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Takob-Akob Waterfall

Part 5 of 8. Trip to Nepenthes Camp (Heath Forest)

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Continued from Part 4…

Day 4 in Maliau Basin

I am ready to go home today morning. We have to cancel our trip halfway coz Ms. S is injured and suffer muscle pain. When all of us are in “quitting” mode, Ms. S has geared up and I can sense the “Go! Go! Go!” mood on her face. “Did you tell her… our decision?” I ask the others quietly. They look at one another and shake their heads. What?!! None of us told her the bad news? Probably nobody dares to upset her.

Then she is quite shock to find out the rest of us have decided (without her) to cancel the trip and return to Maliau Basin Studies Centre today. She assures J, our guide, and O, Senior Ranger, that she is almost fully recover, after she did the stretching exercise advised by the doctor over the night. J is very doubtful and tries to convince her to stop. Then they quarrel. The rest stay away from the “storm” and wait. It is not for us to decide because only Ms. S knows her own condition.


Above: GPS reading of Ginseng Camp

Soon the thunderstorm is over, the face of our guide looks pale, like a cock losing a fight; he comes and informs us to get ready to Nepenthes Camp. We almost jump and scream in joy. Though we wish to continue the trip, we really concern about her condition. We don’t want her to proceed just because she doesn’t want to spoil our trip. Again, she shows no intention of quitting. The guides say they will observe her condition, if she can’t make it for the first 500 Meters, then we have to turn back. If you read my last blog, you know how terrible the trail is. Later we find that we worry too much. She always walks at the front. The “Iron Lady” is back!


Above: GPS reading of Nepenthes Camp

Going to Nepenthes Camp

At 8:30am, we start walking from Ginseng Camp (566 M above sea level) to Nepenthes Camp (formerly Camel Trophy Camp) at 1,005 Meters. Today is also one of the best days. In 7KM of jungle trekking from 566M to 1,000M in elevation (a lot of climbing then!), we will pass through 3 types of forest, namely, mixed dipterocarp rainforest, lower montane forest and heath forest. We will stay in Nepenthes Camp for a night.


Above: trail (in red) from Ginseng Camp to Nepenthes Camp


Above: trail in 3D model

The terrain is as undulating as our previous trails. We first walk in mixed dipterocarp rainforest with many hundred-feet trees, quite similar to what I saw in Agathis-Ginseng trail. For every 100 Meters we ascend, the temperature drops by 0.75 degree Celsius, so it is getting cool and fresh.

About two hours later, a forest of huge trees changes to a forest full of slim and short trees only about 15 to 30 Meters high. Conspicuous green cushions of mosses, liverworts and lichens are seen along the trail. We have entered the Lower Montane Forest (750M – 850M above sea level). There are some weird plants that you would notice in montane forest (see photos below).


Above: Tristaniopsis sp. tree with orange bark, you can peel off the skin easily.


Above: a Rengas tree which can cause intense allergies, and is related to the well known Poison Ivy.


Above: Fan palm is common in montane forest

Heath Forest: Garden of Pitcher Plant

Then we saw the first pitcher plant at 11am. Very soon we saw many more small pitcher plants along the trail. The guide asks us not to waste our time to photograph these ordinary pitcher plants, because there are more big and special ones ahead. And they are right. We enter the tropical heath forest, also a garden of pitcher plant! We can see very obvious change of vegetation; the heath forest contains dense stands of smaller sized, small-crowned & shorter trees mostly shorter than 20 Meters. The trail is quite narrow, but more sunlight due to smaller canopy.


Above: first pitcher plant

Occur from 900 to 1,600 Meters above sea level and occupy 21% of Maliau Basin, heath forest is a type of tropical moist forest found in areas with leached, acidic, white sandy soils that are extremely nutrient-poor. Heath Forest is locally known as Kerangas in Iban language, the word means a forested land with underlying soils which are unsuitable for growing rice. There are not many heath forest in Sabah and this is the first time I see it.


Above: white sandy soil in heath forest

Because of the infertile soil, the plant is rich in tannins, which is indigestible or toxic to plant eaters. The tannins leaching out of the peaty leaf litter is hard to be broken down, so it stays in the water. The reddish brown color of river water in Maliau Basin is mainly caused by heath forest. The forest floor is criss-crossed by tangled roots encrusted in moss, making the ground very marshy and soft.

We can see fascinating pitcher plants in every few steps. Some are on the ground, and some dangled up to tree top, attempting to capture high flying insects. Except Maliau and Mesliau, there is no other place in Sabah where I can see such a big concentration of pitcher plant. 9 species of pitcher plant are found in Maliau Basin, namely, N. veitchii, N. tentaculata, N. stenophylla, N. mirabilis, N. hirsuta, N. lowii, N. gracilis, N. reinwardtiana, N. stenophylla x veitchii (hybrid). Most of the pitcher plants I see in this heath forest are Nepenthes veitchii and Nepenthes stenophylla.

Besides rich variety of pitcher plant, we also found some flowering orchids and Rhododendron. 21 species of Rhododendron are found in Maliau Basin. I was told that many Japanese tourists and botanists don’t want to leave this natural botanical garden as they love it so much. Mr. T is a plant expert, so he keeps me busy taking photos by showing me some unique and rare plants around.

