What food is cool 4,000 years ago and is still cool today? Today it is found in cakes, candy, drinks, desserts, ice-cream and cookies, you name it. In the past, Mayans praised chocolate as the drink of the gods, and the Aztecs (Mexica) believed that cocoa seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom. Now chocolate is also a food of love that you give to your crushes on Valentines’ Day.
Display at the entrance of Teck Guan Cocoa Village
Cocoa in Sabah
Cocoa is the main ingredient of chocolate. Malaysia is one of the major cocoa-producing countries in Asia, and over 60% of Malaysian cocoa beans are from Tawau of Sabah State. Teck Guan Cocoa Village is one of the earliest plantations to cultivate cocoa in Tawau. This village is also a family-friendly destination opens to public.
Quoin Hill at Teck Guan Cocoa Village is an extinct volcano. Its fertile volcanic soil is ideal for cocoa plantation.
For teachers and parents, a visit to the cocoa village offers an excellent outdoor education to make learning fun to their children. Because of Internet, the new generations spend far more time in virtual world than real world that some of them are even afraid of chicken. Gosh, where’s our hope in future if we have kids who are spooked by “food”? Anyway, adults would find the tour at cocoa village interesting too. Who doesn’t like chocolate?
Left: cold cocoa drink at Cocoa Village. Right: Abiu fruit, also known as “I Love You” fruit
Five Fun Things to Do at Cocoa Village
The tour to Teck Guan Cocoa Village takes about half-day (from 10am to 3pm) and requires booking in advance. The staff there will give you a guided tour to experience the wonders of nature and cocoa fruits. The following is a walk-through of the tour. My guide is Ms. Chida, a friendly sino who can speak English, Chinese and Malay.
You may watch this video for a quick overview of the cocoa village tour
1) Nature Walk in Cocoa Culture Spring
My cocoa journey starts with an one-hour nature walk in the rainforest of Cocoa Culture Spring. Though it’s a hot day, the air in this forested area is so cooling and refreshing. The plantation of Cocoa Village is near to Quoin Hill, an extinct volcano that produced the fertile soil that nurtures the cocoa trees as well as the jungle here.
Taking a nature walk in Cocoa Culture Spring. The green environment is good for our eyes too.
There are six waterfalls in Cocoa Culture Spring that work like giant air ionizers and conditioners that cleanse the air. Most of the trail is paved and easy to walk on. This reminds me of Japan, a well-developed country that coexists well with beautiful nature. Japanese is educated to appreciate nature since young, something we should learn from them.
The walk in cocoa culture spring ends at the tallest waterfallThe 75-feet Majesty Waterfall in Cocoa Culture Spring
The highlight is the columnar basalt on the river. These neatly arranged rocks are formed 27,000 years ago from lava flow that is cooled down rapidly by water. It’s a great spot for photo-taking but we didn’t stay long because there were many sandflies. Finally we ended the nature walk at the 75-foot-tall Majesty Waterfall.
Basalt columnar in Cocoa Culture Spring of Teck Guan Cocoa Village. In Malaysia, such volcanism wonder is only found in Tawau.The basalt columnar in cocoa village was formed 27,000 years ago when hot lava was cooled down rapidly by water.
2) Learning about Cocoa
After the nature walk, I’m transferred to the cocoa nursery to learn more about the cocoa cultivation and processing. Our cocoa materials are used by famous brands such as Godiva and M&M to make chocolate.
Left: cocoa fruits with different grades and yield. Right: cocoa beans ready for fermentation
Uncle Mando shows me the variety of cocoa fruits being planted. Most plantations grow at least 6 distinct varietals, each with different grades, yield and resistance to pests. This approach minimizes the risk of cocoa plants being completely decimated by single enemy such as cocoa pod borer and vascular streak dieback. Cocoa is a profitable crop that requires great care, and it’s one of the best fruits to plant in an integrated farmland.
Left: Uncle Mando showing the cultivation and processing of cocoa. Right: cocoa pod (fruit) and its beans are white
I also savour the taste of freshly harvested cocoa pod. The pulp is thin, with sweet and sour taste like mango. After removing the pulp, the cocoa beans are fermented and dried to make cocoa butter and cocoa powder. A pound of chocolate is made from 400 cocoa beans. Each cocoa tree produces an average of 2,500 cacao beans per year.
Diagram on processing of cocoa to chocolate
Nine women can’t produce a baby in a month. Then Uncle Mando demonstrates the grafting technique that can make a 3-month-old cocoa seedling starts fruiting in only 2.5 years, which is normally takes 4 to 5 years if grows normally. Besides, these bud-grafted clonal trees are more productive and resistant to disease. That’s the power of science.
3) Enjoy Cocoa Meal and Chocolate Drink
Time flies when I’m having fun. It’s about noon time and the cocoa aroma makes me hungry, so I move to Tawau Cocoa Cafe to enjoy a tasty cocoa lunch that is included in the tour package. This cafe serves many cocoa-inspired dishes, desserts and drinks, as well as nasi kuning (yellow rice) and some western finger food.
Cocoa lunch with chicken katsu and organic cocoa noodle
I have cocoa noodle with chicken katsu (Japanese-style fried chicken cutlet coated with crispy panko) as main dish, cocoa waffle and chocolate ice-cream as desserts, and ice old cocoa drink. I’m quite full after lunch. Otherwise, I would try their cocoa pudding jelly and ice-blended chocolate coffee.
The lawn area at Cocoa Village for photo taking and other family activities
Their cocoa drink is a richer and heathier version of Milo (favourite cocoa drink of Malaysians). Tawau Cocoa Cafe has special cocoa dishes occasionally, you can follow their Facebook at tawaucocoa for the latest cocoa cuisines.
4) Family Time with Children
Next to Tawau Cocoa Cafe is a beautiful lawn and nice garden for your family to explore. Parents can sit at the benches watching their kids running on the lawn, taking family photos at the playground, explore the tree house, and even try the zipline (fee applies) between Durian and Menggaris tree.
Left: the lawn area of Cocoa Village. Right: tree house
5) Shopping for Local Cocoa Products
The last stop of the tour is to see a myriad of Sabah cocoa and chocolate products in their shop, for example, cocoa powder, spread, coffee, noodle, cookies and chocolates. Sabahans should be proud of their cocoa products besides Sabah Tea and Tenom Coffee.
Some cocoa products and souvenirs of Cocoa Village
Some of the items are nicely packaged and hard to find in Kota Kinabalu City so don’t leave empty-handed. I bought some Tawau white coffee to give to my friends. Their handmade chocolate is also one of the best buy.
Booking a Tour to Cocoa Village
The following is the price of the cocoa village tour package (year 2023): Adult @ RM80, Child (Age 6-12) @ RM60, Child (Age 3-5) @ RM40 Infant (Age 0-2) @ Free of charge (no meals provided) Note: A minimum of four (4) adults is required
Layout map of Teck Guan Cocoa Village, a cocoa theme park
Itinerary
10:00 Meet at gathering point (Elaeis Hall) 10:05 Depart to Cocoa Culture Spring 10:20 Briefing at Cocoa Cultural Spring 10:35 Jungle Trekking start 11:35 Return to Cocoa Nursery 11:40 Cocoa Grafting Demonstration & Real Cocoa Fruits Tasting 12:30 Lunch at Tawau Cocoa Café 14:00 Shopping time 14:30 Get a takeaway gift from Cocoa Village 15:00 Tour end
Site map of Cocoa Culture Spring, the forest and waterfall garden of Cocoa Village
Package Inclusions
Learn about cocoa cultivation chain through practical demonstration
Opportunity to taste the real Cocoa fruits
Waterfall trekking at Teck Guan Cocoa Culture Spring
Witness the historic columnar-jointing basalt
Entrance ticket to Teck Guan Cocoa Village
One (1) takeaway gift from Cocoa Village
One (1) lunch at Tawau Cocoa Café
Zipline + Abseil Adventure @ RM30/pax (subject to availability)
Cocoa Village is a family-friendly destination in Tawau that both adults and children enjoy.
For booking and enquiry, you can contact Teck Guan Cocoa Village at: Phone:+60 16-8269579 (Whatsapp), +60 89 772277 (office) E-mail:cocoavillage@teckguan.com Facebook:cocoavillagetawau Address (Cocoa Village): Quoin Hill, Miles 15, Jalan Bukit Quoin, 91000 Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia.
