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Hiking (botanical gardens)

The Botanic Gardens is the starting point of a number of trails to the

surrounding hills. It is situated about 8 Km from Georgetown, in cool

surroundings at the terminal point of the Waterfall road.

From the Weld Quay Ferry's Terminal, one can find the necessary

transports to the gardens, the bus station can be located at the right

hand's corner (about a stone throw away!).

Though it is so near town, it is far from the bustle and

noise of city traffic. Instead, the silence is complete except perhaps for the

splash of water as it cascades down the rocky jungle stream and the

constant of monkeys.

The Botanic gardens was established in 1884, and throughout the years of

its existence the Gardens has been regarded as one of Penang's chief

natural assets. At the present moment, it serves as an urban park besides

being a botanical garden. Over one and a half million visitors pass through

its gate annually. The local residents come mainly in the mornings and evenings

for jogging and for walks. During office hours the most frequent

visitors are the tourists.

The actual site of the Botanic Gardens is a valley while a stream almost

divides it into two separate sections. On either side of the stream is a series

of undulating, closely cut lawns with flower beds scattered along the footpaths.

Several hundred feet above the Gardens is a Waterfall that may be seen

from various places in the Gardens and from which the latter receives its

name. The office of the Gardens is unobtrusively situated about hundred

meters from the entrance.

At various places places throughtout the Gardens are tea plant houses in which

collections of plants are maintained. The Sun Rockery, which is established on

about an acre of ground on a more exposed potion of the Gardens, contains

a large collection of succulent plants. Agaves, aloes,euphorbias and cacti are

well represented and many of the speciments exceed 3 m in height and are of

many shapes.Among the most noteworthy are Agave sisalan, Euphorbia tinicalli,

Opuntia cochenilifera and O.decumana and Cerus hexoqonus. However, much of

the plants have fallen into a state of neglect in the 1970s and 1980s, though recently

there has been some attempt to revive it.

One of the most charming parts of the Gardens is the Lily Pond, which

lies about 100 m from the Lower Circular Road and is approached by a

shady path surrounded by large tree ferns and a variety of tropical trees

and creepers.

The Formal Gardens is popular with the residential population who finds

the lawns, the closely-clipped hedges, the lily and ornamental pools, and

the successional displays of annuals in the beds, a beautiful replica of the

gardens of the West. The two chief borders are each 100m long and

contain a wealth of flowering plants. The latter are selected to ensure that

throughout the whole year the borders remain colourful. Lantana pink

white, orange and mauve, Beloperone quitata, Tecoma stans, Tecomaria

capensis, plumbagos blue and pink, thungergias, clerodendrons,

jatrophas, poinsettias, malvaviscuspink, white and red,mussaendas,tureras

hibiscus and bauhinias red and white are mostly planted towards the

back of the border and are of a more permanent character.

Trail to Bukit Cendana from Jeep Track

(route 84, the local use to call it?).

Length: 1.6 km (about 1 hour).

This Jeep Track begins just before the entrance to the Botanical Gardens,

behind the coffee shops at the end of WaterfallRoad (incidently, it is also at

the only bus stop). Although the track is paved to form the jeep trail, the

unpaved sides can quickly eroded in a heavy shower. Beautiful tall trees have

been exposed by the hill cutting.

The first part of the jeep track is a steep climp with hairpins turns. After