit like trumpet vine…

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  2. Adriana on February 21, 2013 at 8:25 am

    So beautiful! I grew up in Peru and Brazil and my mother had a large orchid and fern collection. They had coconut stands everywhere, even in the city, where they would split open a chilled coconut, put a straw in it and hand it to you.

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  3. misti on February 21, 2013 at 10:23 am

    I actually just made a noise when I saw the Brug. sanguinea!!! I want one so bad but was told they don’t take heat well like the other brugs. I have a brug book and will have to refer back to it to be sure.

    Bogota….wow it really is large!

    Reply to misti's comment

    • KimH on February 21, 2013 at 10:53 am

      I didnt know what the genus or species of this beauty was but I knew it was from the Solanaceae family.. those leaves are a dead give away. Thanks for shouting out the genus cuz I was going to have to do some investigating.. I loved it as much as it looks like Susy did.

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  4. KimH on February 21, 2013 at 10:55 am

    The gardens are gorgeous.. great pics..
    Im amazed that Bogota is so large a place to be honest.. God bless your folks for the good works they do there.

    Reply to KimH's comment

  5. Susan on February 21, 2013 at 11:06 am

    When I lived in Mexico, I appreciated the many banana and papaya trees that grew behind my house. Because my home was small there wasn’t much room in the house for plants so it all was outside. I had raised beds that I tried to grow vegetables in, but the lizards and other critters were the only ones who got any. We were water poor in our village so gardening wasn’t practical. I love your blog.

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  6. Lynn on February 21, 2013 at 12:09 pm

    What a lovely sanctuary from the hectic life below. Don’t think I could ever survive in a city that size..even with that lovliness to escape to on occassion.

    Reply to Lynn's comment

    • Susy on February 21, 2013 at 8:30 pm

      I agree, I could never live in a city this size. Whenever I visit I’m reminded that I’m definitely a rural person!

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  7. judym on February 21, 2013 at 1:19 pm

    Your pictures remind me so much of the trip we took to Chiang Mai. The views of Bogota from the mountains look so similiar. Chiang Mai is surrounded by mountains as well.We were very impressed on the drive up through Doi Inthanon National Park. When we got to the top we could see Chaing Mai spread throughout the valley much like Bogota. The plants ans flowers were also similiar there as well. Had fushia, hydrangeas and also trumpet vines (those were a buttery yellow color) along with the native plants.

    The two fruits we experienced the most was rambutan and jack fruit (this one was growning in our friends back yard!). Rambutan was a very refreshing type fruit – it wasn’t too sweet or sour. Had it’s own unique taste. I was thrilled when I spotted rambutan in a recent movie when the actors were walking through an open market! I felt so special – “Hey, I know what that is!”

    Glad your trip was safe, productive and enjoyable! Travel the world, the more similiarities than differences we see.

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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