There are fewer leeches in heath forest, but they are bigger here. Probably due to the white sandy soil here, the tiger leech has white, instead of yellow, stripes at the side of its bodies. We don’t see any other animals except a noisy Temmink’s Sunbird. We are close to the camp when we enter the Jalan Babi (Wild Boar Road), which is a clear and wide trail created by migration of wild boars that feed on fallen acorns. You better stay close with your guide because there are many junctions here, as you could be lost easily.


Above: “Wild Boar” road

Nepenthes Camp (formerly Camel Trophy Camp)

We arrived the Nepenthes Camp at 2pm (a total of 5.5 hours of walking). Constructed by the participants of Camel Trophy (hence the old name “Camel Trophy Camp”) in 1993, Nepenthes Camp was the first and oldest permanent camp within the Maliau Basin and it is located strategically at the meeting point of lower montane forest and heath forest on southern plateau of Maliau Basin.

Nepenthes Camp is a 2-storey wooden house smaller than Ginseng Camp. It is complete with bunk beds, showers, kitchen, toilet and solar electricity, which can accommodate up to 15 visitors. Personally I think it is more comfortable than Ginseng Camp, coz it has proper rooms with beds. The ground floor is the kitchen, dining area, toilet and shower room, and our rooms are in 1st floor.

Nepenthes Camp is the oldest camp and frequented by most visitors, so it has the most number of plaques (nearly hundred) created by tourists. Some plaques are very creative and interesting. We can spend hours just to look at them, which is great, as we have nothing to do at night. We also find the names of our friends on some plaques.


Above: part of the plaque collection in Nepenthes Camp


Above: Honeymoon in Maliau Basin. Are they serious?


Above: this one made in 2002, probably the oldest plaque

Giluk Falls

I have a quick lunch at Nepenthes Camp, then proceed to Giluk Falls at 2:30pm. Ms. D and Mr. T are tired and so they don’t follow me and Ms. S. We walk so fast that we arrive Upper Giluk Waterfall in an hour. Giluk Falls is also a multi-tier waterfall but it is much more smaller than Maliau Falls. However, it has the beauty of its own.

We can see white foams flowing slowly on the water (look like someone does her laundry in the upstream). Actually these frothy white foams are created by soapy saponins from the leaves, and they are commonly seen on the river around heath forest. The reddish brown river is rich in Humic acids, produced by, and washed from, the very slowly decaying leaf litter beneath the heath forests and highest montane forest. Humic acids are difficult to degrade so they remain in the river. The water is also low in oxygen level, so only 4 fishes and 2 crab species are found in the rivers of Maliau Basin.

Due to time constraint, we don’t go to Takob-Akob Waterfall, which is far away with very challenging landscape. We are back to the Nepenthes Camp around 5:20pm.

Update (May 2011): I visited Takob-Akob Falls, the tallest waterfall (38 Meters) in Maliau Basin, in my second trip. You may watch the video below:

Click Here for bigger video

The Evening

The water pump in Nepenthes Camp broke down, so we have very limited water that we have to take our shower in a river nearby. But I have to climb down a 5-feet drop, walk on the dirty muddy riverside to the river, so I give up. I get a scoop of clean water in the toilet to wash myself with wet towel.

Nepenthes Camp is powered by 6 solar panel on the roof. The electricity is only enough for lighting of our dinner. During dinner time, about 3 Malay Civet cats (Viverra tangalunga) turn up outside our house. We give them our leftover food and they enjoy it. Though they keep a distance from us, they seem to get used to human already. One of them is lack of one limb and being chased away by other two. If you stay still, they can come as close as 2 Meters away. From the info of other web sites, visitors and guides have been feeding them since year 2001 (but I’m not sure if it is always the same group of civets).

The night in Nepenthes Camp is not too cold, probably we sleep in a proper room. The sky is so clear and full of stars. I can even see the Milky Way (our galaxy) runs across the sky like two parallel silver rivers. It’s so great to be alive. You can’t see this in city coz it is overshadowed by street light and dusty air. We feel so relaxing because we have finished all the challenging trails. Tomorrow we will go back to Agathis Camp and it is mainly descending trail.

Late in midnight, I heard someone was shouting to the air. Next day I was told that it was a guide who asked for “permission” from spirit so he can pee from the balcony. The reason was – when he took shower with another guide at the river in evening, they felt that “someone” throwing thing at them. He might think that the spirit in forest dislikes him, so he tries to be respectful.

>> Read Next Article (Part 6)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

All Articles of Maliau Basin Trip:
Part 1. Introduction to Maliau Basin
Part 2. Day 1 in Maliau Basin
Part 3. Day 2 in Maliau. Trekking to the 1st camp
Part 4. Day 3 in Maliau. Maliau Waterfall
Part 5. Day 4 in Maliau. Entering the garden of pitcher plant
Part 6. Day 5 in Maliau. Skybridge & Night Safari
Part 7. Day 6 in Maliau. Leaving Maliau
Part 8. Conclusion & Notes

More Photos

You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures:

BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Part 4 of 8. Trip to Maliau Waterfall

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Continued from Part 3

Day 3 in Maliau Basin

I open my eyes and say good morning to a cockroach on my bed. Today we will go to the famous 7-tier Maliau Waterfall, which is one of the highlights of our Maliau Basin trip. Due to its hilly terrain and network of rivers, Maliau Basin has the densest number of waterfalls in Malaysia. To date, about 20 waterfalls were discovered in Maliau, and there should be more waterfalls that are not found and named.


