Although we went during the rainy season was still worth seeing. The drive is a bit far, but once you get to Mount Kinabalu its beautiful. The garden has many varieties of fauna and flowers, some spices as well. It's a wonderful natural park with a lot to see and can hike as well if you have plenty of time. Pretty much the main attraction of Kota Kinabalu.

We visited the botanical gardens in the Mount Kinabalu National Park. There was a small additional charge for this on top of the 50 ringgit park entrance/conservation fee. It was worth the extra as the gardens were a lovely cool oasis. You can expect to spend between 15 minutes and an hour here, depending on how interested you are in plants.

We visited here on a day trip from a cruise docked in Kota Kinabalu. You have to enter the National Park to get to the Botanical Gardens. We were disappointed. But it maybe did not come up to expectations because we were part of a busload of people, some of whom walked incredibly slowly. There were a few interesting plants, but not really that much to see. Not worth the couple of hour drive up here.

We arrived quite early. Feeling hungry as we had skipped breakfast, we sat down at a small café & ordered some food. While my half-boiled eggs weren’t up to my expectations, the hot cup of Horlicks did wonders for my stomach. The fried mee mamak & mee hoon soup that my 2 friends had ordered were absolutely delicious. I wished I had ordered either one instead. While we were busy eating, all of a sudden, it started to rain which prompted my partner to purchase ponchos for everyone at RM6.00 each. Ten minutes to noon, we put them on & started walking to the Botanical Garden Ticket booth. Tickets were priced at RM4.00 each. There were 2 other time slots, if you want to participate in a guided tour at 9:00 am & 3:00 pm if you can’t make it to the 12:00 pm one. However, if you decide to roam on your own, the botanical garden is open daily from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. Our guide was a local named Nora. She was close to retiring. Nora was knowledgeable & was very patient with us throughout the 1-hour guided tour. The garden is 1.4 hectares in size & has a combination of concrete & boardwalk trail for visitors. I remember seeing a stream that cuts across the botanical garden too. There were many wild & ornamental plants, trees, local herbs, fruits & flowers within the vicinity. Nora explained that the different coloured tags pinned to the plant or tree highlighted its status. They could be an endangered species, endemic or found in abundance in the locality. We saw the carnivorous pitcher plant & the most prominent plant in Kinabalu which is the bright pink Medinilla. It fruits all year round making it a focal source of food for birds & squirrels. Apparently, there are 17 Medinilla species in Kinabalu. Nora told us that there were many species of wild orchids & some only grew in the area which led to the building of an Orchid Research Centre. In addition, we saw loads of ferns, palm trees, wild ginger & banana species. Her keen eye made it possible for us to see a stick insect. This garden tour could be boring for some as there’s a lot of information to take in. However, at least you get a hands-on education on Kinabalu’s plants & trees.