SMA Botanical Garden

Feb 13

Today we visited El Charco del Ingenio, SMA’s botanical garden. It was founded in 1991 and it is impressive how much they have accomplished in that amount of time. It is an 88-hectare botanical garden, bird and wildlife sanctuary. We spent almost three hours there walking the trails with Ron and Sandi snipping photos the entire time. I loved being there. It is by far the most unusual botanical garden I have visited. I had no idea the number of cacti that existed and some were so intriguing with their size and shapes. One of my favorites looked like a nest of snakes. Part of the park includes a former reservoir created over 100 years ago for the La Aurora textile mill which has been converted into Fabrica Aurora that we visited on Sunday. The reservoir served a means to create energy for running the mill. Although it is somewhat silted up, it is now a wetland that provides a water source for migratory birds and wildlife.

Another highlight was the Conservatory of Mexican Plants, an indoor structure beautifully designed with a winding canal throughout. The park is located high above SMA so we took a taxi there and back. 

When we returned to town we ate in a small eatery in our neighborhood, two blocks from the house. Ron and I ate there before and thoroughly enjoy the small café and its limited menu. The food is simple yet delicious with fresh ingredients.

We spent the afternoon doing laundry, reading and relaxing before walking into town for a celebratory meal to commemorate the time together. S and B leave really early Friday so we thought it better to go out tonight since tomorrow will be an early to bed evening since they need to get up around 5:00. We all loved our meal at Mi Bistro 300. We had a fabulous appetizer of peasant bread topped with melted blue cheese over caramelized figs. This was followed for a fish course. Ron and I had salmon with fresh veggies and Bill had salmon with lentils while Sandi had dorado with veggies. Desserts were Key lime pie and a decadent thin cake filled with liquid gold...I mean dulce de leche center. Think lava cake. Since Ron has lots of photos to share, I will end this here.