Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary – a great day out for all

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Another of Malaysia’s must visit places is the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary

Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary is situated just off the North-South Expressway at Ayer Keroh and next to Malaysia’s largest log resort – the luxury Philea Resort. Like many other attractions in Malaysia, the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary is quite unassuming, with a large parking area and a entrance booth into the 11 acre jungle Sanctuary, its only upon entering that the fun begins. Prices for entry into the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sancturary are very reasonable and are as follows:

Admission prices for entry into the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary

MYKAD holders
Adult: RM8.00 per person
Children (3 – 12 years old): RM5.00 per person

NON-MYKAD holders
Adult: RM12.00 per person
Children (3 – 12 years old): RM7.00 per person

Upon entering the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary you are greeted by a large cage of ‘Love Birds’, I should be more specific and refer to it as a ‘Love Bird’ City, as each of the pairs has its own small home consisting of a hollowed out coconut with small entrance. Its great fun watching these colourful little birds dancing in front of each other and grooming. My wife and I found ourselves standing at this specific attraction for many minutes giggling at the interaction between the pairs.

Another one of the attractions to immediately amuse you at the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary is the bearded dragon enclosure. If you are not familiar with bearded dragons, these are the ornate lizards that run around, raise themselves up on their legs, nod their heads up and down in a rapid manner and wave! Once again fantastic fun, especially if you nod back at them!

Other attractions within this area include the Gibbon Enclosure, a varied selection of extravagant birds and reptiles including the Iguana Enclosure that houses the largest Iguana I have ever seen! But, for my wife and I the best part of the whole park is the area where you can interact directly with the animals.

The undoubted star of this area is a white parrot named ‘Lady’. Now 20 years old, ‘Lady’ is the friendliest Parrot I have ever encountered. Happy to talk, well mannered and even happier to sit upon your shoulder and rest her head against yours.

It’s only when you get that close to a parrot that you realise how intelligent they are.

‘Lady’ isn’t the only animal you can interact with, her neighbours also include a huge yellow Python, some older Bearded Dragons, another brightly coloured Parrot that is slightly more vocal than ‘Lady’ and the giant Iguana who sits proudly on his wooden display and wanders around with the attitude – ‘I’m going for a walk and no one’s going to stop me!’

From what we saw, the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary is divided into three main areas within, the first as we have just highlighted. The second area is the Butterfly enclosure, reached through the large shop. This area is a treat for all that love colourful butterflies, wherever you look they ‘flitter’ around you often landing on your clothing of head causing the recipient to stop what they are doing, stand completely still and say ‘What do I do’. Once you have explored the butterfly enclosure walk through into the main park area that houses the Ornate gardens, Koi Carp Ponds, caves and waterfalls, a variety of reptiles including turtles, tortoises, snakes and crocodiles.

Highlights of this area of the Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sancturary include the Giant Arapaima fish, each approximately 7 feet long and swimming withing a few feet of your face, the leopards and of course, the hundreds of Koi Carp that follow you around as you walk across the stepping stones and bridges.

We could keep going writing about the fun time we had here, but we would rather let you experience it all for yourself. The Melaka Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary is also just a short walk from the Philea Resort where you can visit to refresh yourself in the English Bar or sit down and have a very fine meal in the Cravo Cravo Restaurant. Our advice would be to spend the morning in the sanctuary, have some lunch at the Philea Resort and then head down into Melaka centre and wander around the heritage buildings and enjoy the history and colour.