Above: route in red is our trail to Maliau Falls today

Above: trail in 3D

The book “Maliau Basin” describes, “The Basin represents a single catchment, and is drained by a set of radiating tributaries of the Maliau River, one of which descends a magnificent series of waterfalls, known as Maliau Falls. The Maliau River then drains through a gorge out of the southeast of the Basin into the Kuamut River, which in turn feeds into the Kinabatangan, the longest river in Sabah.”

Going to Maliau Waterfall

We will come back to Ginseng Camp after the visit, so we can pack light and don’t need any porter. Unfortunately, Ms S hasn’t recovered from her muscle pain so she cannot join us. To stock more energy, I eat as much as I can for breakfast, and we depart for Maliau Falls, which is about 4.8KM one way, at 7:50am. Folklore has it that the Maliau Falls keeps a secret of a sleeping dragon under the water falls, and the movement of its big tail can cause flood.

Very soon we reached the most torturing part of the trail. It was a 300 Meters of very steep trail, which is our fierce battlefield with the gravity. We have to get a hold of the ropes and small trees next to the trail to move up slowly. It is only a small section of the trail but the climb already drains nearly half of my energy. This day is my worst day in Maliau trip. The straps of my heavy camera and tripod causing pain to my shoulder too. The good news is, after this challenging part, there are about 3 easier hilly trails to overcome ahead. The bad news is, tomorrow we will need to cross this part again to go to Nepenthes Camp.


Above: a huge Agathis tree

We stopped by Lobah Camp for a refreshing break. Lobah Camp (formerly Helipad Camp), which is 2 KM away from Maliau Falls, is a helipad on a clear hill. From here you will get a 230 degree panoramic view of Maliau Basin, a nice midway stop between Ginseng Camp and Maliau Waterfall. FYI, there is a water tank nearby for you to refill water (unboiled rain water).


Above: Lobah Camp got its name from the Lobah palm tree, which is abundant around the camp.


Above: Lobah Camp


Above: view from Lobah Camp

Below is a 1-minute video of Lobah Camp and its water tanks.

Part of the trail is quite flat and comfortable to walk on. I really enjoy the “ridge walk” on Bambangan ridge, the constant cool breeze there is like a natural air-cond. We are greeted by the calls of numerous Bornean gibbons (Hylobates muelleri) and even see a few of them swing very fast from tree to tree (but they look really clumsy walking on the branch, haha..). We saw a group of red-leaf monkey too. Do you know that every square KM in Maliau Basin has 35 individuals of gibbons / leaf monkey? This is the highest density in Sabah.

The guide in front also spotted a sun bear. Very often we hear the loud wing flapping noise of hornbills passes by the canopy, and the funny call of Helmeted hornbill that sounds like laughing. In Maliau Basin, you can find all 8 species of Hornbills of Sabah, with Rhinoceros Hornbill as the dominant species here. We see some interesting mushroom and fungus along the trail.

We start to descend to lower altitude (about 300 Meters asl) and feel the sweltering heat of lowland forest. Then we hear the waterfall about 1KM away. It should be a gigantic waterfall as it is so loud. We are motivated to walk faster. The last 100 Meter to the Maliau Waterfall is another steep descending trail. It was such a joyful moment to reach the waterfall at 11:35am! We were at the 6th tier of the 28-Meter-high Maliau Waterfall. The cascading waterfalls are caused by alternating hard sandstone and softer mudstone beds, wear out in different speed of water erosion.


Above: The signage of Maliau Falls. Don’t you think the warnings “No Swimming” and “Swim at Your Own Risk” are contradict to each other?

Below is a 1-minute video of Maliau Falls:

The Majestic 7-tiers Maliau Falls

OMG OMG WOW it is so cool! Due to last 2 days of raining, the roaring Maliau Waterfall is in its most beautiful form. In no time, I setup my tripod and shoot photos like crazy. Ms D swam in the tea-color water (rich with caustic tannins & soapy saponins leached from the fallen leaves). Actually we are between the 6th and 7th tier of Maliau Falls. With a height of 28 Meters (about 9 floor high), the 6th tier is the highest. The lowest tier is about 15 Meters. To me, the Maliau Falls look more like a few separate waterfalls on the same river. Is the “7-tier” a marketing gimmick or it is really a multi-tier waterfall “technically”? No matter what, Maliau Falls is one of the most photogenic waterfalls in Malaysia.

Maliau Falls is the most popular attraction of Maliau Basin and most visitors target for it. FYI, any visitor who reaches Maliau Falls will earn a certificate. We deserve it as the trail is so far and more challenging than climbing Mt. Kinabalu. We enjoy our packed lunch at the river side, and then continue with more photography (and swimming). After living under the dark and humid forest for days, I am really pleased with the view of flowing water under bright sun.