Waterfalls in Cocoa Culture Spring
Teck Guan Cocoa Village is about 45 minutes (38 Kilometre) away from Tawau town by driving and highly accessible by asphalt road in good condition (see Location Map). You may visit Cocoa Museum in Tawau town if you are interested in the manufacturing of cocoa powder and cocoa butter at their factory.
One of the reasons Malaysians visit famous volcanoes such as Mount Fuji and Mount Bromo is they’ve never seen a volcano, and they think that there is no volcano in Malaysia. Wrong! Sabah has over 10 volcanoes, for example, Bohey Dulang Island, Bukit Tengkorak, Mount Wullersdorf. Tawau and Semporna in south-east of Sabah were used to be the volcanic regions from Neogene to Late Pleistocene ages (about 23 million to 11,700 years ago).
Volcano crater view from the plane to Tawau. It’s probably belong to the Mount Maria of Tawau Hills Park.
Don’t worry. All volcanoes in Sabah are extinct (or dead) volcano, which will not erupt anymore. Don’t believe those viral videos which clickbait us by saying that the Bombalai Hill of Sabah is an active or dormant volcano. Some local school teachers tell their students that Mount Kinabalu is a volcano, this is incorrect too.
Bombalai Hill is abundant with volcano rocks ranging in age from Middle Miocene to Quaternary.
About Bombalai Hill (Bukit Bombalai)
Bombalai Hill (Bukit Bombalai in Malay language) is the most accessible extinct volcano in Sabah. You can park your car near its foothill and hike only an hour to its peak. Though a dead volcano is not as interesting as a smoking active volcano with flowing lava, it is definitely safer to explore.
3D map of Bombalai Hill (left) and Tawau Hills Park (right). Note the caldera on the peak.
Bombalai Hill is an ancient cone volcano that was active during Quaternary. Its last eruption is probably about 129,000 to 11,700 years ago. Though the dense forest on the hill has covered the traces of volcanism, its 300-metre-wide caldera is quite visible from the sky. I saw it once from a plane that flied to Tawau town, the third largest town of Sabah.
Beautiful jungle trail of Bombalai Hill (Bukit Bombalai)
Bombalai Hill is part of Tawau Hills Park (Taman Bukit Tawau), a fully protected forest reserve about 24 km north-west of Tawau (see Location Map) and highly accessible by sealed roads. If Tawau Hills Park is open a million years ago, it would be called “Tawau Volcanoes Park” because the mountains there were used to be active volcanoes from the ages of Miocene to Late Pleistocene.
Hill dipterocarp forest is the most common forest type in Tawau Hills Park (Taman Bukit Tawau)
Now these extinct volcanoes become the three highest mountains in Tawau Hills Park, namely, Mount Magdalena (1,310 M), Mount Lucia (1,201 M) and Mount Maria (1,083 M). Mount Lucia has the most distinct volcano crater on the peak and it takes 6 hours to hike, but I climb Bombalai Hill first, because it’s the smaller volcano with the shortest and easiest trail.
Starting point of the climb to Bombalai Hill (Bukit Bombalai)
Tawau Hills Park opens from 8am to 4pm every day. You can climb Bombalai Hill during the opening hours but I advise you to start before 2pm. Because the dense forest is quite dim after 3pm, when the sun starts sinking behind the hill. You are not required to hire a guide to go with you.
Left: a long-tailed macaque on the fence. Right: grass path to Bombalai Hill
Climbing Bombalai Hill
The starting point is located outside the fenced area of Tawau Hills Park headquarter. The ticket (named as Conservation Fee) costs RM6 for Malaysian adult (18 years old & above) and RM20 for foreign adult (as of year 2023). Some “smart” people would ask you to bypass the ticket counter so you can climb the hill for free. Please don’t do that. In case you are stranded on the hill, nobody would know that you are on the hill. Or you would be mistaken as a poacher by the patrolling rangers there.
Left: nature trail to the hill. Middle: a cocoa tree. Right: white fungus high on a tree
Though Bombalai Hill is 530 metres above sea level, the hike begins on a higher ground of nearly 300 metres above sea level, so I only need to climb up about 230 metres. The trail to the peak of Bombalai Hill is about 1.9 kilometres one way. Normally it takes about an hour to reach the top. Overall, the climb is not tough, even beginners can do it. Wear a pair of anti-leech socks if you’re afraid of leech bite.
Fruits next to the trail of Bombalai Hill
When you face the front of the park entrance, turn left and walk 150 metres, from car park to the end of the paved road until you reach the building of staff accommodation. You will see a signage to Bombalai Hill, which points to a straight, wide and flat gravel and grass path next to an oil palm plantation.
Left: a weevil beetle. Right: a big fly
Just follow the grass path for less than 10 minutes, you will enter a forest edge with narrow soil trail with bushy sides. You should see a signage that says “Ke Puncak Bukit Bombalai”, which is translated as “To the Peak of Bombalai Hill.” (Bukit means Hill in Malay language)
Signage to the peak of Bombalai Hill (Bukit Bombalai) at the forest edge
Due to the tree shades, the surrounding is darker and the trail is flanked by dense undergrowth. Walk slowly and scan around, you would find many fruits, herb plants and flowers, e.g. ginger, orchid, begonia, among them. A couple of leeches would welcome you.
Left: Begonia plant. Right: wild “football fruits” or pangi fruits. The fruits are poisonous and can be used for food fermentation after treatment.
The lush rainforest covers all the traces of volcanism. This forested dead volcano is actually a green volcano full of lives. The cicada orchestra and bird calls never stop. My presence causes some commotion among the elusive tree-dwelling primates.
Left: pill millipede curled up as a defense. Right: flies feasting on a dropping (very smelly). Both play important role in decomposing organic matters in forest.
The eight species of primate found in this park are long-tailed macaque, pig-tailed macaque, red-leaf monkey, Borneo gibbons, orang-utans, tarsiers, slow loris and Gray-leaf Monkey. They flee before I can tell what they are, but very likely they are either macaques or red-leaf monkey.
The towering rainforest trees of Bombalai Hill
Tawau Hills Park is also a popular bird-watching site. I can hear the hoarse call and flapping wing of hornbills on the canopy. I recognise the calls of broadbill and pitta too. Of the 8 species of Hornbills known from Sabah, 6 species live here, namely, the Black, Bushy-crested, Helmeted, Rhinoceros, White-crowned and the Wreathed hornbills. Also, 3 species of the rare pheasants occur here, namely, Crested-fireback, Great argus and Malayan peacock pheasants.
Distance markers to the peak of Bombalai Hill (Bukit Bombalai)
The first 1 kilometre of the hike is mainly an easy walk on flat surface, with only a few gentle slopes. The distance markers every 100 metres are the progress bars that keep me motivated. I’m the only climber on the hill, but I don’t feel lonely in nature. I don’t worry about losing my way because the trail is well-trodden.
Vines and creepers on the tree. The left one looks like birds in flight. To survive, these plants need to climb high to reach for more sunlight.
The foothill is mainly lowland and secondary forest. As I climb higher, I see variety of trees, vines, liana, and creepers of hill dipterocarp forest flourishing on the fertile volcanic soil. Unlike the monodominant forests in temperate countries, the vegetation of Borneo rainforest is highly diversified.
A tree with big buttress on the trail. This structure allows the tree to stand firm on the shallow soil.
Reaching the Peak
The last 400 metres uphill trail to the peak is the most challenging part of the climb. There are some rope support at steep or slippery sections. About 100 metres before the ending point is a leisure walk on a ridge. It takes me 1.5 hour to reach the peak because I walk slowly to take pictures.
The steepest sections to the peak of Bombalai Hill. The rope support and stairway help a lot.0 Meter signage on the peak to mark the end of the climb. The viewpoint platform is a short walk away on a ridge.
At the peak is a 2-level wooden viewpoint platform with an open view facing south-west. It’s a hazy day but I still can see oil palm plantation, Tawau plains, Sulawesi Sea, Sebatik Island, and other places more than 12 kilometres away.
The 2-level wooden viewpoint platform on the peak of Bombalai Hill (Bukit Bombalai)
As Bombalai Hill is surrounded by oil palm plantation from three sides, to be honest the panoramic view on top isn’t really fantastic. Anyway, I feel wonderful and worthwhile conquering an ancient volcano.
The old signages and triangulation station (trigonometrical point) on the peak
Just a trivia of Bombalai Hill. There is a secret cave used by the Japanese or resistance fighters during World War II at the peak of Bombalai Hill. Urban legends from all over the world say Japanese hide their war loot in caves and tunnels during WWII. Some treasure hunters believe this myth and excavate the site, though Sabah Parks has debunked that there is no gold.
