Escape to Penang, Wednesday.

Penang Full of Surprises.

Wednesday was our extra day and we were determined to get the most out of relaxing, so it was a lazy breakfast and a swim in the pool before heading off. The plan was to take bus 101 in the opposite direction and get off at the butterfly farm. We visited this last year and it undergoing renovations so we were keen to go back and see how it looked today. Make sure that you tell the bus driver that you want to go to the butterfly farm as they now only turn up that road if there are passengers heading there. Also be prepared to walk a little way from where the driver drops you off. This also means if you are taking the bus back when you have finished, you are better to walk all the way back down to the roundabout.

It is a magical feeling when these butterflies decide to land on you..
Ruth inspecting a passenger.

I really enjoy visiting the butterfly farms in Malaysia because there are so many bright coloured butterflies. When you walk around with them among the plants they are so pretty and with such a concentration provide lots of photo opportunities. The Penang Butterfly farm actually does a lot to educate people about these creatures. One of the victims of deforestation is the butterfly, with more forests disappearing they are loosing their natural habitat. I had never given this a thought until today.

A Leopard Lacewing, one of the 7 most colourful butterflies in the world

Fascinating to watch feeding.

Caterpillars of the butterflies above.

I am not sure what is going on but I did feel sorry for the host plant here.

An interesting butterfly with bright green wings. 

This is quite common and can often be sen in the jungle when we are out walking.
Also known as the Paper Kite.

This is a striking butterfly with stunning blue colouring and stripes on its body.

When this guy has his wings up they look like brown leaves, 

but when he drops them down they have this stunning blue.

The common birdwing this is a large butterfly and
sometimes they seem like small birds  as flutter in the jungle.

After we had spent a few hours with the butterflies we made our way back down to catch bus 101 and headed to The Spice Garden. This is an interesting place to stroll and learn about spice plants. It is in a reasonable compact area with a great canopy. 

We found our way to The Tree Monkey Cafe which is in a great setting. The food here is good as well and we enjoyed chatting with the friendly staff. We would definitely recommend this as a great place to eat. So we will head back there next time.

All said and done we do enjoy Penang, it offers so many different interesting things to do and it is an easy weekend destination from KL. I get the feeling that we might have to return here during the next year.