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From the falls, we went to a "botanical garden" still occupied by the owner who, for 15 pesos, gave a guided tour of the house then allowed us to tour the grounds.  Orchids and other blooming  bushes were planted around the house and a walkway sloped gently from the house down to the roadway below.  Trellises arched over the walkway, the sparse greenery not quite covering the supporting frame.  A topiary of a heart and one of the Eiffel Tower sat on either side of the walk.   Spacious grounds surrounded the house with paved walkways and steps shaded by giant palm trees, their fronds interlinking high overhead.  The walkways went down into a small gorge planted with numerous plants I used to try to keep alive as houseplants, dieffenbachia, ficus trees, mother-in-law's tongue, pothos, etc.  Begonias, impatiens and shrimp plants produced gorgeous blooms and lush vegetation.  Some plants I've seen only in books and others I've never seen before grow outdoors with seemingly little care.  Although the garden does not receive the attention it needs, it was beautiful and reminded me of an unkempt Monet's garden.

Next came lunch at a ranch.  The taxi-van passed the ranch house and stables and proceeded up into the hills on barely passable roads.  The scenery was magnificent, pale green hills, darker green vegetation, and dark mountains in the background.  Up and down, over the hills, we were taken to the restaurant nestled at the bottom of a hill with a stream and an open-air bar and dining area with thatched roof.  We were given a welcoming drink to accompany us on a walk while lunch was being prepared.  Up some steps we discovered another bar and a swimming pool.  The sun was scorching hot but, under the cool thatched roof with a mild breeze, the temperature was very comfortable.

On the way home, we stopped at a cheese factory.  We saw each stage of the process, sampled the product, and bought red rounds of the locally produced cheese to take back to the boat.

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