View from the peak of Bombalai Hill. You can see large area of oil palm plantation.
The north side of Bombalai Hill is connected to the main forest of Tawau Hills Park, so the wildlife aren’t stuck on an isolated hill. From the high density of the birds and monkey living there, they seem to like Bombalai Hill a lot.
You can see Tawau town and Sebatik Island more than 12 km away from the peak (photo captured by camera with 8x optical zoom)
After the climb, don’t throw away your ticket. You can use it to enter the park headquarter (Tawau Hills Park) to take a dip in the river, visit the waterfall, sulphurous springs, botanical garden and one of tallest tropical tree in the world. The park also has toilet and canteen (Kantin Begonia) for visitors. For more information, you can contact Sabah Parks, the government agency that manages Tawau Hills Park.
First time to Sabah and don’t know what to eat? Most travel guides would recommend famous Sabah cuisines such as Tuaran fried noodle, Ngiu Chap (mixed beef noodle) and Sang Yuk Mee (mixed pork noodle) but leave out fish noodle. Sabah is renowned for its seafood and its seafood noodle is probably one of the best in Malaysia.
Popular seafood noodle shops always use fresh seafood from the warm sea for the fish soup. Cold water fishes such as cod and pollock have strong fishy flavors because they are high in fat, so they are too oily and fishy for making noodle soup.
Reef fishes from the warm tropical ocean are the most delicious seafood in the world, and they are the preferred fishes in seafood noodles of Sabah. Depend on the restaurants, groupers, wrasse, snapper, amberjack (ikan tofu) and other seafood would be used. Though seafood noodles are more expensive than other noodles, you won’t get a 4-digit bill amount for having seafood noodle.
You can enjoy seafood at (left) Kopitiam or Kedai Kopi (cafe), and seafood restaurant (right) in Sabah.
There are variety of serving styles for seafood noodles in Sabah. I list the popular seafood noodles below, as well as the recommended Kedai Kopi (coffee shop). Most of them are served by Chinese shops so I post their Chinese names too, easier for Chinese readers.
1) Mixed Fish Noodle (鱼杂)
Mixed Fish Noodle is the favourite seafood noodle of Sabah people, to enjoy different parts and serving styles of fish. For first timers, fresh or fried fillets, fish cake, fish chunks and fish ball are good start. Some foodies would go for the fishy parts such as fish head, fish skin and fish maw. For noodles, you can choose between the mee hoon (rice vermicelli) and yellow noodle (and kuey teow flat noodle). You may have your noodle served in broth or a separate bowl. For broth, you can pick the savoury and sour tomato soup, or the spicy and milky tom-yam soup (or hamcoi, salty vegetable in soup).
Mixed fish noodles in Tom-yam soup and tomato soup at Kedai Kopi How Kee (好记茶室)
I prefer vermicelli in soup because the thin noodle absorbs the rich seafood flavours well. By Malaysian standard, our tom-yam soup is not really hot. I had an American friend who insisted on trying tom-yam and his whole face turned red and sweaty, but he still liked it.
Left: Sandakan fish cakes in tom-yam seafood noodle soup of Mr. Fish Restaurant. Right: fish noodle of Kedai Kopi Tien Hwa (天华茶室) in Keningau
Kedai Kopi Tien Hwa (天华茶室)
Location (View Map): Jalan Milimewa Lama, Keningau, Sabah
2) Giant Grouper Noodle
Giant grouper is the king of grouper (known as Ikan Keratang in Malay, 龙趸 in Chinese). It can grow to a massive size of nearly 200 Kg, which spooks the scuba divers sometimes. Huge giant grouper is a highly sought-after seafood here. The flesh of giant grouper is firm and its head is packed with collagen. For gourmet seafood lovers, it’s the ultimate delicacy.
Giant grouper in a fish farm. The wild one can reach nearly 200 Kg in weight.
You won’t forget the mouthfeel of eating the fried crispy noodle mixed with juicy seafood gravy. The aromatic noodle sucks the rich seafood flavours and you can’t stop once you start. The big prawns and squid look so good, but the most important thing is they are fresh.
Spring noodle is a Chinese-style yellow noodle that is named for its dense and chewy texture. This noodle from Sandakan goes well with seafood broth.
Spring noodle of Sandakan with seafood broth
Kampung Pukat Fishboat Street Sandakan (渔船街)
Location (View Map): Lorong 5, Kampung Pukat, Tanah Merah, Jalan Leila, Bandar Nam Tung, Sandakan Phone:+60 89-616510
Note: Though most, if not all the Chinese shops listed here don’t serve pork, they are not certified as Halal. Some Muslims feel ok to dine there, while some don’t, so decide at your own discretion.
Sandakan is a famous place for seafood feast. Left: a shop that sells seafood noodle. Right: Fishboat Street Sandakan (渔船街) at Kampung Pukat of Sandakan
Some of the shops accept online orders by Foodpanda or Grab Food, so you can avoid the long queue and have these seafood noodles delivered to your doorstep. Just a heads up, the seafood noodles by reputable shops are very likely sold out in the morning.
Butterfly is the most beautiful insect in the world and has been a symbol of elegance, romance and beautiful transformation. Japan, India and Australia have national butterflies that represent their country. Malaysia also picks Rajah Brooke’s birdwing (Scientific name: Trogonoptera brookiana) as the poster boy due to its striking colours. Birdwings are named for their exceptional size, angular wings, and bird-like flight.
Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana) is the national butterfly of Malaysia and also the most well-known butterfly in Malaysia
As the most well-known butterfly in Malaysia, Rajah Brooke’s birdwing has large angular wings decorated with tooth-shaped ‘electric green’ bands on a velvet black background, and a splash of metallic blue markings on the underside of its wings. This national beauty also lives in Borneo (an island shared by three countries, i.e. East Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia).
Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana) likes to sip water around creek area under the shade
Kinabalu Birdwing, the Sabahan Butterfly
On 2 Oct 2023, Kinabalu Birdwing (Scientific name: Troides andromache) is officially declared as the Sabah State Butterfly. It’s the best candidate because: (1) its black and yellow colours are the main colours of traditional costumes of Kadazan, the largest indigenous group of Sabah, (2) Kinabalu Birdwing is only found around Mount Kinabalu and Crocker Range of Sabah, and (3) its bird-like flight movement reminds us of Sumazau dance. Most entomologists would agree that this endemic Borneo birdwing is truly a Sabah butterfly.
Kinabalu Birdwing Butterfly (Troides andromache andromache) is a montane butterfly lives between 1,000 to 2,000 Metres above sea level. Kinabalu Birdwing a large butterfly with a forewing length of about 65 mm (male) or 85 mm (female). The male (right) is black, yellow, and grey in colour, lower forewing with a band of large greyish distal spots dusted with yellow, while the female (left) has additional brown and white scaling on the forewing. The hindwing differs from the male in the band of large, black discal / postdiscal spots.Official announcement of Kinabalu Birdwing as the Sabah State Butterfly in a press conference on 2 Oct 2023. Group photo at the right: (from left to right) Dr. Stephen Sutton (Leading Researcher of Kinabalu Birdwing Project), James Quek (President of Rotary Kota Kinabalu), Datuk Christina Liew (Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment (Sabah)), Datuk Mohd Yusrie Abdullah (Ministry’s Permanent Secretary) and Dr. Gerald Jetony (Director of Sabah Biodiversity Centre).
The Kinabalu Birdwing (Troides andromache) is a large (wingspan of female can reach 18.5cm (7.28 inches), the size of a small plate) but elusive butterfly, and its life remains pretty much a mystery. For example, why it chooses to live in cloud forest between 1,500 to 2,000 metres above sea level, a cold and misty environment which is harsh to most butterflies. The locals call Kinabalu Birdwing as Kalibambang Emas, which means a large and brightly coloured butterfly, in Dusun language.
Female (left) and Male (right) Kinabalu Birdwing Butterfly (Troides andromache andromache). They are rare endemic species of Borneo island. Right: The upper forewing of male is entirely black with a violet sheen. The hindwing is almost entirely yellow with black scaling narrowly over the veins, as a broad inner margin, and as large fringe spots producing an edentate submarginal band.
Kinabalu Birdwing has four other sister species in Borneo. All of them are sexually dimorphic (means male and female have different look).
