Bedugul Botanical Garden Reopens After Five-Month Coronavirus Closure

 

The main gate/ entrance of the Bedugul Botanical Garden

July 2020 - Green, cool mountain air, and lake-side temples view when entering Bedugul, Bali’s central highlands. The air conditioning is not needed, simply open the car window to enjoy the fresh air that cannot be found in urban.

It needs at least 90 minutes to drive from Denpasar to the north. Do not be surprised if you have reached the location and have to queue in the long line at the entrance of the botanical garden. Yes, the wait is over since the garden reopens after a 5-month break due to the pandemic.  

In the new normal, the garden as well as known as the Kebun Raya Eka Karya Bali applies health protocols by selling tickets online, examining body temperature of visitors at the entrance, and providing bamboo handwashing with a free-hands method (step on the switch on to run the water out), and it is available in the trekking area. Whilst, the garden, which is close to Lake Bratan, also applies a zero-phase with the provision of a quota limitation of 1,500 people at a time. "To be able to move to the next phase, the implementation of the zero phases will be evaluated in stages, if it meets the standards, then the next phase may be implemented by adding a visitor quota.” Says Didit Okta Pribadi, Head of the Bali Botanical Garden.

When you start entering the 157.5 hectares of botanical garden managed by LIPI (Indonesian Institute of Sciences), the green landscape and hills are covered by a soft cloud whereas the sun rises became the main view in this area. Hence, deciding to walk inside the garden is the right choice to enjoy the fresh air which cannot relish in urban. 

While exploring the largest botanical garden in Indonesia with convenient pathways, the huge expanse of the garden allows you to enjoy a collection of more than 2.400 plant species preserved from Eastern Indonesia. For scientific and educational purposes, the garden features a herbarium, seed banks, greenhouses, nurseries, and libraries.

1.6 hectare of traditional medical plants also can be found in the garden. The knowledge was obtained through Indian manuscripts which wrote about hundreds of species of medicinal plants and are used as traditional Balinese medicine.

Trekking amidst the greenery in the garden is a good exercise for you and the family. It gives you the chance to bird watching such as Flowerpecker, Crested Serpent Eagle, Black Eagle, Spotted Dove, Sooty-Headed Bulbul, etc. Whilst you can bring your picnic baskets to enjoy the mountain breeze while having your homemade lunch because the grass area is one of the garden’s picnic spots. You can build your tent to enjoy the family day out as well as to be pleased with freebies play or perhaps an outdoor family karaoke from your acoustic guitar or music player.   

Entering Kebun Raya Eka Karya Bali, selfie, and wefie are wildly popular in the area especially in front of the Hindu epic tale statue of Kumbakarna Laga – Kumbakarna against the monkey troops who came to save Dewi Sinta.

The garden is well known for its tourism, education, and conservation. With that being said the garden manages compost from cutting grass and fallen leaves which are collected and chopped into small pieces. The advantage of the botanical garden compost is the addition of bacteria that can add Nitrogen (N) in the air and the product known as KOMPENIT (Nitrogen-fixing Compost). The compost is fermented using bacteria with a mixture of organic waste, compost bacteria, and livestock manure. The compost is fermented for 3-month until it ready to be applied. Says Didit Okta Pribadi, Head of the Bali Botanical Garden in a live interview.

Every spot in the garden is scenic as well as the lake view area. The breathtaking Lake Bratan view will be your favorite spot of photo shot session, either selfie or wefie with your family.