L I F E S T Y L E Travel & Adventure
Saturday September 9, 2006
Passion in paradise
BY LIZ PRICE
D-PARADISE TROPICAL FRUIT WORLD AND ABORIGINAL NATIVE VILLAGE
Dusun Tropika
63 Kampong Brisu, Lubok China
78100 Melaka
Open every Tuesday to Sunday (10am to 6pm)
Entrance fee: Adults RM 49.90, children RM29.90
Website: http://www.d-paradise.com.my/
To get there: From North-South Expressway, take the Alor Gajah toll, head for Lubok China and then follow the signs. There is also a pick-up service from major hotels in KL, JB and Malacca.
I began walking the 9km trail under a canopy of passion fruit trees. I could have hired a buggy, but I knew I would want to stop often to take photos and notes, so going on foot was best.
At D-Paradise, a tropical fruit centre and aboriginal village in Malacca, you will find more than 800 species of tropical, sub-tropical and continental fruit trees spread over 168 acres.
The place is the result of five years of research and development. It was officially opened to the public in November 2005 by the Prime Minister, and cost RM30mil to set up. Many of the trees are old species that are not generally grown anymore, so D-Paradise ensures their survival.
Camp David is a private island consisting of four log cabins.
When I bought my entrance ticket, I saw signs saying visitors were not allowed to take bags into the gardens. This was to stop people from filling them up with stolen fruits!
I was given a map and headed towards Pumpkin Paradise. This is the world's largest collection of pumpkins. Surprisingly, it was quite hard to spot them, or maybe there just weren't many fruiting when I was there. I was amazed to read that the largest pumpkin recorded was 1,140 pounds. That would make a huge pumpkin curry.
Next to the pumpkins were the monkey cup pitcher plants – again it is the world's largest collection. Over the years I’ve seen quite a few in the wild, especially in Bako National Park, but it was good to see all shapes and sizes under one roof.
The space farming method was intriguing. This is a system where plants are suspended from a moving track, and each plant in turn is moved to an automatic spray mechanism where the roots are given a measured amount of nutrient solution. This system conserves nutrients as the system feeds the exposed roots, which increases oxygen levels and improves the plant’s metabolic rate.
It was pleasant walking along the covered pathway and to be sheltered from the sun by the passion fruit trees, which grew over the roof. Quite often several ripe fruit fell to the ground and I must admit I did eat quite a few, as they would have gone to waste anyway! They were sweet and juicy and a nice treat.
My leaflet didn’t give any detail on passion fruit, so I had to Google later on for information.
Apparently, they are a subtropical fruit originating from South America and Australia, depending on the species. This explains why they are not found in shops in Asia.
Around the orchid garden and the small ponds of water lilies, I walked into D-Paradise’s third “world’s largest collection” – this time of cactus. The cacti ranged in size from a few centimetres to more than a metre long. Unfortunately some people had carved their names into the stems of some of the larger plants.
I never understand the mentality of these vandals.
The trail meandered through the fruit trees and bushes. Many of the trees were labelled, which was helpful, as I generally had no idea what I was looking at. If any particular tree was fruiting, there was a notice to this effect.
I saw coffee, noni, Malay gooseberries (cermai), jackfruit and many others, some of which I had not heard of before. There is a small plot of durian trees, but none were fruiting.
One useful tree is the toothbrush tree, known as kesinai in Malay. It was labelled Streplus asper, but in Africa it is categorised under the genus Salvadora persica. The leaves have antibacterial properties and the shoots can be used as toothbrushes.
You can try feeding the deer at the D-Paradise.
First, you chew on the end until it resembles a normal toothbrush, and then you brush your teeth with it, spitting out fragments of wood all the while.
I got a bit confused on the trails when I swapped from red to blue, and somehow missed the ostrich enclosure and quails. I did see some goats as I walked down to Camp David. This is a private island consisting of four well-equipped log cabins with private swimming pool and Jacuzzi.
You can even get a private chef and butler when you stay here.
There is also a small grape vineyard. Somehow I always imagined grapes grew in a drier environment. Nearby is the robber crabs enclosure. These large crabs were all hidden in their shelters, but the notice board said they can grow up to two feet in length from head to tail.
They climb coconut trees at night, hence the term robber crab, but they are also known as coconut crab.
This species of crab comes from Christmas Island, Australia. Their strong pincers can crack open coconuts.
Encik Ridzuan from security later told me that they used to have more robber crabs, but eagles, otters and monkeys had whisked some away. So even the robbers are not safe from robbers!
Next was the walk-in aviary of rare birds. Bright colours darted overhead as the flocks of yellow, blue and green birds flew from one end to the other.
The crocodile enclosure was next. I managed to spot all four of the reptiles, which hid in the shrubs. D-Paradise is hoping to get more specimens from Australia.
The deer enclosure was nice as it is an open section straddling the road.
You can walk around and even feed the deer, although they seemed quite shy when they realised I had no food for them.
After a couple of hours of walking around, I started to feel the midday heat and my legs were a bit reluctant to take me up to the aboriginal village.
However, I knew there was a cultural show scheduled for 1pm, so I headed towards the stage, calling in at the Waikiki Restaurant for lunch.
Surprisingly, the resident aborigines were all from Sarawak, mainly from the western side. Although there were only half a dozen people in the midweek audience, the troop put on a good show of dancing in their native costumes.
They even got us all on stage to join them for the last dance.
Walking back to the entrance, I accepted a lift in a buggy from one of the staff members.
D-Paradise sells or gives away fruit which is in season. During my visit, all they had was passion fruit, which were being sold at RM5 for 10 pieces.
I should have gone a week or two earlier as the durian were in season then. I was also slightly too early for the July fruit festival, during which you can eat as much as you want.
As well as Camp David, there is the D-CEO village, which are traditional kampung houses but with 5-star amenities. For those on a lower budget, there is a campsite. New chalets are also currently being constructed. There is also a home-stay programme in the nearby village.
D-Paradise is a great idea, and provides a good day out for the family with fun, entertainment and lots of fruits. W
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