Common Birdwing (Troides helena)
Golden Birdwing (Troides amphyrysus)
Miranda Birdwing (Troides miranda)
Mountain Birdwing (Troides cuneifera)
Left: Golden Birdwing (Troides amphrysus) from Kinabatangan, Right: Common Birdwing (Troides helena) from Poring in mating mood. Though the colours of all Borneo birdwing species are almost the same, they have subtitle difference in wing pattern and geographical distribution. For example, Golden Birdwing is a lowland species.
All Borneo birdwing species look the same to casual eyes. Unlike the other Borneo Birdwings, the females of Kinabalu Birdwing have white forewings with a black band on the edge of their wing. The males have black forewings and on the underside a number of white arrowhead bands.
Families of Borneo Butterflies
It has been estimated that there are about 940 species of butterflies in Borneo (from 10 families) and 81 of them are endemic (only found in Borneo). As of 2020, the family Lycaenidae has the most endemics, with 42 species, followed by Nymphalidae (15), Hesperiidae (9), Pieridae (6), Papilionidae (5) and Riodinidae (4).
Every year in May, over 40+ Kadazandusun and Murut girls from different districts of Sabah line-up during Kaamatan (harvest festival) to compete for the State-level Unduk Ngadau title (Miss Harvest Festival). Probably we need a beauty pageant for our butterflies too. Don’t worry about the scientific names of their families and species (in brackets), just enjoy the riot of colours from these flying gems.
Butterflies of Sabah Borneo in Papilionidae family. Top left: Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon), Top right: The Great Mormon (female) (Menelaides memnon memnon), Bottom left: Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon agamemnon), Bottom right: Green Dragontail (Lamproptera meges meges)
Papilionidae family has four “most”: largest, most beautiful, most studied, and well-known. There are 44 species in Borneo, which include the famous Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing and Borneo Birdwings.
Left: Catopsilia scylla from Kota Kinabalu wetland mangrove, and Right: Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete diva) are butterflies of Pieridae family
Butterflies of Pieridae family are mostly medium-sized with yellow, white or orange colour. 41 species live in Borneo. They are often called whites, yellows or sulphurs in common names according to their colours.
Sabah butterflies in Nymphalidae family. Top left: Bornean Oakleaf (Kallima buxtoni), Top right: Malay Lacewing (Cethosia hypsea), Bottom left: The Yellow Glassy Tiger (Parantica aspasia aspasia), Bottom right: Common Three Ring (Ypthima pandocus sertorius)
Nymphalidae is one of the largest butterfly family and there are 136 species in Borneo. They are diverse in shapes, colours and patterns. They are also known as the four-footed butterfly because their front pair of legs is non-functional. These are strange butterflies that are often found sipping on fallen fruits, plant sap and animal dropping.
Sabah butterflies in Danaidae family. Left: Tree Nymph (Idea stolli), Top right: Ideopsis gaura, Bottom right: Mangrove Tree Nymph / Paper Kite (Idea leuconoe)
27 species of Borneo butterflies belong to Danaidae family. Many of them have black veins and numerous oval black dots on their translucent white wings. They are slow flyers and said to be the lightest butterfly in the world. For example, Ashy-white Tree Nymph (Idea stolli) is named as “Kupu-kupu Surat” (Mail Butterfly) locally because it glides gracefully in the air like a floating paper.
Butterflies of Sabah in Hesperiidae family. Left: Burara gomata lalita, Right: Yellow Banded Awl (Hasora schoenherr chuza)
With a family of 3,000 species (over 200 species in Borneo), Hesperiidae, which is also known as the Skippers, is the largest family. These moth-like butterflies are usually small and dull coloured.
Borneo butterflies of Lycaenidae family. Left: Zeltus amasa maximinianus, Right: Miletus ancon gigas from Crocker Range Park. A common name for Lycaenidae family is the Blues as most of them are blue in colour.
Impressed by the colours and diversity of Sabah butterflies? Kinabalu Birdwing is always my Unduk Ngadau. Who’s yours?
Differences between Butterflies and Moths
Many people can’t tell the difference between butterfly and moth. Let’s do the fun quiz below and see how good you are (ask your kids to join too). They are from Sabah and you may have seen two or more of them.
Quiz! Guess which one is Moth or Butterfly. Scroll down to next picture for answers.Answers for Butterfly vs Moth quiz above. 1) Giant Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas), 2) Butterfly (Junonia iphita viridis), 3) Butterfly (Cynitia cocytina ambalika, male), 4) Tropical Swallowtail Moth (Lyssa zampa), 5) Butterfly (Chersonesia risa cyanee), 6) Emperor Moth from Deramakot Forest
Did you get all the answers right? There are three easy ways to distinguish them:
Butterflies are day-flying insects and moths are active at night.
When resting, the wings of butterflies are folded upright (but butterfly outstretches its wings for sun basking sometimes), while moth’s wings are open horizontally.
Butterfly has a pair of plain and club-like antenna. Moths are heavy-bodied with feathery antennas.
Interesting Facts about Butterflies
Here are some truths about butterflies, which are as fascinating as their colours.
Bornean Jezebel (Delias eumolpe eumolpe) is another marvelous butterfly species of Borneo and it’s hyper-endemic to Crocker Range Park
Interesting Facts about Butterflies
Here are some truths about butterflies, which are as fascinating as their colours.
The largest butterflies of Sabah are Golden Birdwing (Triodes amphrysus) and Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana), with a forewing of 8.5 cm (3.35 inches) in length.
Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis) is the smallest butterfly of Sabah, with a wingspan of only 1.5cm.
Caterpillar has crazy growth rate. For example, the larva of Great Mormon butterfly can grow from 0.3cm to 7cm in 3 weeks. For that speed and scale, a new-born human baby can grow into a 40-foot-tall giant within a month!
From egg to adult stage, most butterflies have a life span of only 1 to 3 months, depending on the species, some can live up to a year.
There is a butterfly called Kadazan Lass or Bornean Sapphire (Heliophorus kiana), a Borneo endemic, so are Kadazan Small Tiger (Dodona elvira) and Kinabalu Gem (Poritia phormedon).
Approximately five per cent (i.e. 50 species) of Sabah butterflies are toxic, so having butterflies in your stomach can be a bad experience.
There are about 17,500 butterfly species in the world, and Peru has the most species, which is about 3,700. Iceland has 0 species.
Butterflies smell with their feet, which have taste receptors to help them locating food.
The world’s largest butterfly farm is located in Penang.
Butterflies evolved from moths around 190 million years ago. Both co-existed with the dinosaurs before.
Group of Eurema hecabe hecabe butterflies sipping mineral-rich water at river bank of Poring Hot Springs
Where to See Borneo Butterflies in Sabah?
Butterflies are everywhere. In general, you can see rich variety of wild butterflies in a garden full of blooming flowers and adjacent to a forest. Areas such as Tun Fuad Stephen Park (Bukit Padang), Crocker Range Park and Kinabalu National Park (625 species) are good places to start butterfly watching. If you want to see a lot of rare butterflies with the least effort, you can visit a butterfly garden (entry fee applied). Note: most butterflies in captivity have broken wings, not so great for photography.
Left: Malayan Nawab (Polyura moori saida) sipping chicken dropping in Kawang Forest, Right: The Blue Begum (Prothoe franck borneensis)
Most visitors aim for soaking in the popular sulphur springs and skip butterfly farm inside the park. Poring Butterfly Farm is started in 1989 with 4 main components, namely, exhibition gallery, large enclosure, breeding room and nursery of larvae’s food plant. Only the first two are open to public. You can see the specimens of most, if not all, Borneo endemic butterflies in the gallery. There are information panels and insect display boxes along the walkway. No guiding service is provided.
The Exhibition Gallery and Enclosure of Poring Butterfly Farm
The garden and streams outside the enclosure are the magnet for wild butterflies from pristine forest nearby. Besides butterflies feeding among the flowers, you can find group of butterflies (majority are male) congregate at stream banks for puddling, a drinking party for butterflies to sip natural salts from the mineral-rich creek, which contains vital nutrients for their reproduction. Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing prefers to do this in shady area.
Kipandi Butterfly Park is similar to Poring Butterfly Farm, but with more extensive and exotic collection of local and foreign insect specimens in their exhibition hall. The visitors can check out the pupa and caterpillars in their nursery. This site offers better experience for an education tour because they also have native orchids and pitcher plants in their garden. However, visitors need to book an appointment prior to the visit. You can try calling or texting (Whatsapp) their phone numbers at +60 13-8739092 (Mr. Stevan Chew, Operation / Park Manager) or +60 19-5302298 (Mr. Linus Gokusing).