There are so many sweat bees, stingless bees and honey bees fly around and harvest the sweat on our skin. Probably they are lack of salt in the forest. To avoid agitating them, I just ignore them, but one of the big wild honey bees bites me. It’s so painful! I guess it is just too excited and want to bite off a piece of the salt (my skin!). Below are a few photos (taken in Agathis Camp) to show you how crazy these bees are when they smell salt on the shirt.

Return to Ginseng Camp

The sky turns cloudy and it might rain anytime, so we leave the waterfall at 1:20pm. I finish 1.2 Litre of my drinking water, so I refill my bottle with the tea-color water from the river. Yes, I know drinking uncooked water is not safe, but the risk of getting dehydration is a lot higher than diarrhoea now. From what I read from blog of others, many visitors don’t have enough water for the returning trip and they were badly dehydrated, so be warned. No, the tea-colored river water does not taste or smell funny. It tastes like normal fresh water. If you are very thirsty in the forest, water is the sweetest thing in the world. I advise you to bring some Iodine tablets to purify uncooked water before consumption. Mr. T is also short of water, but he refuses to take uncooked water. Then he suffers dehydration followed by fatigue and almost passed out twice. Luckily we all return safely to Ginseng Camp at 5:15pm.


Above: a natural wall that looks like man-made structure. This area was sea million years ago and the fossils of corals and seashell were found around this place.

A Sad Night

Sitting still for day to rest didn’t help, Ms. S doesn’t get any better. Her muscle is still in pain and she walks like an injured cat. Then a group of Canadian tourists enter the camp, one of them is doctor and one is an athlete who is familiar with sport injury. After listening to the problem of Ms. S, they seem to fully understand what she goes through, so they teach Ms. S the stretching exercise that could ease her muscle to recover faster. Ms. S really wants to get well soon, so she even wakes up at night to do the stretching every hour, and taking anti-inflammatory every 8 hours.

We have cabbage, mixed vegetables, egg plant, scrambled eggs and Miso soup as our dinner. Since we are so hungry, we really enjoy the dinner time and keep talking about the exciting things of the day. After the dinner, our guide, Mr. J has a discussion with us when Ms. S is not around. In view of her situation, we all think that she won’t make it next day, and we shouldn’t leave her behind and have fun on our own. We all agree to cancel the trip and turn back to Maliau Basin Studies Centre tomorrow morning. The porters will prepare a stretcher to carry Ms. S out.

When the trip is so fantastic until now and my spirit is so high (and I pay so much $$$), and I have to quit at this moment?!! This decision is such a big blow, my heart sinks to my knees, but I know that’s the best decision and we have no choice. I can’t describe my feeling; it’s a mix of disappointment, sadness, dismay, frustration, etc. But accident happens. I don’t blame her. I start to pack my stuffs for the trip back to starting point next day.

Tonight is not too cold but I can’t fall in sleep. Since there is no street light, it is pitch dark, 100% dark. Even though I open my eyes widely for a long time, I still can’t see a thing, as if I am blind! Then I hear something as big as a cat running around our beds. Without light, I wonder how those nocturnal animals see at night.

Later I have a dream that the God takes us home. Just kidding..

>> Next Article (Part 5)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

All Articles of Maliau Basin Trip:
Part 1. Introduction to Maliau Basin
Part 2. Day 1 in Maliau Basin
Part 3. Day 2 in Maliau. Trekking to the 1st camp
Part 4. Day 3 in Maliau. Maliau Waterfall
Part 5. Day 4 in Maliau. Entering the garden of pitcher plant
Part 6. Day 5 in Maliau. Skybridge & Night Safari
Part 7. Day 6 in Maliau. Leaving Maliau
Part 8. Conclusion & Notes

More Photos

You may check out my Maliau Basin photo album for more pictures:

BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Impian Lake, a lake made by volcano

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Sabah does not have many natural lakes. The 20-Acre Impian Lake (Tasik Impian) in Kunak is a very special one because it was a volcano crater about 20,000 to 30,000 years ago.


Even though the volcano had long extinguished, the underground thermal activity is still carried on. There is a hot spring just behind the mountain.


Impian means “Dream” in Malaysia language. It is indeed a beautiful lake. The lake view is just not so “Sabah”. Most lakes I saw around Sabah are small, murky and covered with green algae (due to pollution).


Impian Lake also plays a part in shaping the human history of Sabah. If I heard the guide correctly, this lake was used to be a river, but later its exit point was blocked and it became a lake. The water stopped flowing to a very important archeological site of Sabah, i.e. Tingkayu, one of the most advanced civilizations during that time. The Tingkayu Lake dried up, so the people was forced to move to Madai.


Impian Lake is inside the Mostyn Oil Palm Plantation, a private land under Sime Darby. The company turns this area into a golf course and builds a resthouse (Lake View Resthouse) for the members. They do a great job to maintain the area.


The yellow floating plant is Salvinia molesta from South America. It looks pretty but it’s an invasive water weed that spells disaster to the lake ecology, because it can deplete the oxygen of the lake water, threatening the fishes and aqua-animals in the water. They are trying to remove it.


