ARDASTRA GARDENS AND ZOO

                                                A Delightful Nassau Visit

            While in the Bahamas the dolphins and rays were my granddaughter's choices, the gardens and zoo were mine. We spent a delightful morning on a warm sunny day. After the jitney (small local bus) let us off we had  a 10 minute walk to the entrance. The big attraction here is the flamingo parade which takes place three times a day. We were aiming for the 10 AM show.

The brain child of Hedley Vivian Edwards, a Jamaican horticulturalist, the garden opened to the public in 1937.  Edwards wanted to create a luscious garden in the heart of Nassau which was not an easy task as the area in those days was more of a marshland than a lush garden. The name Ardastra comes from the Latin, Ardua astrum, literally meaning Striving for the stars.

In 1982 Norman Solomon, a Bahamian, bought the gardens and   added a zoo. The area covers five acres. The zoo is a rescue center and nature preserve. Winding pathways weave around lovely tropical grounds. Little hidden treasures, maybe an inviting bench, wait periodically around bends in the pathways.

We walked part of the gardens before show time.  Seeing a pair of black swans I read on an information board, “A male swan is called a cob, a female a pen and a baby a cygnet.”

A caracal (small cat) was pacing in his enclosure. He’s named for a Turkish word meaning black ears. The serval (African wild cat) has the longest legs and largest ears in proportion to his body of any other animal. (Had to come home and Google these two animals to learn more.)

After visiting with the meerkats it was time to make it to the arena. Flamingos were over hunted for meat in the 1940s and 50s, but their numbers have recovered. They are shy by nature, but the birds at the zoo are used to people. There were 25-30 in the parade and they ranged in age from six months to 41 years.  The average lifespan in the wild is four years.

There are six species of flamingos and they have an average wing span of five feet. The largest part of their mouth is on the bottom as they are bottom feeders.  A female lays one egg a year and both male and female incubate and then care for the baby. They have web feet and can fly up to 40 miles at a speed of 25 miles per hour!   The parade birds respond to the commands of march, right, turn and stop.It was fun and pretty funny at times to watch this parade.

Afterward,  we continued wandering and saw several species of Iguana. The green iguana is a common pet, but when it gets big it is often abandoned by its owners and it often becomes a threat to native wildlife.  The capybaras were dry and eating from a bowl. The only other capybara I’ve ever seen was in Montreal, Canada and he was wet and stayed near the water. This semi-aquatic animal is the largest of all rodents and has incisors 6-inches long! You don’t want to get bit! They can dive and can stay under water for five minutes.

There were several macaws in the gardens. These colorful gorgeous birds can live 50-100 years often outliving their owners. We spent a fair amount of time watching Sheba and Sasha a pair of jaguar sisters. One was cross-eyed and they are permanent residents of the zoo. What beautiful animals!

When we were finished at Ardastra we walked back to catch the jitney for a late lunch down town.