Having gone a little orchid crazy lately, I negotiate with a taxi driver to take me to the Orquideario two hours away in Soroa. Before this trip I would have considered anyone who did that to be nuts. The gardens famous throughout Cuba supposedly have 700 species of orchid. I used to think orchids were overrated and never understood some peoples' obsession with them. I now think that's because whenever I've seen them in England they seemed rather drab and unexciting, leaving me distinctly underwhelmed and puzzled.
Here in the tropical regions of Central America there is a huge number of orchids (I'm writing this in Costa Rica where there are 2000 species of orchids, including hybrids, of all shapes, sizes and colours). Delicate and intensely perfumed, some resemble insects more than flowers.
Although I don't see anywhere near 700 species (admittedly it's not the best time of the year for orchids to be in flower) I'm still impressed, and this time make an effort to jot down their names, although it's unlikely I've spelt them all correctly.
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