Southeast Botanical Gardens

When I woke on Thursday, I was pleased to find that the rain had taken a break at least for the morning because I was headed on the “Castles, Homes and Gardens” tour offered by one of the base tour offices. Our first stop was the Southeast Botanical Gardens located in the Chibana area of central Okinawa. The garden showcases the multitude of flora that thrive on the island, many of which are in bloom year-round.

I had been to the gardens once before, for the Christmas lights, but I was excited to get a daytime view of its offerings. First, we took a tram ride around the major parts of the park and a recorded English tour that pointed out various plants and flowers and gave information about their uses in everyday products (many of which were available in the gift store ;) ). The park was unlike many traditional Japanese gardens that I have seen, but it still offered plenty of areas to meditatively stroll or sit and contemplate the beauty of natural life.

My favorite area of the gardens was the Polynesian Lake which featured a bountiful display of water lilies and lotus (Nymphaeaceae and Nelumbo) and had walkways that let me feel like I was walking through a Monet painting. Where Monet’s Water Lilies are muted and dreamy, my experience was bold and vivid – a technicolor, floral dreamscape of greens, whites, yellows and pinks. It was also a thrilling opportunity to play with our new digital camera a little bit and work on composition and lens focus. I’ll be posting some of my favorites later this afternoon.

The gardens feature over 200 species of palm trees; however, palms are not indigenous to Okinawa and have been imported from other countries. 

The park featured many ponds and scenic bridges from which to view fish, ducks and the surrounding gardens. This bridge, surrounded by bougainvillea, was one of the prettiest in the park. 

Koi gather to compete for food tossed by garden visitors. When I first saw these fish at the Christmas light display, I found their frantic thrashing and opening mouths somewhat grotesque and did not linger long. Through the lens they were fascinating.

Baby Pineapples!! I thought they grew on trees.