Fiji’s Garden of the Sleeping Giant: Orchids forever!

Set in the verdant green foothills of the Nausori Highlands and at the feet of Mt. Batilamu (the Sleeping Giant in Koroyanitu National Heritage Park) 20 minutes drive north of Nadi, the garden was once owned by Raymond Burr – a Canadian-born actor who made his mark playing Perry Mason, Ironside, and other film and television roles.
Burr loved orchids. And he loved Fiji, which he referred to as his second home.
Garden of the Sleeping Giant brief history
In 1965, Burr purchased Naitauba, a private island in the Lau group off the northeast coast of Fiji’s main isle of Viti Levu. He also bought and meticulously landscaped a South Seas-style plantation house just 20 minutes by road north from the Nadi airport. But it was not until 1977 that he acquired and opened a 20-hectare (50-acre) nursery to hybridize orchids after looking for the best possible climate for them to flourish. That is what is now known as the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. With his partner, Robert Benevides, Burr hybridized an estimated 1,500 orchid varieties before leaving Fiji in 1983. He even named one of the orchids for Barbara Hale, the actress who played his secretary, Della Street, in the Perry Mason series.

Wandering along canopy-covered boardwalks and paths winding through rainforest, all the while gawking at over 2,000 varieties of Asian orchids and Cattelya hybrids is an amazing experience.
The gardens, with dozens if not hundreds of varieties (depending on who you listen to), are open Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon. Entry fee is FJD $16 (USD $8.50) per adult, $8 (USD $4.25) for children 6-15 years, and $40 (USD $21) for an entire family (including minor children). gardenofsleepinggiant.com

Flowering lilies add wonderful splashes of color in the ponds of the Garden of the Sleeping Giant in Fiji.
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