We visited two interesting tourist attractions while in Sunrise.

The first one, and my favorite of the two, was Butterfly World.  The brochure describes Butterfly World as “the only park of its kind in the Western Hemisphere and the largest one in the world.”  There are more than 3,000 butterflies in their “Jewels of the Sky” aviary at any given time.  The aviary contains many beautiful flowering plants, hummingbirds and other exotic birds.  Other features of the park include a second aviary “Wings of the World”,  a butterfly and bug museum and other gardens.

The “Wings of the World” aviary was my favorite.  When you enter, there are butterflies flying all over.  The aviary contains many beautiful flowering plants, water features and exotic birds.  There is soft, soothing music playing and lots of benches for quiet contemplation.  I have never seen so many and so many different types of butterflies.  I’ll let Hector’s photos tell the rest of the story.

The second tourist attraction we visited was Flamingo Gardens.  They feature “Florida’s largest collection of champion trees set amidst the beauty of 200 year old live oaks.”  Flamingo Gardens also has an Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary that provides a safe refuge for permanently injured, non-releasable animals.  Of course, there’s a big flamingo pond, and an aviary for wading birds from Florida.  Other non-releasable animals include alligators, otters, turtles and birds of prey.  Sadly, a couple of their non-releasable animals are two beautiful Florida panthers – stunning creatures.  Again, I’ll let Hector’s photos tell the rest of the story.

~ Brenda