The island of Borneo is home to some of the most bewildering giants of the botanical world and a visit to Kinabalu Park in Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, East Malaysia) is a best bet to meet with these rare, endangered and supersized creations of nature.
I visited Kinabalu Park as part of a guided day tour and my inner tree-hugger went all eager beaver at the possibility of sighting the endemic floral giants that are found nowhere else on earth!
Kinabalu Park is reputably THE place to see the world's largest lady slipper orchid, pitcher plant, terrestrial flower and giant insects. With some luck of course.
Sprawling over 740 square kilometers, Kinabalu Park is bigger than the size of Singapore (which measures 710 square kilometers at present)! Its vast geology spans the lowlands to the highlands, creating various distinctive habitats including swamp forest, tropical rainforest, hill forest, montane forest, sub-alpine forest and alpine meadow.
At an elevation of 1,500m above sea level, Kinabalu Park contains the prime conditions for a tropical montane forest to thrive with lush undergrowth and coniferous canopy. The cool middle forestry zone with a tropical climate is very attractive for the proliferation of plant life, which is why the estimation of the number of plants species found at Kinabalu Park counts at a mind-blowing 6,000!
A trip to Kota Kinabalu would not be complete without a visit to Kinabalu Park to enjoy its green gifts.
GETTING TO KINABALU PARK
The park is located about a 2-hour drive from downtown Kota Kinabalu (KK) where most hotels are. Getting here via public transport can be quite a challenge to navigate for visitors, so it is better to visit the park in the following ways:
1. Join a Packaged Land Tour - there are numerous land tour operators that you can book from in downtown Kota Kinabalu or your hotel. The tour usually lasts 8 hours and takes you to various attractions with Kinabalu Park being one of them.
2. Get a Private Tour - you can also book a car or van with a driver and guide to take you around privately so that you can explore at your own pace. A comprehensive 8-hour day trip itinerary could cover Tamparuli Suspension Bridge, Pekan Nabalu, Kinabalu Park, Desa Dairy Farm and Poring Hot Spring. Grab is available in KK so you can also book a Grab and negotiate a price for a day trip. But the thing with Grab drivers is that they may not be effective tour guides or know their way.
Kinabalu Park is veined with several roads and hiking trails. Most packaged tours would just take you to the Botanical Garden in the park, let you have a short stroll and leave for the next attraction. If budget and time allow, opt for a private guided tour instead so that you get to spend more time at the park and trek the Silau-Silau Trail.
Kinabalu Park's Botanical Garden
The Instagram way to appreciate Kinabalu Park is its Botanical Garden, where a curation of the locale's unique flora species provides an opportunity to meet the botanical residents without leaving a sighting to chance. However, depending on the season, you may or may not see them in their full glory.
From a carpark where we were dropped off, it's a short walk to the entrance of Kinabalu Park Botanical Garden. An entry fee of RM5.00 is charged for foreigners.
Landscaping at the Botanical Garden is pretty light. Except for a few open air nurseries, paved walkways and bridges, everything else is left untouched and rustic. When you come to a spider-webbed 'tent' like this, pay close attention to the plants in it as it serves as a living gallery of the forest's gems.
A plant that greeted my visit with plenty was the Medinilla Magnifica, also known as Pink Lantern, Malaysian Orchid, Chandelier Plant, and Rose Grape. The little fruits, when ripe, turn purplish and can be eaten. I didn't try but I was told it tastes sour. So I guess this is what sour grapes look like. LOL.
A flower of the Medinilla Magnifica in bloom.
An unfurling fern and orchid spray in blossom. Different flowering plants come into bloom at varying conditions of the year.
This spray is like a march of little orchids. It is estimated that over 1,000 species of orchids reside at the park.
The minuscule thing on the top left hand corner is actually a tiny orchid! So lucky to see the last one before it withers.
Open stomach... Asia is home to around 240 species of carnivorous pitcher plants and 10% can be found at Kinabalu Park.
Spotted a lightning blue damselfly. As it flies, it looks like a hovering needle.
No idea what fly this is but it's HUGE! I shot this with a compact camera, didn't even need a DSLR with macro lens to see the nightmarish details!
My mission at Kinabalu Park was to hunt down the 3 native floral giants - the largest lady slipper orchid - Rothschild's Orchid; the largest pitcher plant - Nepenthes Rajah; and the largest flower - Rafflesia arnoldii. I was hoping to see them in the wild so I was surprised to meet 2 of these giants, unceremoniously, behind a fence. That's not me but one of the nicest and wittiest persons I've travelled with.
There's good reason why these plants are behind fences. They are extremely rare in the wild and a sighting is almost always not guaranteed.