Thanks to Sime Darby for keeping this lake and didn’t destroy it for development.


You would see a big crocodile skull inside the Lake View Resthouse. It is facing the Impian Lake, where it was belong to. The older generation still remember that in 1966, a white man jogged around Impian Lake and saw a white crocodile. He took out his rifle and shot it. After the white crocodile died, it rained so heavily that this area was flooded for 2 days. The people of Borneo believe that white crocodile is the avatar of the supernatural force and they should not harm the white crocodile (or they will be punished by natural disaster).

Photos taken in Kunak, Sabah Malaysia

Kunak Hot Spring

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The east coast of Sabah seems to have many underground thermal activities. Besides the sulphurous hot springs in Tawau Hills Park, there is also a hot spring in the Sungang Plantation (oil palm) of Sime Darby near Kunak town. Mosquito is a problem there so you need to bring your insect repellent.


This is the source of the hot spring.


If you look closer, you could see water flowing out of the rocks.


Due to security concern, Sime Darby does not actively promote this attraction. They only try to preserve it.


The water is quite hot, probably hot enough to boil an egg. You can see steam coming out of water.


Vincent could not wait to try the hot spring. Since no bikini babe available, I used him as the model. The water is not very hot if you stay further from the source. The water looked a bit murky. It’s supposed to be clear water.


The volcano boulders around give you a hint about the hot spring. The hot spring is the result of underground thermal activity.


View of the hot spring.


There is a cool stream next to the hot spring. After you have enough fun with the hot spring, you may try the cold water in the stream. Be warned, you would get thermo shock.


Small hut next to the hot spring.


Frankly speaking, this hot spring is not really impressive. I blog it for your info only. A new saltwater hot spring is discovered lately on the high ground at the Sime Darby plantation in Tingkayu at some 650 feet (around 216 metres) from sea level, that one is more unique.

This hot spring is inside the private land of Sime Darby, it is not for walk-in visitors. If you are interested in visiting or look for tour info, please check out www.darvelbay.com.my.

Photos taken in Kunak, Sabah Malaysia

Japanese War Tunnel

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The 3-year-8-month Japanese occupation in Borneo was a nightmare for our people. Many have heard the terrible things that they had done, but there is so little documentation about the bloody history. However, whatever you did and wherever you went, you would leave traces behind. That’s why I visited a few ex Japanese war attractions in Kunak (a town near to Lahad Datu of Sabah east coast).


The first stop is an ex Japanese administration office built in 1942 (during World War II) and located inside Mostyn oil palm plantation which belongs to Sime Darby.


Actually this small house was built by British, if I am not mistaken.


You might wish to find gold inside but it is empty, FYI.


The view from the rear. That’s it. Nobody knows much about it.


Just a stone throw from the administration office is an ex site of a Japanese temple. Sadly, only two wooden poles, which were the gate of the temple, stand until today.


Front view of the “temple”. Every year there is a bus load of Japaneses comes to this site. They pray here then proceed to the Japanese war tunnel. They seem to know something about the history.


See the hill at the right? During WWII Japanese occupation, if anyone did anything wrong, the Japanese would hang them on top of that hill for everyone to see, to serve as a warning. Of course the gallows is no longer there as nobody needs it.


After touring around the ex Japanese administration office and temple, we went to the ex Japanese war tunnel (about 12KM from Kunak town), which is more than an hour drive away. We are still inside the area of Sime Darby oil palm plantation.


The entrance of the war tunnel. It is fenced to prevent people fall into this big hole.


Nobody knew about this war tunnel until part of the tunnel collapsed and revealed an opening to the tunnel. An Iban worker saw the tunnel in 1970s when he cleared the forest there.


See the dark cave at the bottom? It’s the opening to the tunnel. The staircase was the structure built later for visitors to enter the tunnel.


Another view of the entrance to the tunnel.


Chua, one of the guides, stood there to show you the scale of the cave.


Another angle of the entrance.


The brave ladies entering the tunnel. I was told that someone used that tunnel as black magic site. So do not enter if you have “weak spirit / aura”.


The tunnel is totally dark. Bring a torchlight before you go inside. Smoking is not allowed in the tunnel coz we are not sure if there is any flammable gas inside.


After getting in from the small opening, we were impressed by the size of the tunnel. It’s so spacious. I saw a few bats flying around and the air is very humid, with a bit of smell of guano. I’m not sure if this is a man-made cave. Kunak was a active volcano site in the past, so it could be a natural lava tube. Most caves in Sabah are limestone caves created by prolong erosion. Huge and long lava cave is very rare in Sabah.


The floor is wet, muddy, slippery and full of rocks and rubble, so watch your step. There is a group of Japanese comes to this tunnel every year. At least one of them was a student studied in Kunak during WWII. They even have the map of this tunnel but they decline to disclose more information. Before Japan invaded Borneo, Japan sent many citizens to work in plantation and business sectors in east coast of Sabah. These Japanese in Sabah may have “special mission”, so there is no surprise they worked with the army. But this is only a guess by the historians. This tunnel leaves more question marks as there is no documentation.


