Jardin de Balata, Botanical garden in Fort-de-France, Martinique, France.
Description
Jardin de Balata is a botanical garden built on former farmland containing more than 3000 tropical plant species, including 300 varieties of palms, heliconias, and bromeliads. An elevated wooden pathway guides visitors through the vegetation and offers views of the surrounding mountains.
History
The garden was founded in 1982 by Jean-Philippe Thoze on former farmland and opened to visitors in 1986. This transformation from agricultural use to botanical collection happened relatively quickly over a few years.
Culture
A traditional Creole house stands within the grounds, showing visitors how people built and lived in colonial times on the island.
Practical
The elevated wooden pathway lets visitors walk safely and dry through dense vegetation, even after rainfall. Wearing good footwear is important since the trail crosses challenging terrain and wet conditions are common.
Did you know?
Besides native Caribbean species, plants from many other parts of the world grow here, making this garden a sort of global botanical collection. Many visitors do not notice that most of these distant plant varieties thrive just as well here as they would in their original climates.
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