We arrived mid-afternoon on a November Sunday, and was suprised to find the gardens so quiet. Students pay 4 and adults 5 for the day, while they offer free tickets for many others.

We got a paper map from the ticketmaster to follow. Although it was interesting to see some of the fauna (coming from a cold country) the time of year saw next to no plants in flower, save for a Chinese rose at the top of the rose garden.

The park has a good layout, although the steps suffer from overgrowth, forcing us on occasion to step down onto the mud.

It should be noted the rose gardens and cacti greenhouse had a number of prickly plants sprawling onto the path, at a child's head height.

Although we had a good time at the beautiful gardens, our main disappointment came with the butterfly exhibit. We were told by a man waiting j front that they had recently began imposing a head charge of 5 for entrants.

There was no indication or reason to belive there was a an additional charge at any stage prior to reaching the exhibit. Not even the signage on the hut gave us reason to belive we would be charged extra.

Although the amount is negligible, this annoyed us and roughly 10 other enough for us to turn around and find something else.

Other than that unpleasant surprise, the gardens are worth visiting as a quiet oasis in a busy city, and are worth your time.