I had wonderful time at Flamingo Gardens today. Johanna at the front desk was wonderful. Olivia, I met her while she was feeding the ducks and turtles at the pond, she was really fun to talk to. :) Miss Kathy at the Wray house was awesome to talk to. everyone was really friendly.

I had a hot dog (all beef) at the cafe, and it was good. :)

I spent about 3.5 hours there. They have water bottle refill stations. Bathrooms. Several AC locations to escape the heat, and also several misting locations.

The tram is included with your ticket. It takes you to the far side of the gardens. The driver talks about interesting facts and plants along the way. They stop at the succulent garden and butterfly house for a few minutes, and then drive back a different route. There is a handicap seat on the tram as well, for wheelchairs.

I really enjoyed seeing all the plants and animals. My favorite was the Hyacinth Macaw, it was one that showed interest in me and it chatted with me as well. I saw some huge iguanas, A couple large orange males.

Oh and I really enjoyed the aviary! The pelicans were not afraid of people at all and they walked next to me. The white ones are huge!

I loved the elkhorn fern hanging globes, that got a little magical to me.

There were some mosquitoes around the pond areas, so I def would have some sort of repellent handy.

There were some nice breezes today, and even tho I was very arm and sweaty, I had a great time. I love that the majority of the paths are paved, so it’s very accessible.

The otters weren’t very active, they seemed hot. There were no golden eagles that I could find.

The butterfly house was neat, not many flying around this day but it was really cool looking at the cocoons up close and personal. It’s amazing how many seemingly have good specks, it looks like gold leaf almost.

Suggestions: it would be great I to have some sort of indication that an animal cage were not occupied, a sign or something, just so people don’t look too hard for too long.

There are various vents throughout the day where they feed an animal and give talks.

With the price being $22 while they are doing construction on their wildlife encounter area (a $2 discount), I fly like it was an excellent use of my $ and first day in FL.