A building on the way into the park.
I think this is a library.
It wouldn't be Brazil without naked dancing women. The plaque read: AlicePittaluga / "La Danse" / Hommage a Matisse
A totem pole with some tiny people figures on top.
The park is full of tree lined avenues.
A shrubery, or whatever you call the place you grow seedlings...
A bust on a plinth. The park also has plenty of these. This one is the bust (in bronze) of D. Joao VI (founder of the park).
A little water fall.
Folliage and some sky. Best to view the park on a clear day, though it can get very hot.
Another tree lined avenue, this time with flowing water on the left.
These are "jack fruit" apparently. Not great for food, and don't park a car under any tree bearing them.
The sky through some bare branches.
More of those jack fruit.
Close up of a jack fruit.
Some worker ants working. (Unlike me right now).
Playing with the macro function, with mixed results, couldn't get the focus 100%, also the area was quite shaded.
Can anyone tell me what type of ant this is?
Another colony of ants doing simimlar work.
Hard to see clearly, but these two had very large pieces of leaf. Now that I think of it, I should have followed them to the tree they were chopping up.
Odd place to park a car, at the far end of the park which I didn't even think you could drive into.
Not a bad place to live.
Towers over everything in Rio, we can also see it quite clearly from the apartment in Loblon.
Another building, this time with flags, probably something important.
Another totem pole, this time I think the theme was "dildos" but I'm not sure. No plaque or enscription near by.
The "Bromelario" (Bromeliarium in English, a house for Bromelias), from outsite.
Inside the Bromeliarium (funny spelling, I would drop at least one of the "i"s, but that is what it said on the sign)
Lots of different types, in fact they claim to have 10,000 so forgive me for not listing all the latin names.
Not all bromelias are air plants, but these ones appear to be. No roots in the soil, collect water and nutrients from the air.
More air plants.
This one has roots, but also gathers water at the base of the leaves. The sign says "Phytotelmata", the water "tank" in the centre of the roset formed by overlapping leaves.
Is it supposed to look like that? Seems like three bromelias are having a slo-mo fight.
Not bromelias at all in my opinion but alien pods of some kind.
Actually this is the first time I've ever seen a pineapple in situ as part of the whole plant. I was expecting them to hang from trees, not grow individually! But seeing it in place it kind of makes sense.
No plaque beside this one, but one of the few I saw in bloom. It isn't a pineapple, the leaves are quite different.
A lizard, lounging in the Bromeliarium.
More foliage and a little canal.
This big guy is "Ossanha":- Guarda Consigo Os Segredos Misticos E Curativos Das Folhas E Plantas. Which means something like guardian of sacred mysteries of medicinal leaves and plants, I think. Sculpture:Tati Moreno
A detail of Ossanha.
One of many nice little lakes.
This impressive white tree is a "Eucalyptus Globulus Labill" from Australia Tasmania apparently.
Another nice lake with some walkways around and over it.
Unhappy looking guy in a gazebo. I like the Gazebo itself though.
Apparently he is "Fr. Leandri Sacramento"
Took me ages to get this shot, people kept walking into it to have their friends take pictures. It is a nice spot though.
Further back from Fr. Sacremento's gaff. Note the Christ statue in the background. A future wallpaper I think.
Palm trees
Some kind of bird I say in the park
Same bird, it moved every time I tried to get close. Like I'd eat it or something...
My current wallpaper, and as blue as I could get the sky by tinkering with the camera settings. I set it to underexpose by 2/3, in fact the sky was washed out in automatic mode.
Very big tree. Humans providing some scale.
Palm tree lined path, again humans provide the scale.
Big fountain in the centre of the park.
The plaque starts with C. F. P. DE MARTIVS 1794-1868, so I assume that is him. 74 is a good age for those days, and he has an impressive sounding list of friends.
A rose garden. Not really the right climate though, the roses were struggling.
Statue of a man fishing..
Zen garden, part of the "Japanese" section.
Some bonsai plants, also in the Japanese section
Japanese water powered "plonk" noice making thingy. I'm sure it has a more elegant name in Japanese.
Another gazebo, over the water.
A little wooden foot bridge. Notice the hoi carp in the water.
Not sure how to take a picture of a fish so that it looks like it is IN the water rather than flying through the air, but I assure you it was beneath the surface.
Maybe this was supposed to be one of those water powered "plonk" noise things but they assumbled it incorrectly?
This tiny hive, about 3cm long was attached to a drinking fountain. There were about 2 dozen little insects buzing around it, NO idea what they were, they don't look anything like bees or wasps, in fact much smaller, each less than 1cm long.
Some different fruit.
I'm not sure what this building is, people were queuing up to get inside. But I was too hot at this stage, making my way home.