Education tour, butterfly nursery, exhibition hall and native orchid garden of Kipandi Butterfly Garden
Best Time for Butterfly Watching
Butterflies are more active when there is sunlight, so 9am to 3pm during sunny day would be the most suitable time for butterfly watching in Sabah. Most butterflies need an air temperature of above 15°C (60°F) to fly. If they get too cold, they are unable to fly, so in cold days, you would see them rest on a leaf and bask with their wings out-stretched like a solar panel. Nevertheless, some species such as Kinabalu Birdwing can remain active in a cool and misty day.
Conservation of Borneo Butterflies
Same as other wildlife, butterflies need undisturbed habitat and reliable food sources to survive. Global warming, use of pesticides in agriculture, and forest clearance are threatening their well-being. In 2018, Kinabalu Birdwing was listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as a result of the large-scale forest clearance in Pinosuk Plateau (around Mesilau) of Mount Kinabalu. Therefore, some proactive measures are needed in place to prevent them moving toward extinction.
Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing (left) and Borneo Birdwing (right) butterflies are fully protected species by Malaysian law
Protection by Malaysian Law
Butterflies are fun to watch but you could be caged for catching a protected species. About 30 Malaysian butterfly species (e.g. Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing, Borneo Birdwings, Ashy Tree Nymph) are categorised as the fully protected species in Wildlife Protected Species Act 2010 [Act 716]. You can be fined up to RM30,000 or jailed up to one year, or both, for capturing, collecting or trading them illegally (without a permit or license).
Left: The Black and White Helen (Papilio nephelus albolineatus) is sipping nectar from Red Javanese Ixora (Ixora javanica), Right: Aeron’s Rod or Brazilian Tea (Local Name: Bunga Malam) is an evergreen plant loved by butterflies such as this Eurema hecabe hecabe
Feeding the Butterflies!
Why not inviting these little fairies into your backyard? You can plant plenty of flowers to conserve and attract these colourful visitors. Evergreen plant such as Red Javanese Ixora (Todong Periuk), Indian Snakeweed (Bunga Malam), Red hot cat’s tail (Ekor kucing) and Hibiscus are some of the common nectaring flowers of butterflies. Or just plant any flower you love, the more variety, the better.
Left: Clipper (Parthenos sylvia borneensis), Right: Common Red Harlequin (Paralaxita telesia)
You can target different types of butterflies with selected flowers. For Kinabalu Birdwing in highland, Orange balsams (Impatiens walleriana). Yellow daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.), Mussaenda, Lantana, Busy Lizzie, Poinsettia (Eurphorbia spp.) and Hibiscus (Rosa sinensis) are the flowers they feed on. It’s even superb if you cultivate Aristolochia foveolata, a liana that can serve as a foodplant for larva of Kinabalu Birdwing. FYI, Swallowtail & Birdwing Butterfly Trust and The Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu are training homestay operators in Kampung Kiau to plant this liana.
Borneo or Kinabalu Birdwing butterflies feeding on nectaring flowers
References & Acknowledgement
Stephen Sutton, Corné F. H. van der Linden, Tom M. Fayle, Kalsum M. Yusah, Alim Biun, Arthur Chung, Paul Foronda, Saiheng Taradas and Bart P. J. Burger. Troides andromache Staudinger 1892: The Natural History and Conservation of the Kinabalu or Borneo Birdwing Butterfly. The Malayan Nature Journal, 81st Anniversary Special Issue 2021.
Special thanks to members of Butterfly of Borneo Facebook Group (especially Potanthus Ttp), Dr. Stephen Sutton, and Dr. Arthur Y.C. Chung for the identification and information on Sabah butterflies. (Disclaimer: This acknowledgement doesn’t imply that they adopt this article)
Sabah people were so excited to see Agong (King of Malaysia) who toured around Sabah recently. A lyrics in our national anthem says “Rahmat bahagia. Tuhan kurniakan Raja kita selamat bertakhta” which means “With God’s blessings of grace and happiness, may our King be safely enthroned.” Malaysians really love their king. A king rock in Sabah would amaze them?
Topi Raja literally means ‘King’s Crown’. It’s 100% made by nature.
The majestic Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain of Malaysia, crafted a giant crown with fire, ice and water thousand of years ago. It’s “Topi Raja” (translated as King’s Crown in English), a granite boulder located in Kampung Lingkungan (Kampung means Village), Kota Belud. Topi Raja got this name because its pointy spikes that looks like a crown. Some say Topi Raja also resembles a dinosaur with spikes on its back.
The top of Topi Raja also looks like the slates on the back of a Stegosaurus dinosaur
The Origin of Topi Raja
Granite rock is formed from hot magma that slowly cooled far below the Earth’s surface. Topi Raja was lifted to the surface as part of Mount Kinabalu about 7 to 9 million years ago. Until 10,000 years ago, the end of the ice age, this huge granite boulder was swept down Mount Kinabalu by the force of melting glaciers to Kota Belud, got buried underground. Then powerful flushes of subsurface water (e.g. ground water) after heavy rain eroded this weathered rock creating those sharp spikes.
The jagged peaks on Mount KInabalu is the work of glacial erosion during ice age. Kota Belud is at the left side of this photo.
Actually the similar boulder is also found in Kampung Podos, Kampung Sayap, Kampung Langat, and Kampung Lobong-Lobong in Kota Belud. However, only Topi Raja is listed as one of the 30 geosites of Kinabalu Geopark because of its cultural heritage value.
Location map of 30 geosites (with geological, biological or cultural heritage value) under Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark
You may ask, why cultural value and not geological value? Because the story of Topi Raja teaches an important moral lesson that reflects the value of Sabah natives.
The Legend of Topi Raja
During a harvest season at the large paddy field of Kampung Togor (Kampung is Village in Malay language), villagers from neighboring Kampung Tolungan and Kampung Kebayau came to help Kampung Togor on harvesting. After they finished works, they congregated and feast in a big hut called sulap (a big resting hut) to celebrate. Two villagers, who bathed in the nearby river, brought back a takang (a kind of big frog) and a rudai (a big lizard that can change colours) that they caught at the river.
Climbing on Topi Raja is prohibited. Please respect it like a king.
The villagers were furious to see them making fun of the takang and rudai and asked them to free the animals at once, but their advice was ignored by the two villagers. Other villagers, while enjoying the feast, started to celebrate by beating gongs and dancing the traditional dance called Sumayau. The two villagers then joined the celebration by making the takang and rudai dance in the middle of the crowd.
Takang (horned frog) and Rudai (lizard). Did Takang escape, take the crown and become a Frog Prince? I don’t know.
For more party fun, these two villagers dressed the takang with a sarong (a kind of cloth worn by women villagers to wrap around their bodies) and rudai with a cawat (loin cloth). The beating of the gongs got louder and merrier as the villagers and the two animals kept on dancing, the amused villagers clapped, shouted and laughed.
Groundwater erosion led to the formation of craggy grooves on Topi Raja. This process is similar to the formation of the sharp spikes on limestone rocks such as the Mulu Pinnacles in Sarawak.
Unhappy of this situation, a girl among them scolded and demanded the villagers to stop this farce immediately, but nobody listened to her. Then black clouds approached and strong winds blowing outside the sulap, a mysterious old lady appeared and asked the girl to leave the sulap because something bad was about to happen. As the old lady pushed the girl out, a sudden boom of thunder and lightning struck the sulap and turned it into a big rock named Tontolob.
Topi Raja is a granitic boulder eroded from Mount Kinabalu and transported down the mountain by moving glaciers about 10,000 years ago.
The girl returned to her village and told the villagers what was happening. Though they heard the cry for help in the rock, they failed to rescue the people trapped inside, because whoever tried to break the big rock would be hit by lightning and injured badly. The villagers who rocked and rolled with the poor animals turned into rock forever.
White mold on granite. Granite is commonly used in construction and building materials because it is a hard and tough rock.
The lesson is – never make fun of animals, which is a taboo in the cultures of Kadazandusun and Murut people in Sabah. In our belief, people who do this will anger the God. Batu Punggul pinnacle also has a similar story that involves a dog and chicken, and Watu Monontian (pregnant woman) stone is a result of forcing dogs and cats to dance.
Visit Topi Raja
Topi Raja is highly accessible by paved road (see Location Map), about 27 KM from Kota Belud town and 79 KM away from Kota Kinabalu City. The rock is situated on a 9-acre private land owned by a couple, Mr. Hsu Han Chun and Madam Agnes, who bought this land in 1961 and developed it into a recreation site named Topi Raja Mountain River View since 2014.
