February 19, 2016: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (and happy 37, Ryder!)

The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami contains 83 acres of rare tropical plants from all over the world.

Papa Tom sits next to a sculpture of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, whose 1947 book "The Everglades: River of Grass" was influential in preventing the Everglades from being drained for land reclamation.  Ms. Douglas, a native of Minnesota, moved to South Florida in the 1920s and died in Coconut Grove in 1998 at the age of 108 after working for decades as an environmental activist.

Sausage tree from Africa.  Gorillas are crazy about the hanging fruit!

This is as close as we got to a gator (as far as we know).  Do you see him sunning on the point?

On the orchid trail through the rain forest section of the garden

Do you see the lizard?

An 85-year-old baobab tree.  The oldest known baobab tree is 1,275 years old.  The largest baobab tree had a diameter of more than 50 feet before it split into.