Botanical Gardens

I spent the afternoon of the 4th of July at the National Capital Botanical Gardens with Alisa, a colleague in town from DC. The Botanical Gardens are one the few 'touristy' things safe to do in Moresby. They were pretty empty, since it was a Wednesday afternoon, so we started out wandering around and admiring the plants. At first we were a little freaked out by the gardener who was following us, but once I started to ask him questions about the gardens he was more than happy to show us around and tell us everything. His name was Joshua, and in a mixture of English and Tok Pisin he told us all about the Cassowaries, Birds of Paradise, Parrots, Gouria Pigeons (the largest pigeons in the world!), Tree Kangaroos, Cockatoos, Hornbills and the Python (one of the largest snakes in captivity anywhere in the world)! Joshua thought we were hilarious because we thought the birds were so cool. He also liked my camera & wanted to see every picture after I took it. The gardens are also famous for the orchids, but not many were blooming so we mainly watched the animals. It was a great way to spend the afternoon!