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.

GERMAN FOOD AND DRINK EXPERIENCES

                New Experiences

           

            In Bamberg, Germany, population 70,000, there are nine breweries. In 1800 with a population of only 15,000 there were 64 breweries! There are eight miles of beer caves. The city is known for rauchbier, smokey beer. In 1678, a fire in a brewery sent smoke into the area where the hops and other beer ingredients were stored. Not about to lose a whole years’ harvest, they brewed the beer anyway. That year’s brew had a distinctive smokey aroma and taste, and as they say the rest is history.

It was late morning when we visited the brewhaus for a glass of the famous beer. It is a taste one either loves or hates. But no matter it was different and interesting.

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In Munich at lunch we were served a huge plate of thinly sliced white radish. We had this often, but more as a garnish than a whole plate full. They have a mild taste and must grow pretty big. Tennis ball sized dumplings and pigs’ knuckles, called stelze, followed. The pork was tender. Later we viewed the pigs’ knuckles turning on a spit in the kitchen window. In Germany everyone wanted to serve us apflestrudel and it ranged from fair to very good. This one was very good, but I have yet to taste an apple strudel any better than the one I had in Eizendorf seven or eight years earlier!

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At the Heidelberg Castle restaurant we were served a students’ lunch which started with a large green salad. This was followed with mouth pockets, which were large ravioli-like pastas filled with  cheese, spinach and meat. They were very different, and I really liked them. It just seemed strange not to have a marina sause over them.

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On an all day of river cruising  at 10:30 AM we participated in fruhschoppen.  It was explained that this is the time of day citizens congregate at a local establishment for beer, sausage and camaraderie.

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In Wurzburg the coolness was noticeable as we entered the 750-foot-long wine cellar, the largest wine cellar in Germany. Sitting at long tables we found wine glasses and a basket of white bread at each seat. While we sampled three different and delicious wines we were told, “We still use oak barrels which cost about $2000 each, but we feel it is worth it to give our wines a wooden kiss. There are 220 barrels in the cellar and all but ten are full of wine.

“Years ago the public was allowed in the wine cellar and they would thump on the barrel to determine the fullness. This gave them a bit of bargaining power for the cost of the wine. Of course today everything is bottled.  The barrels are cleaned each year, usually in August, before the new grape harvest.  As you pass through the cellar you will see some barrels with carved fronts. Those are commemorative barrels designed for a special event. There is one fairly new one which is lighted for photo ops.”