Pamplemousses Gardens, Ile Maurice

The Sir Seewooagur Ramgoolam Gardens are colloquially known as "Pamplemousses," or Grapefruits. While we did not see any grapefruit trees, we did tour the most rennowned gardens in the tropics. Baobabs and hundreds of other exotic trees lined the paths, lotus gardens brought a fresh touch to the scenery, and the wildlife (deer and giant tortises) an unexpected but interesting sight. The best by far, however, were the giant lilypads in the very center of the gardens. These suckers are huge! 3-4 feet wide on average, these large lilypads can hold a decent amount of weight. The lilies that grow around them have a fascenating life cycle: they bloom white in the morning, turn a light shade of pink around 2pm and by 5pm they are bright magenta. They die at night and new lilies bloom in the morning.