You may ask, “why don’t you just explore and do the mapping yourselves?” So far there is nobody fully explores the tunnel, because the air is very thin deep inside and all failed to do a full survey. We already felt a bit of breathing difficulty even a short distance away from the entrance. We only went in for about 50 feet. From what I read, the tunnel has 5 junctions which led to different exits. One links to a beach, one links to Madai forest 8 KM away, and one links to a private house (the family seals the exit). Some even said one of them links to Sulawesi sea. If you are interested in caving and history, we welcome you to survey the war tunnel. There might be some interesting discovery such as hidden gold treasure? The Japanese might use it as secret passage and arsenal.


Most felt uncomfortable and went out. The guides and me decided to explore a bit more deeper for photography. Due to the irregular and slippery surface, it was a bit hard to walk. In the photo is Vincent, one of the guides. The tunnel is so high and wide that a car can drive through. Part of the tunnel allows 10-wheel truck to pass through.


Vincent did the Cuti-Cuti Malaysia (Malaysia holiday ad) pose. Actually there is nothing on top, except the dripping water.


Scribble left in the tunnel. Written in 1974?


Doesn’t the war tunnel look like the throat of a huge monster? At their back is the entrance. Hopefully this attraction will bring more tourists to Kunak. Since this war tunnel is inside private land of Sime Darby, it is not open for walk-in visitors. If you are interested in visiting or looking for tour info, please check out www.darvelbay.com.my.

Photos taken in Kunak, Sabah Malaysia

Danum Valley, 130-million-year old Borneo rainforest

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Though a large part of Sabah is covered by forest, very few have seen the beauty of virgin Borneo rainforest. Most forest that we see around our cities and countryside is degraded jungle or secondary forest. Compared to regenerated forest, undisturbed virgin forest is characterised by taller trees, with denser, richer and more biodiversified of flora and fauna.

If you want me to name the jungle that is best representing Borneo tropical rainforest, I will say Danum Valley. With a size of 438 square KM, this 130-million-year old forest is older than Amazon rainforest (60 million years) and the habitat of Borneo’s rarest and most precious plant and wildlife.


Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

5-STAR RAINFOREST

Mostly lowland dipterocarp and riverine forest, Danum Valley is one of the richest conservation areas in the world with over 200 species of tree per hectare. You could find huge commercial timbers such as Kapur,Keruing, Seraya and Belian everywhere. To lumbering companies, these trees look like standing gold bars. To scientists, this forest is the least explored treasure, which holds the secrets that can change our future. But sadly, to most Sabahans, these are just wood that ought to be cut to give way to development.


Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

I was in Danum Valley last month but stayed for less than 24 hours. Danum Valley is 97KM at west of Lahad Datu. After travelling over 2 hours over a gravel road, I reached Borneo Rainforest Lodge, the accommodation in Danum Valley, about 8pm. I left at 1:30pm in the following day, so I only tried night drive at night, 2.6-KM jungle trekking in next morning and canopy walk in next afternoon.


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NIGHT DRIVE

After every tourists got to the back of a jeep, we started our night drive around 8:30pm. The jeep moved slowly on the road, with a “spotter” who held a spotlight and scanned the surrounding forest for reflection of the animal eyes. Once an animal was spotted, the car stopped and the friendly guide would explain what we saw. That night we saw only flying squirrel (the tail), firefly, mouse deer, bearded pig and Sambar Deer, not much. Due to the bright full moon, most animals were hiding deep inside the jungle to avoid predators. Another group who did night walking inside the forest saw many interesting things though, e.g. huge stick insect, colourful frog, civet cats and leopard cat.


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JUNGLE TREKKING

The next morning we started our jungle trekking at 6am in the morning. I was already there at 5:40am and I saw a big orangutan fed on the fruit tree in front of Borneo Rainforest Lodge (BRL). According to the BRL staff, its name is “King” and it always comes here during fruiting season. There is also another orangutan family also comes here quite often. Seeing orangutan in the wild is such a wonderful experience. King didn’t seem to bother about the presence of people and carried on his feeding from branch to branch.


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There are over 50KM of jungle trails for visitors to appreciate the pristine rainforest in Danum Valley. One of the most recommended trails is the 2.6-KM View Point trail, the one that I was trying. Be observant and you will spot many types of orchids, lichens, lianas, fungus and mushroom along the trail. The morning of Danum Valley is always misty and cooling as if it has a macro-climate of its own. It’s a leisure walk coz of the cooling fresh air (but can be tiring to those who are lack of physical exercise). You also can hear lot of loud gibbon calls.

Ancient Kadazandusun Burial Site. After 40 minutes of walking, we took the junction that led us to an ancient burial site at a cliff. We were asked to be keep quiet and be respectful. The guide showed us a 200-year ancient coffin, who was made of strong Belian wood (Diamond Wood) and belongs to a chief. There is also a blowpipe inside the coffin. These coffins belong to Dusun Supan who lived around this area in the past (now they had moved to lowland at Kinabatangan). Later we went to a platform high above the ground, to see a small coffin of a child. Besides the coffin is a pile of old human bones and skeleton. Then we returned to the View Point trail and continued the trekking.


