A Visit To Bottle Tree Park

Sunday, 6th Feb, 2011 ~ Since Bottle Tree Park was opened in 2005, I had wanted to visit & see the unique Bottle Trees. However, other events took priority, the visit was put off & forgotten. Last Saturday, when a friend mentioned about Bottle Tree Park, I was determined to visit the place. Another factor in deciding to visit the park is coz I recently got myself a new camera, a Canon SX30 IS which I wanna test it on some nature or wildlife shots. A park is as good as any place to start with, not as unfriendly as the jungle. =P
So, we started off the next day & arrived at the park at about 3 pm.

Bottle Tree Park


What? Only 2 Bottle Trees?!? I'd expected many more & was quite disappointed. My friends told me that 2 trees is already a bonus as it is Bottle Tree Park... tree as in singular. Geez... =(
Is that crater in the ground(below pic) reserved for a new Bottle Tree or a Bottle Tree had been removed?

Bottle Tree Missing?


After visiting the park, I went to their online site. Only then, silly Hamster me realized that the company which own the park imported only 6 Bottle Trees & those trees are very costly. The rest of the trees must be at their other site, the Bottle Tree Village.

Nevertheless, the park has many other types of uncommon trees, palms & I especially like the fruit trees.

Star Fruits & Pomelo


Flowering plants everywhere & a pond full of beautiful water lilies.

Flora In The Park


On display are a few caged animals. Rabbits, geese, jungle fowls, parrots & the grandest of them all, the Chinese Pheasants of elaborate colors. They are actually Golden Pheasants & mixed breeds. When we were there, the male Golden Pheasants were putting on their best mating display trying to impress the females.

Male Golden Pheasants(below) impressing a female(above)


Beside the plants & caged animals, there are plenty of nice spots for photo opportunities... for a camhog like me. =P

CamHogging Hamster xD

Nice Settings


But beware not to draw too much attention to yourself coz there is a tiger lurking in the forest nearby the stream. You don't want to get its attention. LOL! =P

Peeping Tiger


Of other activities, you can immerse yourself in the park's recreational facilities. Pond fishing for fresh water fish or prawns. Kids will enjoy the longkang(drain/stream) fishing in an artificial stream.

Parks Facilities

Pond Fishing


For the RC car enthusiast, there are 2 circuits, 1 sandy & 1 paved. Or if you are into pain balls... I mean paint ball, there are 2 arenas for war. Me? No, no... I'm afraid of pain. I rather spend the time relaxing with a cold drink at the cafe with its cool village rustic ambience.

Paint Ball Arena & Relaxing At The Cafe


Or I rather be shooting at wildlife with a camera. Insects, reptiles((no, I'm not really afraid of creepy crawlies), mammals & birds... all are fair games to me armed with a camera. Surprise that a girl like Hamster me loves photography? It had being my hobby for many years. Not only I love to be the model, I also like to be the photographer & my favorite subjects are animals, birds especially. Finally, with my new super zoom Canon SX30, I can do some serious hunting! LOL! =P

Ant nest, some kind of fly or wasp & a damselfly

Dragonflies & Damselflies


At the small stream in the park, I spotted fishes, tortoises & lizards on the rocks nearby.

Fish, Tortoises & Lizards


And a big lizard sun-tanning on a fence.

Little Dragon


Plenty of birds too, common & not-so-common ones.

From left to right, top to bottom ~ Rock Pigeon, Indian Myna, Water Hen & White Collared Kingfisher


And the best catch of the day, a vibrant color Stork-billed Kingfisher which was sitting on a tree above the small stream.

Stork-billed Kingfisher


Therefore, despite my disappointment of not seeing many Bottle Trees, the day was quite rewarding in nature photography.

Bottle Tree Park Sunset