Bogor Botanical Garden, Stroll at Leisure to Admire the Variety of Old, Gnarled Trees

Bogor Botanical Garden is located in Bogor city and spread about 87 hectares with the impressive out-of-town Bogor Presidential Palace fronting it and soaring Mt. Salak at its background and boasts over 400 species of palm trees, 5,000 trees gathered from around the tropical world, and an orchid house containing 3,000 varieties. Records show that the Bogor Botanical Gardens harbours 3,504 plant species, 1,273 genus in 199 families.

The Gardens are said to have been initiated by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who, between 1811-1816, became Governor General of the East Indies during the interim reign of the British over the archipelago. With the help of botanists from London’s famed Kew Gardens, Raffles first laid out a small garden. However, the Gardens were officially established by the Dutch in 1817 under the directorship of CGC Reinwardt. A memorial to Raffles’ wife still stands in the Gardens. The Bogor Gardens today function as an ex situ conservation site, a research center for taxonomy and plant utilization. In horticulture the Gardens study adaptation, planting and propagation of plants and develop the science of plant growing.

Get Around

The Gardens are open daily to visitors. There are paved walkways for visitors to stroll at leisure to admire the variety of old, gnarled trees, walk under the canopy of their foliage and listen to the river rushing over large boulders. On Sundays and public holidays, the Gardens are usually very crowded.

Get There

From Jakarta, you can rent a car (complete with a chauffeur) to go to Bogor. As mentioned above, the journey to Bogor will be about one hour. Be advised that the traffic on weekends and long holidays will be more packed.