Whilst staying in Georgia’s Black Sea resort, Batumi, we visited the Botanical Garden, 9km from the city centre, which were established in 1912 by the prominent botanist and geographer Andrey Krasnov.
Although our guide had a voucher to be exchanged for tickets, the officious lady in the booth had to make several phone calls, and we sweltered in the heat whilst waiting. Eventually, after 30 minutes the magic tickets were produced, which were then carefully checked by a man at a gate, literally two yards away.
However, our wait gave us the opportunity to look at the map of the 111-hectare site which told us that tours, with or without a gardener could be organised in electric vehicles. As the gardens were on a steep hill, we’d sensibly driven to the highest part so we could walk down, and we were surprised at how many people were huffing and puffing uphill.
The gardens were mainly labelled trees and we were disappointed at the lack of flowers, despite the boast that it has one of the widest varieties of flora in the world – perhaps we missed something. However, it was pleasant with lots of shade in the heat of the day. There were viewing areas of the sea and the beach at Cape Green, and the opportunity to take a zip line.
We exited at the Cape Green gate, where our driver was waiting – whilst it was pleasant, they were not the most exciting gardens I’ve ever seen.