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View Point. After 16 minutes, we reached the View Point which has two wooden platforms to get a breathtaking bird eye view of rainforest and Borneo Rainforest Lodge. You won’t understand how happy I was to see an ocean of pristine rainforest. After seeing so many oil palm “forest” everywhere in Sabah, I had doubt if big forest really existed in Sabah. As a matter of fact, most Sabah wildlife attraction areas such as Kinabatangan are the “Concentration camp” of wildlife because the animals are pushed to small patches of forest fragmented by oil palm plantation.


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However, Danum Valley is naturally an animal kingdom and 124 mammals, 72 reptiles, 56 amphibians and 37 fishes live happily under one big mass of forest. Whichever rarest and endangered Borneo wildlife you can name, you find them all here in Danum Valley. For example, large mammals such as Sumatran Rhino, Sun Bear, Benteng and Pygmy Elephants, primates such as Orangutan, Proboscis Monkey, Leaf Monkey, Tarsier, Slow Loris and Macaque, highly secretive cats such as the Sunda Clouded Leopard, Bay Cat and Leopard Cat. The elusive Bay Cat, which is a sub-species endemic in Borneo, was only spotted in Mulu (Sarawak) and Danum Valley.

Our lodge looked so small under our feet. Couldn’t believe we walked that far. Too bad it was nearly 8am so sunrise view was not available. I took out my packed breakfast, with ham sandwich & fruit, and enjoyed a great break time with nice view.

Waterfalls & Pool. Later we dropped by the Fairy Waterfall (27 Meters high) and Serpent Waterfall next to the trail. Too bad it was dry season, the water volume was so small that the waterfalls didn’t look big and impressive. Though it was drought season, little sunlight contacts the forest ground so it is always wet. The last stop is a Jacuzzi Pool where you can swim and enjoy “fish massage”. The small fishes will nibble your feet and remove the death skin. It is a bit painful but doesn’t hurt. Lastly, we were back to the lodge about 11:30am. The jungle trekking took us about 5 hours, as we stopped briefly in every interesting site.


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Before the trip, we were warned that there were many big tiger leeches in Danum Valley, but we saw only two small brown leeches. If you are bitten by a tiger leech, you will be qualified to get a “Blood Donation” certificate from Borneo Rainforest Lodge. Of course this is for fun only, you still need to pay RM5 (about USD$1.50) to buy it. Since there was no leech biting me, I caught a leech and let it sucked my blood. Later I was told that it was a brown leech (not tiger leech), but I was still qualified to get the certificate. Well, I did it for fun but the 1-hour bleeding annoyed me.


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CANOPY WALK

I went back to my room, take a shower and packed my bag for check-out at 1:30pm. On the way out, we dropped by the Canopy Walk. For bird-watching, you will really appreciate the 300-Metre-long and 27-Metre-high canopy walkway built by Borneo Rainforest Lodge and it won the Best Nature Attraction award in Sabah Tourism Awards 2009. In year 2008, a bird guide Richard Webster discovered a new bird species (Spectacled flowerpecker) on this canopy. Who knows you might discover a beautiful new bird that can be named after your beloved wife (mother-in-law if it is an ugly and noisy bird). If you look carefully, you will see many bee hives on Menggaris tree, the favourite nesting tree of wild honey bees due to its height.


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In Danum Valley, you can see or hear flock of big hornbills flying over your head almost every hour. This is one of the few places in Malaysia where we can find 8 species of hornbills. Do you know there are more than 290 bird species in Danum Valley? That is almost half the bird species of whole Borneo! Some birdwatchers pay thousands to come to see only one bird in Danum Valley, the Bornean Bristlehead (only found in Borneo). Other rare birds include Great Argus, Bulwar’s Pheasant, Giant Pitta, Bornean flycatcher, Bornean Ground-cuckoo and many more.


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BTW, I saw a leopard cat and some long-tailed macaques on the road. The staffs say you might see elephants if you are lucky. I also saw the helicopter of Martha Stewart heading to Danum Valley. I don’t know why the whole world is so crazy about her. Anyway, too bad I didn’t see her. From her blog, she is so happy to see “King”, the orangutan. She is quite crazy about our Borneo wild man I guess. No wonder West Malaysians want to “steal” our orangutan. So the federal government is interested in rehabilitating our orangutan? A middle finger to you! You only want the tourist $$$. But I’ll be more than happy to send illegal immigrants to KL, as we have nearly million of them here. I can guarantee that they are also wild men.


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It is no surprise that Sabah government is planning to nominate Danum Valley as a world heritage site. Actually Sabah has only about 92,400 hectares of virgin forest, less than 5% of all forest area in Sabah. If we clear them, they will never be the same again; the millions-year old ecosystem will be lost, no matter how hard we try to recover them later. Rather than cutting down the trees for their wood and paper, we should keep the forest as nursery ground for our priceless wildlife, world-class research hub for tropical rainforest, sustainable income source for tourism and high quality conservation area to combat global warming. And no coal plant near to Danum Valley, please. The Sabah Chief Minister always says conservation is important to protect the eco-treasures of Sabah, but he is the one who approves the logging at Danum Valley and Maliau Basin. What a joke!

