Address: Jalan Ir. H. Juanda No 13, Bogor 16003. Situated right in the heart of Bogor city, Bogor botanical garden is just 5 minutes drive from the tollroad’s exit gate, its main entrance from Jakarta. The Garden is a recreation park, a conservation of plants as well as a leading tropical and horticultural research site. Founded in 1817 by German botanist Caspar Karl Reindwart and now an integral part of the city, it is one of the best and oldest botanical gardens in Southern Hemisphere, distinguished by the beauty of its diverse landscape and extensive collections of flora. Bogor Botanical Garden is home to more than 15,000 tropical plant species from around the world. Each plant is properly tagged with its common name, botanical latin name and its time of planting, so the visitors can get additional botanical knowledge during the tour.
Canarium Avenue
The most famous attraction in this extensive 87 hectare (210 acre) garden is the canary trees (canarium commune) that grace its main entrance, brought from Sulawesi and Maluku and planted between 1831- 1835. Known as the Canarium Avenue, this entrance is lined with dozens of soaring giant canary trees. Some of the trees host specimens of the largest orchid in the world, Grammatophyllum speciosum.
Mexico Park
Mexico Park is a natural rainforest area packed with ferns, spices, and around 400 types of exotic palms, providing a sanctuary for more than 50 different varieties of birds and a significant population of fruit bats. Hundreds of bats can be sighted during the day, roosting high in the trees, hanging upside down, cuddling and kissing each other–largely resting during the day.
Astrid Avenue
The avenue was named after Princess Astrid of Belgium who visited the garden in 1928 on her honeymoon with Prince Leopold. The avenue contains Agathis dammara trees as well as a dazzling collection of red and yellow Canna hybrida with black leaves (colors of the Belgian flag).
Orchid Greenhouse (Rumah Anggrek)
The Orchid greenhouse boasts a fascinating collection of almost 900 wild orchid species. Created by Mrs. Tien Soeharto in 1977, the greenhouse sets the beauty of the massed effect of over 3,000 colorful varietes of wild orchids against contrasting textures and shapes of tropical foliage. However, since some visitors sneakingly picked and took home some of its collection in the past, except on very special occasions, the greenhouse is now closed to the public.
Amorphophallus titanum
Adjacent to the Orchid Greenhouse, there is the famous Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum), also known as corpse plant, one of the largest flowering plants in the world that smells like rotten meat. At its peak, its petal diameter can reach as wide as 3 meters. However, as it takes years for it to bloom, chances are slim that you can see it during your visit.
Botanicus Café
Botanicus Café is a wonderful place to relax, have a meal and enjoy the wonderful views. The avenue is a beautifully landscapped garden surrounded by green grassfield, overlooking a big pond that is fully adorned with fountains, giant water lilies, lotus flowers and other aquatic plants. The grandeur of Bogor Presidential Palace (Istana Bogor) with its 200 plus tame deer grazing on its lawns can be seen from this spot.
Other attractions in and around Bogor Botanical Garden include old buildings from the Dutch-colonial era, the Museum of Zoology with a collection of stuffed wild animals and a blue whale skeleton, and the Herbarium Bogoriense, a place where various types of dried leaves and fruits are preserved and displayed. Not far from the Garden, you can also find one of the largest libraries in the world specializing in Botany (Pustaka Bogor). It boasts a collection of around 300,000 volumes of books and 2,000 scientific journals.
Bogor Botanical Garden plays host to more than one million visitors anually. “De Botanische Tuin van Bogor” is particularly popular among tourists from the Netherlands and Germany. It is open everyday from 8.00 am to 5.00 pm.
Other Resources:
- Indonesia (Lonely Planet Travel Guides) pp. 129- 137 by Justine Vasutius
- Indonesian Botanic Gardens: The official website
