I visited CATIE to explore the botanical gardens and also to see the library. The only weak point is that I think the $10 admission for foreigners is a bit steep. I enjoyed walking in the botanical gardens, through the research farm, and onto the main campus of CATIE. It is a very peaceful and quiet place.You will see a wide variety of tropical trees and heliconias....but unfortunately there is not a specialized orchid nursery. There are extensive demonstration plots of tropical crops ranging from palms to plantains! For example, there are Ethiopian coffee varieties that have superior resistance to plant diseases such as the "roya" that is attacking Central American coffee.I saw some displays of plants adapted to various biogeographic zones, but did not see extensive demonstrations of organic gardening techniques such as companion planting, organic pest and insect controls (example: garlic-hot pepper-onion mixture for insect control). It would be nice to see a butterfly garden and a demonstration multi-species organic garden.One good thing that CATIE offers is a seed bank. If you are living in Costa Rica and want to grow your own food or sell vegetables at the Ferias, consider CATIE'S seed bank for unique varieties! I may have missed some things, as my time was a bit limited.The library is of strong interest to researchers in tropical agriculture. Unfortunately, there is no a/c and since Turrialba is in the humid low cloud forest zone, some of the books have developed a mildew problem after years of storage in sultry humid air. This may pose a problem for those with allergy problems.Overall, CATIE is a very interesting place to visit although those who are interested in tropical organic gardening or orchid culture may not find everything in which they are interested.
Go with a guide to bird the lagoon at this location,because it is otherwise not open to the public. It has a large number of heron/egret/ibis/ jacana species. The Botanic Garden is a paid admission.
Basically, it is very insufficient for the fee asked. Go to the neay by Lankester Orchid collection instead.
This was just great, friendly, helpfull people and what a big beautiful garden. Lots of fruits on the trees.It would even be more informative if there where more labels at the plants and trees
What an amazing place to visit. For $10 you can tour around the lake and Botanical Gardens. We photographed many species of herons including the Boat Billed heron also Jacana, Gallinule and many other species of birds in the surrounding plantations on a short drive between the lake area and Botanical gardens. Easy flat walking or drive round. Shop and WC facilities in the Botanical gardens.
For us it was a glimpse into old Costa Rica. It doesn't look like much has changed there visibly since my last visit 35 years ago. You will definitely want to arrange to have a guided tour. Is it worth the bucks? ..I say yes if you like the idea of supporting horticultural and agricultural research or the grad students themselves (I don't know how the guide fee is processed, hope the guide keeps it) . This guided tour is low on the excitement scale but good for people interested in what they do at CATIE. A special part is the close viewing of the exotic oropendola birds who make hanging, swinging nests...google it.
I went to the Garden of CATIE with my wife and two friends, and we had a naturalist conduct a tour which made the place come alive and was very interesting. There is a lot in a small space and the total walking distance is about a half mile on level ground. Entry fee is $10. One of the leading tropical research centers in Latin America is on adjacent property.This is a beautiful place and provides a great overview of the botany of the country.If this review is helpful then please indicate so below.
We had a brilliant little tour around CATIE one afternoon. Picked up a number of birds around the lake and satisfied the botanist in our group with a walk through the botanical garden. I left an umbrella behind which was gone when I went back for it. Further around the lake, a CATIE employee saw me and gave it back to me. He had noticed that I had left it behind, retrieved it and looked out for me so that he could return it to me
You can stroll through the acres and acres of fruiting trees and flowers and orchids and learn about the research that impacts our world related to agriculture. Highly recommended if you are interested in the Botanical world.
The guides have amazing knowledge of the tropical plants and you get to sample seasonal exotic fruit, veges and spices. I have been a few times and each time learn something new. Even if you are not into botany you will still find this a very interesting tour. You must take a guide or you will not have the same experience.