botanic | Blue Lapis Road

ROYAL BOTANICAL GARDEN, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2019.12.10

Day 6 (2 of 3).

The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya is probably the second most popular attraction in or around Kandy after the Temple of the Tooth Relic. Lying at 5.5 km west of Kandy, the 147 acres garden was established in 1821 by Alexander Moon to house coffee and cinnamon plants. In 1843, plants from other gardens including the London’s Kew Garden were transplanted to Peradeniya to establish the Royal Botanical Gardens.

The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya is one of the about 230 tropical botanical gardens in South or Southeast Asia. Before 19th century, botanical gardens in Europe were mainly designated for scientific studies and classification. During the 19th century as colonialism extended to the east, botanical gardens were established by the Europeans in Asia as a research facility to study not only the science of plants, but also the techniques and economy of agriculture. The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya had contributed to the agricultural development of Ceylon, the former British colony in Sri Lanka. Today, it is a lovely park that opens for all who pay the admission.

The Royal Botanical Garden at Peradeniya is a pleasant park frequented by visitors of all ages, even for those who have little knowledge in botany and horticulture.

One of the first plants that caught our attention was Amherstia nobilis, or Pride of Burma, near the Great Circle.

The Great Circle was the first large lawn area we reached in the garden. Surrounding the circle were groves of different tropical trees.

We could hear strange noises coming from one of the groves. As soon as we walked closer, we discovered a large group of Indian flying foxes on the tree canopies.

The trees in the garden provides perfect resting spots for the bats during the day.

Apparently the bats were resting, but they often moved around and communicated with one another.

When a few of them took off in the air, we could appreciate the large wing span of the flying foxes.

With a wing span ranging from 1.2 – 1.5m, the Indian Flying Foxes are one of the world’s largest bat.

While the bats were busy pushing one another for a better spot, two cows had the entire grass field to themselves.

It was a unique experience to see so many trees were occupied by the resting flying foxes.

The three Royal Palm Avenue are probably the most recognizable scenes of the garden.

Stretching their branches like myriad of open arms, the Giant Java Fig Trees are the favourite photo spots for many.

The Giant Java Fig Trees occupy a large area of space among themselves.

Near the Giant Java Fig is another amazing giant.

Built in 1931 by the British, Peradeniya Sangili Palama is a suspension bridge that lies across the Mahaweli River.

Back to the Great Lawn, we stopped by another famous Giant Java Fig Tree.

Some called this the largest pruned tree in the world.

An interesting study on grass species from around the world.

It wasn’t really crowded so we had a good 2.5 hours of relaxing time at Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya.

April 16, 2020 | Categories: Kandy, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka 2019 | Tags: bat, botanic, bridge, fig, flying fox, garden, Grass, Kandy, palm, Peradeniya, plant, royal, Sri Lanka, tree, vegetation | Leave a comment

PIONEER OF ORGANIC AGRICULTURE AND NATURE CONSERVATION, Kadoorie Farm (嘉道理農場), Hong Kong

On the northern slope of Tai Mo Shan (大帽山) at a place called Pak Ngau Shek (白牛石) in the area of Lam Tsuen (林村), 148 hectare of organic farms, botanical gardens and mature forests terracing up to the summit of Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山) reveal over half a century of efforts by the Kadoorie Farm (嘉道理農場). Established in 1956, Kadoorie Farm has always stood at the forefront of Hong Kong’s agriculture, experimenting on new techniques and providing agricultural aid to farmers in need of support. In 1951, the Kadoorie brothers (Horace and Lawrence) established the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association (KAAA) in an attempt to help the sudden influx of Mainland farmers into Hong Kong during the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940’s. They picked Pak Ngau Shek (白牛石) near Lam Tsuen (林村) to establish an agricultural facility engaging in experiments on profitable and effecting farming and animal breeding, and training the new farmers with their developed techniques. Today, Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (嘉道理農場暨植物園) diversifies their effort to promote organic farming, sustainable living, nature conservation and education. They also run extensive rehabilitation program for wild animals in Hong Kong.

Linked by 9 km of roads and 8 km of trails, various highlights of the Kadoorie Farm spread over the slope of Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山).

One of the big highlights at the lower section of Kadoorie Farm is the “Eco Garden” (生機園), exhibiting different types of self sufficient and compact farming in a community scale.

