Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanic Gardens

The Gardens were first the property of the foremost French governor of Maurtitius, Mahe de La Bourdonnais who created a vegetable garden to supply vegetables for his household, the town and visiting ships. The garden was also used as a nursery for plants imported from Europe, Asia and South America. Later, under the control of the French governor Pierre Poivre, spices were cultivated and ornamental trees were planted. After the malaria epidemic of 1966, thousands of eucalyptus trees were planted in the garden for transplanting in swamps in order to dry out the mosquito breeding grounds.






Today the garden boasts 500 species of plant, of which 25 are indigenous to the Mascarene Islands. Pictured above are the giant water lilies (Victoria amazonica). Originally from the Amazon, the Victoria amazonica is the largest water lily in the world with leaves ranging from 2 to 6 feet in diameter. Their life span is only a few days.





Picture to the left is the lotus (Nelumbo nucifera).











The gardens covers 60 acres which makes them a wonderful place to wander. The shade from the large palms is a refreshing break from the hot sun. There is also a tortoise pen housing giant tortoises who can weight more that 550 pounds (males) and live for over 100 years.




Pictured here, Bill and I playing on the roots of an enormous tree. Meanwhile, my mother is trying to find the name of the tree in the surprisingly unhelpful guide book. I would tell you its name, but we gave up on the book.





The gates behind us were a gift to the gardens from Fracois Lienard, a Frenchman born in India in 1862 who lived in Mauritius. I'm not really sure who he was but people in the garden seem pretty proud of the gates. In fact, I'm sure it will interest you all to know that the gate won first prize in the International Exhibition of London's Crystal Palace in 1862. Now if that doesn't get you to visit me here, I give up!