Penang’s Tropical Spice Garden

A pond inside the Tropical Spice Garden

This is my first time to the Tropical Spice Garden and Tracy (www.ourtravellifestyle.com) was gracious enough to not only come with me, but to lend me her Canon EOS 500D DSLR camera! Imagine my excitement. A DSLR hanging around my neck. The weight of the camera in my hands. A Tropical Spice Garden. Light Rain. The possibility of a drink at Tree Monkey afterward. It was almost too much!

I walked into the Tropical Spice Garden, hung Tracy’s camera around my neck, opened my umbrella (to protect the camera from the rain, not me), and slowly followed the pebbled paths through the garden.

Crush spices in stone pestle & mortars!

Walking along the pebbled paths and hills in flip flops, holding a DSLR & umbrella, in the rain, is normally a recipe for disaster. I have the ability to fall out of tuk tuks (face first), trip in slimy water, or stumble down very small snowy hills (actually it was so small that it was probably a mound, not a hill). Needless to say, I walked slowly and carefully.

Lining the paths were various spice plants (there are like 500 different spices inside the Tropical Spice Garden), marked with small white signs, as well as rubber trees (which were here when this area was a rubber plantation), which provided not only shade and slight cover from the rain, but added to the jungle ambiance (okay, so the Tropical Spice Garden is located in a secondary jungle in Penang, and I really didn’t need to use the words ‘jungle ambiance’, but I wanted to use them, so I did).

A worn, rusty door inside the Tropical Spice Garden

The Tropical Spice Garden is one of Penang’s best eco-friendly options. In S.E. Asia it can be hard to find activities that are run by individuals who are interested in responsible and eco-friendly tourism. For 18 months, the folks at the Tropical Spice Garden labored to harmonize the over 500 species of tropical flora. They’ve created kid-friendly (and inadvertently, Pam-friendly) pathways and stream crossings. They’ve added in recycled building materials (from the pre-war era), and created a jungle oasis.

Can you tell me what species of frog this is?

As you can imagine, a garden full of spices, tropical flora, fauna and water canals makes a lovely home for various amphibians and reptiles. A few years ago I may have been a little squeamish about finding a lizard crossing my path, but I can happily say that I’m over that. Lizards are actually quite interesting, which is why I tried to snap a photo of a Monitor lizard inside the garden. However, if the frog photo above is not a big enough clue, the lizard became startled by the patter of little feet and scurried off just as I was about to snap a photo. Sigh. Next time my friend, next time.

Tropical Spice Garden

The light rain was a lovely mood-setter for my walk through the garden, but it was also a hinder. I’d love the return on a sunny (but not insanely hot) day and take some time to relax on the giant swing, which swings out over the garden, with a very small view of the Straits of Malacca in the distance. I also wouldn’t mind a short nap in the hammock, while listening to the water trickle through the small canals. Ahhh, peace and quiet in a secondary jungle surrounded by spices and hopefully very shy amphibians and lizards!

The Tropical Spice Garden is north of Batu Ferringhi. If you’re staying in Georgetown you can take bus #101 or #102. The fare will be around 4RM one way. Just tell the driver that you’re going to the Tropical Spice Garden. Admission to the Tropical Spice Garden is 14RM for a self-guided tour and 22RM for a guided tour.

Check-out this Friday’s new feature ‘Foodie Friday’ for a post about Tree Monkey Restaurant which is located at the Tropical Spice Garden!