Fruits at Topi Raja Mountain River View. You would see durian and tarap fruits if you visit at the right time.
The entry fee to Topi Raja, which comes with a welcome drink, is RM5 per person. Besides photo taking with Topi Raja, you can visit around this place to explore the hanging bridge, swimming and fish feeding at river (but don’t catch any frog and lizard), garden and orchard (durian, tarap, pineapple, sacha inchi, etc.). You must apply mosquito repellent though.
Information board about the legend of Topi Raja in 3 languages (English, Malay and Chinese)
The place is completed with amenities (e.g. toilet, dining hall, cafe, gazebo, camping ground) and accommodation for tourists. For group activities. You may contact the owner in advance to prepare the services for you.
Imagine you are an adventurer in a role-playing game and given a quest that says, “Find the magic crystals on an extinct volcano mountain, where you will traverse through a dwarf forest with blood-red rivers, mossy rocks and flesh-eating plants.” This scene matches Mount Wullersdorf perfectly. Time for me to walk out of my virtual world and steps into the uncharted territory in Mount Wullersdorf as a real adventurer.
The reddish tea colour stream in Wullersdorf forest is the result of the tanning effect leached out from the thick dead leaves and debris that cover the heath forest floor. The water is acidic but safe to drink.
In terms of geology and vegetation, Mount Wullersdorf is special because it is:-
An extinct volcano, a geological heritage of Sabah
Heath forest with red river and rare plants
A world of natural crystals in Sabah
From left: volcanic rocks, crystals and pitcher plant of Mount Wullersdorf
Itinerary
The following is the itinerary of climbing Mount Wullersdorf. It is a day trip with a hiking distance of 7 kilometres. You must book the tour in advance. 7:30am Gather at Dewan Kampung Balung Cocos (Tawau) 8:00am Depart to the Control Post (Sabah Forestry Department) of Wullersdorf, the starting point of the climb 8:30am Start climbing after registration and briefing 9:30am-10:00am Reach the first peak after 30-40 min (2 km) 11:00am-12:00pm Reach the second peak (Wullersdorf Peak) after 4 km. Rest and lunch on summit 1:00pm Hike back to the Control Post via shortcut (1 km for 40 min) 2:30pm End of tour
Walk-through
Are you ready for the epic quest adventurer? Or you can watch the 6-minute video below:
The height of Mount Wullersdorf is 430 metres (1,411 ft) above sea level. The one-way distance to the highest peak is 6 kilometres, which takes about 3 to 4 hours. There is a 1-kilometre shortcut from the peak back to the starting point, so in total it’s a 7-km loop trail.
Going to the Starting Point
Mount Wullersdorf is located in a Class-1 (fully protected) forest in Kunak (Tawau Division). To enter the mountain, you need a permit from the Sabah Forestry Department. So I get a local agent who can get the permit and arrange the climbing trip for me. Just a few messages back and forth with the agent and I get the booking done. Easy.
Hop on the pick up truck that sent us to the starting point about 15 minutes away
I meet my guides at Dewan Balung Cocos (Balung Cocos Village Community Hall) around 7:30am. Mr. Eady and Pakri are my guides, who live in this village. Also joining me are Mr. Aidil and Ms Zura, the hikers from Tawau. It’s drizzling in the morning. I’m concern about the gloomy weather but Pakri says that the red river is more beautiful when it has more water.
The Control Post of Mt. Wullersdorf Forest Reserve is the starting point of our climb to Wullersdorf Peak. Visitors need to register before the hike. You can be fined RM10,000 for illegal entry.
We hop on our pick-up truck to depart to the starting point of the climb. It’s a bumpy ride on a gravel road in an oil palm plantation. After 10 to 15 minutes, we reach the control post of Sabah Forestry Department. Besides us, there is team of 20 members from Lahad Datu Hash House guided by another agent, Uncle Mul.
About Wullersdorf
Mount Wullersdorf is part of Mount Wullersdorf Forest Reserve, which is 8,137 hectares in size. It’s linked with five other adjacent forest reserves to form a 64,953.74 Ha of Ulu Kalumpang-Wullersdorf Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Project. The Class-1 Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve which covers an area of 50,736 hectares is the biggest forest reserve under this project. This SFM Project is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) as a well-managed forest.
Mount Wullersdorf Forest Reserve is a fully protected Class-1 forest. Government and WWF is trying to restore the degraded and fragmented forest to re-establish forest connectivity between Mt. Wullersdorf and Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserves, so wildlife can move freely in the connected forests for more resources.
These forest reserves are also the habitat of threatened animals in Borneo such as orangutan, Bornean Pygmy Elephant, Bornean Sun Bear and Bornean Gibbon. Iconic birds like hornbills and Crested Fireback also nest there. Under good conservation, the mountains also protect the headwaters and water catchment areas that are source of water for Tawau and Kunak Districts. The rangers there also mention the sighting of a golden rat (I assume it’s a Malayan weasel or Yellow Throated Marten), and the tracks of a baby Sumatran rhino many years ago. Sadly this rhino species is declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia in 2015.
0 to 2 KM
After registration and briefing, we start to hike at 8:30am. FYI, you can use the toilet at the control post before and after the climb. The first 250 metres is a walk on flat ground covered with tall grasses and shrubs. About 10 minutes later we reach a manmade pond, which marks the start of the loop trail at foothill.
The first 250 metres of the hike. We started walking at 8:30am.
The trees are tall in the beginning and their dense canopy blocks the rain. I see a green path ahead. It’s a rugged riverbed trail littered with green mossy rocks, with red-colored stream flowing between them. The red water and green rock form a very striking contrast, the scenery is out of this world. No wonder they call it the “Lost World of Balung“.
The green mossy rocks and red streams form beautiful contrast along the trail
We climb up and down on these mossy rocks to ascend. Some of the rocks are slippery. It will help a lot if your hiking shoes have good grip, because most of the time we walk on river rocks. Overall, the trail is not really steep, but climbing hundred of rocks will slow you down. I’m the slowest one as I’m already too busy taking pictures in the first two kilometres.
Red River (Local Name: Sungai Merah)
This side of Mount Wullersdorf is dominated by heath forest, which grows on sandy soil with poor nutrients. With infertile environment, plants in heath forest are usually rich in tannins as a defense, which make them toxic or indigestible to plant eaters.
Over 50% of the trail is moving up along a river that is full of mossy boulders with tea-color stream flowing between them.
However, tannin is hard to break down. When water drains through thick dead leaves and debris that cover the forest floor, the tannins and humic acids leach through the porous sandy substrate, finding their way into streams, and dye the water with brownish tea color.
Foaming on the streams is common, due to the saponin and humic composition in the water
Such tea-colored water is also well-known for its foaming nature, probably due to the saponin and humic composition originated from the peat of heath forest. The water is a bit acidic but safe to drink after boiling.
Zura blowing the foam of red river for fun, as if she is in a bubble bath.
We are excited to see a few river rocks that have cracks with crystals inside them. The guides say there are more crystals on Wullersdorf Peak.
Crystals embedded in a river rock
First Peak
There are two peaks to conquer in our climb. The first peak is only 2 km away. When the peak is getting near, we move away from the river trail and walk up a slope with mild steepness. I notice there are some whitish volcanic rocks on the higher ground. We arrive the first peak at 10am.
An Ancient Volcano
Mount Wullersdorf is an extinct volcano. Such volcanic landscape is only found in Southeastern part of Sabah, where volcanic eruption occurred between 1 to 9 million years ago. Even today we can find the remnants of volcanism in Sabah such as Columnar Basalt at Balung River (Tawau) and Bohey Dulang Island in Semporna.
A tree full of pitcher plant before the first peak. You can easily tell that they are Nepenthes reinwardtiana by the two dots on their inner walls.
From Miocene to late Pleistocene, a series of volcanisms creates the major mountainous backbone of the Tawau mountains, which include Mount Wullersdorf, Mount Maria, and Bombalai Hill. The earlier volcanic rocks of andesitic and dacitic composition formed a line of composite volcanoes from Mount Magdalena to Mount Wullersdorf and Mount Pock at Semporna District.
Picture of the first Wullersdorf Peak and a barkless tree nearby
Most climbers wouldn’t realise that Mount Wullersdorf is an extinct volcano since most of the traces and features of volcanism are covered up by dense forest nowadays. I wonder how many people know there are at least 10 extinct volcanoes in Tawau.
