Oasis of the butterflies

One of my favourite discoveries over my ten years of living in KL has got to be KL’s own butterfly park within its Lake Gardens. This little hillslope has been landscaped into a lush garden blended with cascading waterfalls, streams and pools, making it a green sanctuary, enabling one to instantly escape from the madding crowd within the city itself.



Of course the pride and joy of the park is its multitude of winged inhabitants of every imaginable hue and colour greeting visitors like a living kaleidoscope, a truly apt playground for an aspiring albeit still very amateur shutterbug like yours truly.








Note that infinite patience is prerequisite for photographing butterflies which are the most fidgety of subjects indeed and there is also the added frustration that they prefer to rest with wings closed making it all the more difficult to capture their true beauty.






This particular butterfly shaped like a dry brown leaf took a liking to sitting on my shoulder… must have felt reasonably camouflaged against my similarly hued skin LOL.
Keep a sharp eye out and one may also encounter these creepy crawly pre-metamorphosis ( I just love this word) butterflies aka caterpillars.

Butterflies are not the only fauna one will encounter, another most enjoyable sight to behold is the resplendent assortment of koi fish in the numerous ponds that dot the park.
Fish food is available at rm1 a packet at the entrance counter for feeding the fish which is not only an auspicious thing to do during the lunar new yr season but also it makes it easier to gather the fish together for a pic like this one.

One will also come across a few odd dragonflies…


There were also a bunch of turtles and terrapins which doubled as resting spots for the butterflies.



As with all tropical ponds tadpoles abounded as well as some huge frogs!!



Oh ya…entrance for locals is RM8 (foreigners pay RM17… Malaysia Boleh!?) and one has to pay RM1 for bring a camera… well worth the much needed dose of nature therapy this little green gem affords the weary soul of a concrete jungle citizen. There is also a very well done information centre with amazing exhibits of preserved butterflies and beetle of all shapes and sizes where one may also cool off in the aircon before leaving.