Cultivating these rare slipper orchids allows visitors to see them. I am lucky to come at a time that they are in full bloom.
Not only is the Rothschild's Orchid the biggest in the genus of lady slipper orchids (the flower stalk can grow up to 1m in height), it is also the most expensive. A plant can cost up to RM30,000 in the black market! Why is it so expensive? First of all, it is rare as it needs very specific conditions to grow. Secondly, it could take up to 15 years for a flower to bloom. Because of its price, it is also called the "Gold of Kinabalu".
The other giant is this... the largest carnivorous pitcher plant species in the world. Its pod can grow up to a whopping 40cm in height and 21cm in diameter!
Called Nepenthes Rajah, its biggest cup is capable of holding 4 litres of digestive fluid. It has been found to drown and 'eat' a rat and small mammals. A savage plant devouring animals... Yikes!
The third flora giant is the Rafflesia flower but we weren't in luck to meet one. Growing up to 1m in diameter, the endangered parasitic floral species is the largest flower on earth and again, striking 4D is easier than seeing one.
The bloom lasts only 2 to 5 days before it starts to decompose and the
flower cannot be transplanted or artificially cultivated so sightings
depends a lot on the cosmos being on your side. Hopefully I'll get to see and smell its famed rotting corpse stench one day.
Go beyond Kinabalu Park's Botanical Garden and into the tropical wilderness to experience the tranquility of nature.
After a rather underwhelming experience of meeting the floral giants from afar, we went on the Silau-Silau Trail for some light trekking. Because of the park's cooler temperatures in the mid-twenties range, it is very comfortable for walking.
"Silau" apparently means "glare" or "spotlight". So I guess the trail is placing the best experience of Kota Kinabalu's natural gifts on a pedestal with this trek/hike.
Silau-Silau Trail is a relatively easy trek with a built path.
Then it gets a little tough with quite some steps climbing while passing through gushing creeks...
... and navigating some parts where the path has been reclaimed by nature. But overall, the trail can be completed by anyone with no major mobility issues.
Our
guide Yamin (who insists I call him "Young Man") gave us a crash course
on the significance and traditional usage of some of the plants by the
local tribes during our trek.
This is the bamboo species used to make blow pipes for hunting by the local forest tribes. I'm
surprised by how smooth it is with almost no leaf
Thorns and spikes we came across during the trek. Mother Nature knows S&M.
Look up and look down during the trek to be in awe of the majesty of aged woods as well as the silent struggle for life happening below.
The botanical version of a zombie... it is dead yet alive. Some people are like that too.
Nature imitating nature... spotted an obscure plant with leaves that look like a green butterfly! Amazing.
I survived the Silau-Silau Trail! Which took about 30 minutes to complete starting from the Botanical Garden. It is an easy trail and at the end of it, there's a restaurant nearby to fuel and freshen up. And yes, cover up for a trek to avoid insect bites and cuts from plants. It's cool at the park anyway so playing dress up won't hurt.
It was a brief centering with nature at Kinabalu Park for me. But it was an encounter to remember as I got face-time with the giants of several flora families as well as other interesting plants. Plus I got to step foot on the ancient rainforest terrains and work out my glutes.
I came out rejuvenated.
This post has been made possible by Malindo Air, which flies daily from Singapore to Kota Kinabalu, and Sabah Tourism.
Renowned for its wide, endless beaches, Champagne Pools and stunning lakes (such as Lake Birrabeen), the true magic that makes Fraser Island a geological miracle is surprisingly not found along the island's water edges but its thriving rainforest deeper inland. The rainforest is anything BUT ordinary. It is the only place on earth where giant rainforest trees with trunk girth over three metres grow not from nutrient-rich soil but barren beach sand.
This peculiar ecological phenomena is so unbelieveable and unique, scientists continue to be astounded by the forest's origin, proliferation and species diversity. To appreciate this freak wonder of nature, we went on a 4WD excursion into the rainforest and did a little trekking that ended at the Central Forest Station, where remnants of a logging mill bear evidence to the island's exploited past.
The rainforest has 2 sections - a eucalyptus forest at the outer perimeters closer to the sea and a humid rainforest that makes up most of its core.
As there are no proper roads, our drive was quite a thrill ride bobbing along sandy trails and dirt paths. Thankfully, we have Greg, our host from Sunset Safaris and an expert on turning a bumpy ride into a joy ride.
As we entered the forest, wiry eucalyptus trees and melaleuca trees with exfoliating barks greeted us. The vegetation is less dense here but as we drive deeper into the forest, the foliage gradually start to thicken and green gets darkened.