Two variants of Nepenthes ampullaria near the peak of Wullersdorf. These cute pitcher plants have wide open mouth to collect leaf debris as nutrients.
Anyway, it’s easy to spot many pitcher plants around the first peak. Nepenthes ampullaria likes to grow in damp area under trees, where it can collect leaf debris as food with its wide open mouth. Nepenthes reinwardtiana (green variant) is another common pitcher plant on this mountain.
2rd to 6th KM
After a short break on the first peak we proceed to the second peak about 4 km away. The trail between the first and second peak is mainly jungle trail with more even surface, which I enjoy more. The peak area is heath forest, a forest type that covers only 2 to 3% of Borneo island, the home to the largest heath forests in Southeast Asia.
Milestone signages that tell us how many metres we have walked. The words are misleading because they make it sounds like a count down, which is not.
Heath Forest (Kerangas)
In contrast to the typical Borneo rainforest with towering trees, heath forests are characterized by shorter, pole-sized trees that are mostly lower than 20 metres with a stem diameter of 10-20 cm. The short-statured trees are a result of inherently infertile, acidic, white sandy soils.
Tropical heath forest of Wullersdorf forest. The soil is sandy and infertile so the vegetation is thinner.
The Iban people of Sarawak call heath forests as “Kerangas”, which means “forest with underlying soils that cannot grow rice”. Only specialized plants can survive such soils with poor nutrients. Though the plant diversity of heath forest is lower than rainforest, it has higher numbers of rare and endemic tree species with high conservation value.
Rhododendron flowers and an unknown fruit on the peak of Wullersdorf
Borneo has the widest variety of heath forest in Asia. Lowland heath forests (below 1,000 metres above sea level) like Wullersdorf are found inland on sandstone plateaus and cuesta formations on the hillsides.
Last 500 metres to the peak of Wullersdorf. The trees become smaller as we moved up.
The surrounding is lit because the small-crowned trees there don’t obstruct much sunlight. The higher the ground, the smaller the trees, to almost shrub-like. We walk in dense thickets of tidy straight bole stem trees with stunted appearance. The forest floor is criss-crossed by tangled roots, making the ground soft to walk on.
Approaching the peak of Wullersdorf, which is dominated by heath forest (kerangas)
One of the special trees we see is Tristaniopsis trees, easy to identify by its orange-brown, smooth and shiny trunk, with scrolls of bark that spontaneously peel-off, hanging as untidy bunches along the trunk and forming a heap at the base of the tree. The forest is quiet. We hear a few hornbills flying over the canopy.
Wullersdorf Peak (Height: 430 Metres)
As we are approaching the second peak, the trees getting sparse, more sandy soil is exposed and the ground is more rocky. Finally we reach Wullersdorf Peak by noon. It’s a rocky peak surrounded by loud cicada calls and greyish volcanic rocks.
We reached the Wullersdorf Peak at noon. The height of Mount Wullersdorf is about 430 metres (1,411 ft) above sea level.
We spend on summit to have our lunch. I decide to explore around the peak as the understory of heath forest is often filled with remarkable plant species.
Pitcher Plant and Ant Plant
Forests thrive on two primary nutrients: nitrogen and phosphorus, what the kerangas is lack of. Under nutrient-deficient environment, carnivorous pitcher plants survive by trapping and digesting insects for additional nutrition.
Different species of pitcher plant on Wullersdorf Peak. From the left: Nepenthes reinwardtiana (red variant), Nepenthes veitchii, Nepenthes ampullaria and Nepenthes gracilis
Uncle Mul told me that there are seven species of pitcher plant in Wullersdorf. I found Nepenthes ampullaria, Nepenthes reinwardtiana (red and green variants) and Nepenthes veitchii (endemic to Borneo).
Dischidia, aka Ant Plant. The pouch-like things are the modified leaves that are hollow inside for ants to nest, so the plant can absorb their waste as nutrients. This is a symbiotic relationship between ants and plant.
Instead of preying on insects, ant-plants choose to work with insects and build a symbiotic relationship with ants. I find a few green and yellow epiphytic ant-plants (Dischidia major) twine around the branches of trees. These ant-plants possess pouch-like modified leaves with hollow inside that acts as a shelter for ants. In exchange for the accommodation, the ants provide the plants with nitrogen-rich debris and feces.
Staghorn ferns of the peak of Wullersdorf Peak. It’s known as Tanduk Rusa (means Deer’s antler), an expensive ornamental plant. Pakri says it’s his first time seeing this fern in Wullersdorf.
Wild staghorn ferns and rhododendron flowers are my other favourite sighting in this kerangas garden. I’m sure there are more to see if I stay longer.
Crystals and Gold of Wullersdorf
The most fascinating feature of Wullersdorf are the crystal rocks, which are abundant on the peak. Quite a number of rocks there are embedded with translucent white and pinkish crystals of different shapes and sizes. I also find many crystal fragments on the ground. I never see anything like this in other places of Sabah.
Pitcher plant growing on a crystal rock
Some believe that crystals have healing powers and able to boost your mood. I don’t know if it’s true. But if you give me crystals, I’ll be in good mood. Don’t worry. I only photograph them and didn’t take any.
Big chunks of crystals on the peak. One has heart shape, some are pink colour and some covered by lichen.
In nature, crystal can form when magma cools and hardens. This glittering beauty is another evidence that proves Mount Wullersdorf was used to be a volcano. Scientists say volcanic crystals is a time capsule of eruption history. Hope we will learn more about this geotourism destination from its crystals.
Crystals are everywhere on Wullersdorf Peak. I took many pictures but didn’t bring home any crystal.
Wait, Wullersdorf has another fabulous mineral, GOLD. It’s estimated that about 30 tons of gold and 19 tons of silver are buried under a parcel of land about 948 hectares in the Mount Wullersdorf area. Well, we better don’t create another disaster like Mamut copper mine.
Return to Starting Point
After taking zillion of photos, I leave Wullersdorf Peak reluctantly. It’s a relief that we don’t need to turn back to the starting point using the same 6-km trail. We use the 1-kilometre shortcut to return to the starting point.
Left: a tree with big buttress at the foothill. Right: thorny chestnuts strewn on the forest floor
The descending trail takes about 40 minutes and it is the steepest part of the climb. Luckily there are some rope support for us to move down safely because part of the trail is quite slippery. We arrive foothill before 2pm as planned. I would say Wullersdorf Peak is one of the best hiking trails in Sabah. FYI, after the climb many hikers take a dip at the river of Batu Bersusun, the only Columnar Basalt in Malaysia, which is only 5 minutes away from Dewan Balung Cocos.
Is Mount Wullersdorf Hard to Climb?
The climbing trail to Wullersdorf Peak is not too steep and difficult, even for beginners. If you do workout regularly, it’s fairly easy. To experienced hikers, it’s just a long hike. The main challenge is to climb over the slippery rocks about half of the time. Wearing a good pair of hiking shoes can make a huge difference. It’s a bonus if the shoes are waterproof too, though you won’t walk in water.
A big and black lichen which is made up from algae and fungus. It only grows in pollution-free environment.
No rope support, stairway and hand rail are available for the first 6 kilometres. Some steep sections in the last 1-km descend have rope support. You would want to wear gloves for roping. Anti-leech socks are not necessary unless you can’t tolerate leech bite at all. According to the guides, for every 20 people, there might be only one or two of them might get leech bite, as leech (pacat) is not common there.
Cooling off in a pond after the climb. The forest of Wullersdorf is warm and humid.
The forest of Wullersdorf is warm and humid, wearing T-shirt and hiking pants is good enough (preferably quick dry). Drinking water is the most important. I finished 1.2 Litre of water. The summit has limited shade to protect you from afternoon sunlight, apply sunscreen if required.
I booked with Biro Pelancongan Koperasi. The fee is RM35 per person but requires a booking of minimum 10 people (or you can pay more). The fee includes permit (to enter forest reserve), vehicle transfer, guide, and certificate. The gathering point is in Kampung Balung Cocos (see Location Map), a village about 14 km from Tawau airport.
Tawau is crying. Because once tourists land on the airport of Tawau, they quickly head to Semporna, the diving paradise of Sabah. This makes Batu Bersusun the most neglected attraction, though it’s the only columnar basalt in Malaysia and 14 kilometres away.
Columnar joints of Batu Bersusun were formed during the cooling of hot lava about 27,000 years ago. The cooling process causes the rocks to form hexagonally extended columns.