The garden presents natural and organic ways to maintain soil’s nutrients and insect control, and the best combination of vegetables for each season.

Other than its freshness and taste, the organic vegetables such as the purple cabbages are also beautiful.

Spherical bird scarers are hung over a cluster of rainbow chards in the Eco Garden.

A wavy fence separates the Eco Garden with the other terraced farms and botanic gardens.

Other than organic farming, more innovative planting techniques are also examined at the Eco Garden. Some farming techniques that requires less space or soil may suit urban living well.

At the Piers Jacobs Wildlife Sanctuary, native mammals such as a Barking Deer or Muntjac (麂) have been rescued as an orphan and raised in the sanctuary.

The wild boar is also another rescued orphan at the sanctuary. Both wild boars and barking deer can be found in the forests in and around Kadoorie Farm.

In the old days, pig breeding was an important work at the Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Association (KAAA). Today a few Da Hua Bai Pigs (大花白豬) are kept at the farm for educational purposes.

Amphibians and reptiles are both vulnerable groups of wildlife in Hong Kong due to habitat loss. Kadoorie Farm has a few of the native species at the Amphibian and Reptile House and Reptile Garden.

Interesting pavilions and artworks are all over the farm, including a dragon boat pigeon house.

And also the fish mosaic at the Cascade Garden near the Chicken House.

As the farm terraces up the hillside of Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山), the view to the surrounding landscape becomes more spectacular.

The Butterfly Path winds up the hill through dense forests and open terraces, following part of an old trail which led the locals up the hill of Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山) for a religious blessing.

In order to preserve the natural feel, there is minimal modern safety infrastructure provided at the Butterfly Path.

9 km of roads circulate up and down the Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山), going through some densely forested areas, the habitat for some native species in Hong Kong, such as the barking deer.

… and the wild boar.

At 550m above sea level, the summit of Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山) is the highest point in Kadoorie Farm. For centuries, farmers came up to the summit to seek blessings from the goddess of Kwun Yum.

The summit of Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山) allows visitors to have fine view of the New Territories and even Shenzhen on a fine and clear day.

The summit of Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山) is at 1812 ft, or 550 m.

Kwun Yum Shan (觀音山) is sandwiched between Tai To Yan (大刀屻) to the north and Tai Mo Shan (大帽山) to the south.

Heading downhill, visitors can either take a shuttle bus or walk down a winding road.

Along the downhill road, sounds of monkeys can often be heard. Occasionally visitors may spot monkeys jumping from one tree to another.

April 16, 2017 | Categories: Hong Kong, New Territories | Tags: Agricultural Aid Association, agriculture, amphibian, barking, boar, botanic, Butterfly Path, cabbage, Cascade, 生機園, 白牛石, Da Hua Bai, deer, dragon, Eco Garden, 觀音山, 麂, farm, farming, fish, garden, Hong Kong, Kadoorie, Kwun Yum Shan, Lam Tsuen, monkey, New Territories, organic, Pak Ngau Shek, pig, pigeon, reptile, Tai Mo Shan, Tai Po, Tai To Yan, terraces, wild, wildlife, 嘉道理農場, 嘉道理農場暨植物園, 大花白豬, 大刀屻, 大帽山, 林村 | Leave a comment

DAY 16 – (1 OF 1) INHOTIM, BRUMADINHO, BRAZIL

The main reason for our stay in Belo Horizonte was to visit Inhotim in Brumadinho, about 55km from Belo Horizonte. Inhotim is a open air contemporary art complex. It was formerly a botanical garden and was transformed into an “artscape” with additions of new pavilions and collections of contemporary art from all over the world. Inhotim opened to the public in 2006. Unique in architectural design, each pavilion houses various kinds of artworks from sculptures, photography, paintings, installation art to multimedia displays. We spent a pleasant day in this “artscape” to check out more than half of its art pavilions and outdoor artworks, admire the diverse variety of plants, and have a great dining experience at the garden restaurant. We were particularly impressed by the “Sonic Pavilion” by Doug Aitken – a pavilion designed to amplify and deliver the murmuring sound from 200m deep in the ground to visitors. There were many local visitors and student groups. At the last pavilion we visited, it was a delight for us to find Canadian artist Janet Cardiff’s sound installation called Forty Part Motet.