This tree frozen in ballet was right outside my car seat's window as we drove by. Feeling so close to nature!
A strangler fig with its host tree. These figs grow from a seed dropped by birds into a crevice near the top of the tree and sends its roots downwards while sprouting upwards towards the sun.
Eventually, the fig will encase the host tree and causes it to die. The fight for survival is brutal!
The deeper we got into the forest, the thicker and taller the trees... we've reached the rainforest zone.
Too much to love... One of the many monstrous satinay trees in Fraser Island's sand-grown rainforest. These gigantic trees are valued for their timbre to make marine pylons as the wood is resistant to fire and termite infestation.
We left our 4WD for an hour's trek through the magnificent rainforest, with these little skinks darting out of our way occasionally. It takes trained eyes to spot wildlife as they're pretty well camouflaged.
We spotted a medium-sized goanna sunbathing at a rare spot where the sun manages to reach the ground.
Sometimes, trees topple and fall during a storm and obstruct the trekking trail. That's when park rangers will saw through the dead wood to clear a path, As you can see, I'm more prepared for the beach than for trekking which speaks of the relative ease of the walk.
I have no idea how this vine grew into the letter 'D' but it's pretty cool. 'D' for Darren!
The Wanggoolba Creek flows quietly along the rainforest floor, earning it the nickname Silent Creek.
An elevated boardwalk marks the nearing of the Central Forest Station and the end of our trek. Some visitors begin their trek here.
Scene at the Central Forest Station... I've never seen so many staghorn ferns gathered at one place and they are huge!
We found this beautiful staghorn fern that was closer to the ground and what a flambouyant wig it makes! Most couldn't resist a Rapunzel moment with it but be very, very, VERY careful when posing so as not to break any of its delicate cascading tendrils.
Having trekked some of the rainforests in Singapore, Sarawak (Bako National Park), Pulau Gaya, Japan (Yaeyama Islands), and Taiwan (Alishan), I find this trek on Fraser Island more eyeballs grabbing as the greenery transits from a eucalypt woodland to a rainforest filled with mammoth satinay trees. Most of the trek also parallels the watery path of the Silent Creek and that acted as a soothing visual companion for the journey.
This is definitely one trek I'll file in my to-do category while on Fraser Island!
Unfolding itself across 11,400 km² of Sydney's western inland, the Blue Mountains is roughly 16 times the size of Singapore, which makes it a mammoth feat to experience all of that nature in a single day. So for a comprehensive adventure in the mountains, we came to Scenic World Blue Mountains to get an all-in-one glimpse of the region's geographical features, forestry, history and even some heart-stopping thrills!
Panoramic view of the Blue Mountains from a lookout point at Scenic World.
Scenic World is like a Happy Meal where you get a taste of the mountains' buffet of naturescape in bite-size. From jaw-dropping views of the mountainous region to digging into its past as a coal mining hotspot to nature walk, Scenic World tops off these breathtaking escapades for the senses with a 3-mode transportation system that links one experience to another. The 3 transportation modes are known as the Scenic Skyway, Scenic Railway, and Scenic Cableway. Yeah, you get the drift... the sights they pass through are really scenic!
Entrance to Scenic World... a gateway to sample what the Blue Mountains have to offer in summary. We visited at almost closing time so the place was relief of hordes of tourists.
This is my second visit to Scenic World, the first being in 2012 where I took a one-day tour package that brought me to Featherdale Wildlife Park, Scenic World and Jenolan Caves for about A$120 (inclusive of lunch).
As our visit was pretty late, we had the benefit of being the last few tourists there and that's a good thing when it came to the rides... we got the cable car cabin all to ourselves and front row seats on one of the rides!
We went on the popular route that loops the rides with the sights that goes like this...
1) Taking a return Scenic Skyway ride from the entrance that glides across a valley with a hovering view of Katoomba Falls
2) After the Scenic Skyway, boarded the thrilling Scenic Railway to the Scenic Walkway that's lined with Blue Mountains' coal mining history and cuts through a section of the ancient forest
3) Following the trek is the Scenic Cableway that ascends the steep face of a cliff back to the starting point at the entrance
Scenic Skyway Across Jamison Valley with Iconic Views
Gliding 270m above the ancient gorge known as Jamison Valley, the Scenic Skyway opens a moving window to iconic sights of the Blue Mountains that included the Katoomba Falls, Three Sisters and Mount Solitary.
Taxi in the air... the original cable car system was built in 1958 and reconstructed in 2004 into the Scenic Skyway today.
I'm happy as a clam for having the Scenic Skyway capsule all to ourselves! The central aisle is fitted with a glass bottom so you can watch the valley scroll by beneath your feet.
