Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park

Grand Cayman Travel Guide

"A botanical garden showcasing the island's rich flora, including rare orchids such as the endemic Wild Banana Orchid, along with a conservation facility dedicated to protecting the Cayman Islands' native blue iguanas, making it both a scenic and conservation-minded destination." - Carley Rojas Avila Carley Rojas Avila Carley Rojas Avila is a bilingual travel writer, editor, and content marketer. She is an expert on Latin America, the Caribbean, and Cuba, as she lived and worked in four different countries in that region. Carley founded the digital travel publications Loosely Local and Home to Havana. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines

"Rarely do the terms Queen Elizabeth and reptilian breeding ground appear in the same sentence, but at the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park—inaugurated by Her Majesty in 1994—you'll find a notable exception. Of the countess features to recommend the place, from its riotous gardens to its serene teahouse, perhaps most fun are the residents of its blue iguana habitat—shimmering azure ambassadors who'll greet you on the paths (and occasionally, in the parking lot, where signs caution you to check for sleeping iguanas under your wheels). Other colorful characters to look out for: the emerald Grand Cayman parrots flecked with crimson (they like to frond-hop overhead) and the various aquatic birds in and around the flower-garden-adjacent lake."