After all the wild rainforest of the past days, it was time for a very special garden next to Santa Elena, the so called Orchid Garden. Like the name suggests, the garden is full of orchids, and contains more than 400 species including the national flower of Costa Rica, the “Guardia morada” and also the smallest known orchid species in the world. Abel once again was our guide and gave us an excellent tour and explaind a lot of things as he used to work in the Orchid Garden. The owner of the garden is one of the most famous and respected orchid-experts in the world. He discovered many of new species but he has never been to an university and learned all the stuff by himself.
We spend the rest of the day in the car on the way back to San Jose. At night we checked into the San Jose Backpackers again. There I met Kathryn, a girl from England who had been working in a hospital in Belize and was now traveling around Central America before going back to the United Kingdom. Like I always say: When you are on your own, you are never alone! Especially in hostels its easy to get in touch with fellow travelers and team up for a little trip.