Katoomba Falls... A three-tired waterfall cascading at an estimated 244m. 'Katoomba' means "shining falling water" or "water tumbling over hill" in the native Aboriginal language.
Scenic Railway Ride That Raises The Heart Rate
After the Scenic Skyway, we got our adrenalin revved up with a steep down slope slide on the Scenic Railway. Built in 1882 as part of a network of tramlines used to haul coal and kerosene / oil shale from mines in the valley below, the railway is converted into a hair-raising ride for visitors.
The first passengers to ride the coal carriages were a group of exhausted bushwalkers in the 1920s. This could very well be the ancestor of modern-day roller-coasters!
Touted as the world's steepest cable-drive passenger funicular railway at a 52-degree incline, this is one thrill ride not to be missed at Scenic World. It clocks a speed of 4m per second, enough to drain blood from those who dare ride it.
To up the scream factor, seats on the Scenic Railway can be elevated according to your lung capacity to shriek. We went for the Cliffhanger and I wouldn't be surprised if the staff thought there's a little girl on the ride.
FRONT. ROW. SEATS.! Plunging down a nerve on the face of a mountain through enclosed tunnels and forest bed, the Railway ride felt like a journey back in time.
Scenic Walkway Through Industrial And Natural History
Disembarking from the Scenic Railway, we arrived at the Scenic Walkway that consists of a 2.4km elevated boardwalk meandering through former coal mining sites and the Blue Mountains' ancient rainforest.
Coal mining began in the area in 1878 with up to 40 mines at its industrial peak. Those chunks of black rock in the coal skip of this cast-iron diorama are actual pieces of the fossil fuel mined here.
The mines were subsequently closed to preserve the mountains with the last mine ceasing operations in the late 1930s.
Passing the mines, we stepped onto an elevated boardwalk that cuts through the prehistoric forestry of the mountains. Be prepared for sightings of lyebirds, a ground-dwelling avian species native to Australia.
These birds have a remarkable ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds in their environment and our guide told us that he once heard one that sounded like a jackhammer! The male lyebirds are also known for the beautiful plumage of their long and showy tail feathers. We saw a lyebird rummaging through the forest floor during our walk but it disappeared before I could get a shot.
The rainforests of Blue Mountains are believed to be at least 470 million years old with towering tree ferns like this completing that Jurassic aura.
Scenic Cableway to the Roof of Sydney
The final segment of our Scenic World experience of Blue Mountains is a ride up Jamison Valley in the Scenic Cableway. Added during the turn of the millennium, the aerial fish tank offers a stupendous 360-degree view of the surroundings as well as a chance to get closer to the jagged sandstone cliffs and peaks. It felt like I'm a flag slowly being raised and seeing further and more of this World Heritage site the higher I went.
The Scenic Cableway ferries passengers on both the ascend from the valley floor to the top and descend from the escarpment back to this lower point of the 545m journey.
View of Mount Solitary as the Scenic Cableway climbed the heights. In the foreground is Jamison Valley cloaked with lilly pilly, possumwood, cedar wattle, pepper bush, tree fern, grey myrtle and eucalypt.
Three Sisters at Echo Point
One of the key sights at Scenic World is a vantage view of the famous Three Sisters rock formations at Echo Point overlooking Jamison Valley.
An aboriginal legend has it that three sisters from the Katoomba tribe fell in love with three men from a neighbouring tribe but marriage was forbidden between the two tribes according to tribal laws. Unhappy with the laws, the three men sought to abduct the sisters by force and a tribal war ensued.
To protect the sisters, an elder turned them into three rock boulders with the intention of returning them into human form after the battle. Unfortunately, the elder was killed during the war and no one knew how to reverse the spell. And so the three sisters stand forever entombed as watchful guardians from the valley.
The truth about the Three Sisters is that they were caused by the erosion of soft sandstone by wind and water.
Meet the sisters... Meehni (922m), Wimlah (918m), and Gunnedoo (906m). There seem to be a 4th 'sister' dwarfed on the extreme right. Child of Gunnedoo perhaps?
The essential shot with the Three Sisters at Scenic World Blue Mountains.
Like my first visit, my second trip to Scenic World Blue Mountains was over in about an hour. If you are not in a herded tour and have time on your side, you can take the rides multiple times and explore more of the walking tracks at Echo Point and Jamison Valley.
For a break from Sydney's cityscape and beaches, Blue Mountains definitely offer a serene and tranquil getaway to clear the mind and renew one's awe of nature. And Scenic World contains the essence to see and experience more of the Blue Mountains.
