Educational Media Reviews Online

Hidden within a rainforest in the Sierra Madre mountain village of Xilitla, Mexico, lays a fantasy garden created by British aristocrat and poet Edward James. Containing over eighty acres of surrealistic structures, the dream-like garden of Las Pozas, has attracted travelers from all over the world. Giving a new definition to arm chair traveling, this DVD allows viewers to virtually explore the fanciful sculptures, waterfalls, stairways, and passageways located within Las Pozas—all through the comfort of their computer screens. Beautiful photographic images and peaceful sounds (including chimes, insects, birds, and running water) accompany the viewer throughout their tour of the lush tropical garden.

The program may be frustrating for those who have difficulty maneuvering a computer mouse, which is used to simulate a 360 degree view of the garden. Throughout the tour, users can get a closer look of the garden by holding the shift key to zoom in, or the control key to zoom out. Directions for use are somewhat minimal. Users are instructed to place the mouse icon in the center of the image, click and hold, and drag the mouse to the left or the right. If the mouse icon changes to a “hand” users are to click the mouse to explore another location in the garden (occasionally leading to a brief movie clip with details about the garden). Supposedly the linked video clips contain further details and history about the garden, but I found some of the links to be lacking in substance—I would have liked to see more historical content within the clips. I also found the navigation of the garden to be non-intuitive, as it took me a few trials to learn how to maneuver the mouse and utilize the “hand” icon correctly (you really do have to read the directions). On a technical note, I was unable to use the DVD from my home computer due to RAM requirements: 768 MB of RAM are recommended to run the program efficiently. Despite any downfalls, at a selling price of $20.00, this software would be an interesting addition to a classroom discussion on the Sierra Madre or Edward James. I actually went online to search for other resources on the topic and discovered a whole travel log of photographs from the garden, and for a brief confused moment I thought “Oh yeah, I’ve been there. It was great!” Needless to say, Las Pozas is now on my list of travel destinations.

Recommended for those interested in exploring Edward James and the fanciful garden of Las Pozas.