“Batu Bersusun” means neatly arranged rocks. Along 100 metres of river bank at Balung River in Kampung Balung Cocos (Kampung means Village), thousands of interlocking and greyish rock pillars lined up tidily on both side of the river, like two rows of manmade wall. The natural wonder of this volcanic remnant is called columnar jointing. The local villagers call it Giram Nek Legek.
Batu Bersusun (Columnar Basalt) of Kampung Balung Cocos in Tawau, East Coast of Sabah
A quick look of Batu Bersusun (4K video)
The Formation of Batu Bersusun
Batu Bersusun is the only Columnar Basalt in Malaysia. In ancient time, Tawau was a land of volcanoes, the last volcanic eruption happened about 11,650 years ago. The columnar joints at Batu Bersusun were formed during the rapid cooling of hot lava, which was flowing from the eruption of Mount Maria about 27,000 years ago.
Batu Bersusun is open to public since year 2016. Visitors can come here to take photos, swim and camp around the river.
When the lava flow was cooling down fast by water, the contraction causes fracturing that split the hardened lava rocks into hexagonal columns, though some have 4, 5, 7, or 8 sides. The columnar basalt is about the same size, with a diameter about 30-40 cm, and uniformly arranged. The size of the columns was primarily determined by the speed at which lava cooled.
The water is murky after rain. In dry season, the water is clear and teal in colour. The water at waterfall is about 20 feet deep.
Actually, in East Malaysia, columnar basalt are also exposed in few locations such as Tatau and Kapit, but they are far smaller and less impressive than Batu Bersusun. The rock is classified as extrusive igneous with andesitic to basaltic compositions. It is one of the youngest volcanic eruptions during Quaternary (spans from 2.58 million years ago to the present).
The Batu Bersusun at Balung River of Tawau is the only columnar basalt in Malaysia
A Geotourism Destination
Columnar jointing of volcanic rocks is a unique geological feature only found in Sabah (and Malaysia). Sabah is rich in interesting geographical attractions such as Mount Kinabalu, Gomantong Cave, Poring Hot Springs and Imbak Canyon. Volcano remnants like Batu Bersusun will add more variety to our geotourism destinations.
Most of the columns are hexagonal, though some have 4, 5, 7, or 8 sides. During weekends, many locals come to swim in the pond
The most well-known columnar basalts are the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland and the Devils Tower in United States. Giant’s Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most popular tourist attractions in Northern Ireland. Devils Tower is the first United States national monument and a sacred place to native Americans.
The Columnar Basalt area is about 100 metres long
Even though the Batu Bersusun is smaller than Giant’s Causeway and Devils Tower, a waterfall columnar basalt in river is rare. Kampung Balung Cocos also has other nature attractions (e.g. Tagal river, Wullersdorf Peak, Pyramid Hill) that can be bundled with Batu Bersusun to turn this village into a must-visit place.
Basalt columns are natural pillars made of hardened lava. The dark line above water surface shows the depth of water during flood.
At the same period when Batu Bersusun was formed (27,000 years ago), megafauna such as tiger, tapir and giant pangolin (3 metres long) were present in Borneo, so were some Stone Age settlements of Australoid or Negrito people.
The columnar basalt, of pentagonal and hexagonal columns appears to be of about the same size and uniformly arranged.
During that time, sea level was decreased by 30–40 metres or more in the last glacial period (from approximately 110,000 to 12,000 years ago). Sabah and the rest of Borneo island was connected to Java, and Sumatra to the Malay Peninsula and mainland Asia in a landmass known as the Sundaland. If you were born that time, you can walk from Sabah to Kuala Lumpur on foot.
“Batu Bersusun” means neatly arranged rocks.
Visit Batu Bersusun
Batu Bersusun (see Location Map) is located in Kampung Balung Cocos, which is about 14 km from Tawau Airport and 39 km from Tawau town. The site is fairly accessible by paved road and navigable by Google Map and Waze apps. However, the last 600 metres is a descending and narrow gravel road that passes through an oil palm plantation. Anyway I can get there with a small Sedan (Axia).
The last 600-metre road to Batu Bersusun is a descending gravel road pass through an oil palm plantation.
Batu Bersusun is open to the public since 2016. It’s in a private property (of Mr. Muhammad) and the entry fee is RM3.00 per person. Walk-in visitor is welcome. You can park your car in front of owner’s house. Toilet and changing rooms are available, where you can change to swimwear or take a shower.
Left: Most population of Kampung Balung Cocos are Cocos Malay. The Cocos people originally settled on the Cocos or Keeling Islands, which are part of Australia. Right: Columnar Basalt is also found in Teck Guan Cocoa Village (Tawau), but in smaller size and scale.
There is a 100-metre stairway to go down to the river with columnar basalt. You can walk or relax on the volcanic rocks to take pictures but be careful of the slippery rock surface.
Left: toilet and changing rooms. Right: 2-floor view tower
Most locals come here to swim in the waterfall pond and enjoy “jacuzzi” massage by the waterfall. The water level is about 4 to 10 feet. The deepest part is 20 feet under the waterfall. In dry season, the water is clear and the pond is in teal colour. I took the photos after rain so it’s murky.
The 100-metre stairway to Batu Bersusun at Balung River. Note there is a shelter where you can rest or camp.
You can camp under the view tower or shelter near the river. Never camp on the columnar basalt because the rocks would be flooded after heavy rain. There is no shop and restaurant nearby. Bring your own food and drink if you plan to have a riverside picnic.
Industrialization enables mass-production but it sacrifices the food quality. Luckily, some still hold the belief that human food is better made by human rather than factory machinery. That’s why food lovers really appreciate the handmade noodles from a few Sabah towns, for example, Tuaran Mee, Tamparuli Mee and Beaufort Mee (Mee means Noodle).
Beaufort Mee (Beaufort Fried Noodle, “保佛面” in Chinese) tastes really good though it’s less famous, so it deserves to be featured here.
Restoran Beaufort (保佛饭店)
Beaufort Mee is originated from Beaufort, a town nearly 100 KM from Kota Kinabalu (KK). Fortunately, you can find one of the best Beaufort Mee in KK. Restoran Beaufort (保佛饭店) is only 6 KM from KK and very popular for its Beaufort Mee (see Location Map).
Normally Beaufort Mee is best served hot in “wet fried” style and covered in thick gravy, with green vegetable and pork (usually meat slices and roasted pork slices). The noodle is soft and “juicy”, but not oily. Yes, it does taste better than ordinary noodle. The pork is smooth, sweet and tender.
You may notice that they put a lot of vegetable, so green that it might look less appetizing to carnivorous food lovers like me. But I must tell you that this vegetable is the “secret weapon” of Restoran Beaufort. It’s Chinese Mustard or Choy-Sim (菜心 in Chinese, Sawi Manis in Malay), the most commonly used vegetable for any type of noodles in Sabah.
However, they are using organic vegetable and it makes a big difference. It is fresh, sweet and crunchy! The owner told me that they appoint farmer to plan organic vegetable for them and it costs almost twice as expensive than the organic veg from Ranau.
Ok, you don’t mind driving 1.5 hours to Beaufort to try Beaufort Mee. You can ask any local in Beaufort, all of them will recommend Foh Chuan Restaurant (see Location Map).
Kedai Makan dan Minum Foh Chuan (老伙船面粥小馆) in Beaufort town
Foh Chuan is just next to a mosque in Beaufort. The owner is Ah Hiong (阿雄) and Foh Chuan is the name of his father. His mobile phone number is +60 12 8392600 if you want more info.
Beaufort Mee Goreng Basah (Wet Fried Beaufort Noodle)
Foh Chuan is open daily (Mon-Sat: 7am-2:30pm, Sun: 7am-1pm). The shop closes earlier so they can make Beaufort Mee in the afternoon. I strongly advise you to visit this restaurant in early morning because their handmade Beaufort Mee is sold out fast. They only have factory-made noodle for latecomers, sad if you drive 1.5 hours for real Beaufort Mee. Sunday is not a good day too as they prepare less items that day.
Konlon Beaufort Mee (Dry Beaufort Noodle)
Besides Beaufort Mee, Foh Chuan serves other delicious food too, like the Fried Rice Noodle (see photo below). They purposely burn the roasted pork slices (焦叉烧 in Chinese) a bit so it tastes sweeter with stronger BBQ flavor.
Left: Fried mihun with slightly burnt cha-sao (Char siu). Right: Beef soup is great to go with your noodleFood menu of Kedai Makan dan Minum Foh Chuan (prices as of Jan 2024)
