Penang Butterfly Farm Not As Bad As I Thought

Penang, Malaysia By

Invaded by Kings

Slowly the families who had joined us in Penang started to leave and as the King’s roommates were one of the first to depart, we offered them to come stay with us.

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Being only the 5th time we had spent time with them it was an exciting and daunting prospect to share our 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with another 4 person family. Caius moved into Mia’s room and the Kings all moved into Caius’ room for two evenings.

It was actually quite a lot of fun. The Kings have 2 children the same age as ours and they seemed to get on just great. Not that we spent much time at home, we had so much to squeeze in, including one evening a trip to Prangin Mall for some last minute shopping only to hurry home to complete the movie night we had promised them. Watching Australian films, drinking wine, eating cheese, falling asleep again (cough, cough Sabina).

Butterflies everywhere, in the air & my hair

Anyhow one of these days we piled 8 into our tiny MYVI 5-seater and headed to the Penang Butterfly Farm. Mary & Theo met us there on their scooter. We stored their helmets in our boot and proceeded to the entryway.

I don’t really “do” butterfly parks. Butterflies are pretty, sure, but a whole park on them, sounds like a 100 yawns a minute. We had managed to skip them in every country we had been to, but when the guests request we must acquiesce.

Entry was 27 MYR ($8.50AUD) per adult with kids under 4 free.

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A lovely lady took us on a tour of the park and was filled with information on their metamorphosis, as well as their species, colours, and habits. The garden was beautifully laid out and landscaped and there were thousands of butterflies. Butterflies flying, butterflies on flowers, butterflies landing on you, butterflies eating. Wherever you looked you had an opportunity for a beautiful butterfly moment, with Josh the photographer there to capture the moment. In fact he captured so many you can view them on our photo journal.

It was a hot day inside that gorgeous garden and soon I found myself pushing through the tour to find a cool spot. At the end of the tour the guide brought out a tray of sealed butterflies in cups to be released into the park.

This was my daughter’s favourite part. Releasing the lid and watching the butterfly lift itself off into the air escaping its confines like the impatient caterpillar urging its way into its cocoon to all the more emerge beautiful and eager to fly.

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Once all the butterflies had been released the lady led us indoors to air-conditioned haven. Inside was a cinema with a cute insect cartoon playing. There were live animals – scorpions, snakes and frogs. There were dead animals – pinned butterflies, beetles and bugs. There were artifacts, not quite sure what this room full of old ‘stuff’ has to do with butterflies. Then there is the most massive gift shop you can imagine. We came through unscathed; our friends succumbed to the temptation.

Where to go for lunch after?

Once we exited the butterfly farm we headed to the beach restaurants opposite the Tropical Spice Garden for $2 nasi goreng and a stunning view. Be aware these restaurants operate individually and you cannot order from one and sit in the other. Our group was divided after all ordering different food.

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While there we made friends with two young jetsetters who were spending some time travelling the globe. They were most impressed with our gathering and the fact that we all were still travelling with children. I guess we provided them with great hope for their seemingly distant future. But I have to admit some envy as my tired son refused to leave my arms and they bounced off on their scooter with their sunburnt skin... I headed home to put my babies down for a nap.

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My recommendation: surprisingly wonderful, beautiful colours, beautiful nature, and enjoyable day.

There are so many beautiful photos we took of this place, check out our photo journal to indulge in the beauty of the butterfly. 

Some of these images have been made into FREE downloadable wallpapers for your computer so you can keep on dreaming in the background. Please go check out our FREE wallpaper and help yourself. 

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