Jardín Botánico y Restaurante El Arca (supported by The Green Ark Foundation) is an immersive 20-acre interactive ethnobotanical garden and working farm located in Santa Bárbara de Heredia, Costa Rica. Founded in the early 1990s by visionary Tommy Thomas, this vibrant mountain sanctuary serves as a vital genetic repository for useful, edible, and therapeutic flora from around the globe. Tailor-made for flower and culinary travelers, the estate is engineered to connect people with the sensory power of plants—guiding visitors through dense bamboo pathways, aromatic greenhouses, and an internationally acclaimed farm-to-table terrace restaurant.
Highlights:
📊 By the Numbers (Key Statistics): Walk through a thriving 20-acre eco-reserve that safeguards an incredible living library of hundreds of specialized medicinal plants and exotic fruit trees sourced across nearly three decades of global collection.
🌿 Themed Ethnobotanical Terraces: Explore beautifully organized, multi-sensory garden loops categorized into distinct thematic rooms—including dedicated sacred plants, culinary herbs, hallucinogenic flora, and a fairytale bamboo-lined treehouse.
🍲 Gourmet Farm-to-Table Dining: Dine on an upscale garden terrace overlooking the valley to indulge in an extraordinary 5- to 6-course seasonal tasting menu, where every single artistic dish is flavored with organic herbs, greens, and edible flowers harvested steps from your table.
🪴 Boutique Nurseries & Meadery: Tour the commercial greenhouses to browse rare botanicals labeled with precise scientific and common names, or enjoy a glass of crisp, hyper-local honey wine crafted directly at the on-site artisanal meadery.
Information:
🌼Type: Flower Farm
📍Place: Santa Bárbara de Heredia, Costa Rica
📅 Date: check visiting hours
☀️ Best Time to Visit: Arrive late morning on a weekend for an expert-guided botanical tour, seamlessly transitioning into a leisurely 6-course afternoon tasting lunch
🌐Website: https://theark.green/
