Located in Davie, Florida, Flamingo Gardens is a 60-acre tropical wildlife sanctuary.
Much of the site is made up of lush tropical and botanical gardens. There are over 1,000 orchid species including many exotics. The grounds also have a beautiful hardwood hammock, a wetlands area, and many mature fruit trees. There are also fern gardens and a cactus garden.
The gardens hold some of the largest trees in Florida, called Champion trees that are kept in a register. While many have been damaged over the years, fifteen remain and are registered, including the largest circumference in all of Florida which belongs to the only Cluster Fig tree in the register. It has a trunk that measures over 54 ft in diameter and is almost 100 ft. tall.
You can take a small trolley for a 30-minute tour of the larger gardens or walk them at your leisure. We opted for the trolley, and as part of our tour, a knowledgeable driver/guide pointed out many of the attractions in the various sections of the gardens. He was also quite adept at wildlife spotting and would stop to let everyone see the plentiful birds along the trail. It was like a small safari.
There is a Butterfly and Hummingbird garden which was unfortunately under renovations when we visited. Dozens of peacocks could be seen roaming the grounds along with ibises, pelicans, and many other native species of birds. They seem to have it pretty good there.
Wray Home and Museum
On the site there is also the historic Wray Home. Built by Floyd and Jayne Wray in 1933, it’s the oldest home in Broward County west of University Drive. A sign detailing some of the site’s history highlighted that the road stopped 4 miles short of the property when the Wray’s purchased it.
A museum since 1975, the Wray Home has been furnished with typical furniture from the era. It’s like a snapshot back in time giving a glimpse into what it was like to live in the area in the early 20th century. We could not help but wonder what could be crawling in through those open windows before they got screens installed and the invention of air conditioning!
Next to the Wray Home there is also a building that houses various exhibitions. When we visited, we saw some beautiful photos of the Everglades by a famous photographer named Clyde Butcher. He is known for going knee deep into the swamps of the Everglades with a specialized camera that can develop the spectacular high-resolution images shown here.
Wildlife sanctuary
One of the highlights of the Flamingo Gardens is the wildlife sanctuary. The aviary is very impressive with the sheer number of birds that are seen all around the site. We simply loved the Flamingo Pond, but the rookery (a breeding grounds for seabirds) had all kinds of storks, cranes, swans, geese and more.
In cages, you’ll also see a collection of rescued birds such as parrots, a toucan, and all kinds of eagles, owls and hawks. There are also exhibits for alligators and turtles.
Many of the sanctuary’s residents are rescues, having been wounded. They unfortunately can no longer be released into the wild. We did read however that when they breed, the sanctuary will still try to release the offspring into the wild.
There are larger animals as well and we saw a native Florida black bear, as well as a bobcat and a beautiful endangered Florida panther. We were treated to an up-close encounter with this amazing animal who came to see us a few times behind the glass.
One of the guides was telling us that a Florida panther was the animal that can actually jump the highest from a standing position. Amazingly, they can actually jump 15ft straight up from a standing position, and there are documented cases of them jumping over Florida canals measuring 30 ft with ease (see video). We listened with amazement as we quickly tried to estimate the height of the enclosure which looked to be just around 15ft. Hmm.
Wildlife encounter
There is a small theater where the staff bring out some of the animals for a show and tell to an eager crowd.
We saw a beautiful barn owl that had been injured and was being rehabilitated as well as a large (but very cute) skunk that seemed to be an orange-yellow color.
They told us that this orange color was actually a byproduct of diet. The poor guy had been eating junk food and when rescued was 20 pounds overweight and orange like Doritos. After almost two months, he had lost four pounds and was starting to get closer to the expected white color one would expect on a skunk.
There were also plenty of small feral cats roaming around the grounds that seemed to be well fed.
Conclusion
While you cannot bring your own food for a picnic, there is a snack bar and a food truck with drinks and snacks.
A large selection of souvenirs is available at the gift shop and the not-for-profit sanctuary is always happy to receive a donation.
We enjoyed a few hours here at the Flamingo Gardens and would recommend it for a visit for both kids and adults. It was an enjoyable half day experience.
Flamingo Gardens opening hours and admission:
- The site is open from 9:30am-5pm daily with the last entry being at 4pm.
- There was ample free parking at the entrance when we arrived during the week.
- We found that getting tickets online was cheaper than buying them at the door. They also had AAA and AARP discounted tickets as well as Senior and Student rates. Check their site for the most recent prices and for any changes to operating hours at Visit – Flamingo Gardens
The Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary, located on Tavernier in the Florida Keys, is another place to visit to see a collection of rescued and rehabilitated birds.