Other canopy walk in Sabah:

Poring Canopy Walkway (highest in Sabah)
Skybridge of Maliau Basin (longest canopy walk)
Rainforest Discovery Center (best for bird-watching)

Photos taken in Lahad Datu, Sabah Malaysia

Giant Clams of Sabah

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Out of 9 species of giant clams (Kima Gergasi) in the world, Sabah has 7. Namely (number in bracket is the adult size of each species):-
1. Tridacna gigas (1.5M)
2. Tridacna derasa (40cm)
3. Tridacna squamosa (30cm)
4. Tridacna maxima (20cm)
5. Tridacna crocea (15cm)
6. Hipoppus porcelanus (40cm)
7. Hipoppus hipoppus (30cm)

Don’t be so happy yet. Due to overfishing, the two largest species, Tridacna gigas and Tridacna derasa, are now considered critically endangered in Sabah (some say they are locally extinct). All species of giant clams are listed in “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora” (CITES), which means they are endangered and should be protected.


Above: Tridacna gigas, the largest species of giant clam, can reach 2 M in length, weigh over 200 KG, and live to more than 100 years old! But sorry, locally extinct already.


Above: Tridacna derasa, also a locally extinct species. Very rare in the wild.


Above: Tridacna squamosa species


Above: Tridacna maxima species


Above: Tridacna squamosa species

Giant clams live like a plant, as their main diet is organic nutrients which come from the photosynthesis of millions of symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae) that live inside their mantle. In return, giant clams offer the algae a safe home.

Harvesting, trading and buying of giant clams are prohibited under the Malaysian Law. However, enforcement is different story. Just went to tamu (native market) in Kota Belud and see it yourselves. The hawkers sell and slaughter the giant clams openly. They don’t feel anything wrong about it, and didn’t even bother when I was photographing them.

Above: see the yellow and red boxes and two big white sacks behind the seller? They are all giant claim shells! There were many happy buyers and many giant clams were sold in just a few minutes.


Poor giant clams. They may have taken more than 3 years to grow to these sizes. They are eaten before they are mature enough to breed.


Giant clams live in shallow lagoons, reef flats, and the sandy and rubbly substrate of coral reefs in the tropical Indo West Pacific.


Giant clams were once everywhere. Now they are getting rare because human eats their meat. Humans are the worst predators of giant clams.


Giant clams do not get enough attention like sharks and turtles, though they are one of the most fascinating marine creatures.


Giant clams also uses a siphon to draw in water to filter and consume plankton. By absorbing and filtering nitrates, ammonia and other organics that are harmful to coral reefs, giant clams help to clean the water in marine ecosystems.


These giant clams were slaughtered for their meat and sold for RM5 (small) or RM8 (big) each.


Above: giant clams waited to be slaughtered alive. Business was good and they were unlikely to survive until sunset.

I also went to Gaya Street Sunday Market on the same day. More than 100 giant clam shells were sold as handicraft items such as soap dishes, ash trays, shell lamps and ornaments.

There were tourists buying giant clams. Under the regulations of CITES, giant clams, whether dead or alive, cannot be carried out of our country. I don’t blame the tourists don’t know they are sponsoring an illegal trade. But what the heck is happening to our authorities (Fishery and Wildlife Departments)? Are they blind?

Below: a big giant clam shell is sold for RM25 (about USD7.50).

More photos of giant clams sales in Gaya Street… It seems like giant clam trade has become an “industry”. It is very hard to find the whole complete set of giant clam shells on the beach, so very likely these shells were taken from live giant clams.

So you think that the problem is not serious enough? Just take a walk in dried seafood market nearby. You will see giant clams (as dried seafood) everywhere.


The most valuable part of giant clam is its adductor muscle, which is commonly sold as scallops, which cost over RM100 for a small pack in dried seafood markets.


Overfishing of giant clams is a serious problem, as they are considered as a delicacy and profitable seafood. Besides overharvesting, climate change and pollution are also factors that speed up the extinction of giant clams. Excessive CO2 from atmosphere makes the sea water more acidic and lessens the ability of giant clams to grow their shells. The rise in sea temperature will also disturb the symbiotic relationship between the clams and the zooxanthellae that nourishes them. The introduction of a coal power plant in Darvel Bay, which is located inside the Coral Triangle, would pose a threat to giant clams.

More giant clam handicraft items sold in handicraft market… My heart is broken.. FYI, giant clam in movies is always portrayed as a man-eater because it snaps swimmers’ legs by surprise and drowns them. Actually this is impossible. First, you have to find a really huge giant clam, which is extremely rare. Second, giant clams close very slowly and most do not close completely. They do not snap. They are not monsters ok.

Currently Sabah has two places that spawn and propagate giant clams and you can see all 7 species of giant clams in their sites. The first one is Marine & Ecology Research Centre (MERC) in Gayana Eco Resort of Gaya Island, and another one is Sabah Parks Hatchery at Bohey Dulang Island (see photo below) in Tun Sakaran Marine Park off Semporna. This hatchery was built in year 2004 and fully operational with a completed laboratory in 2009.

To start, the giant clams will be induced (by temperature or injection of chemical) to release their eggs and sperms for fertilisation. The eggs will be collected. A week later, the larva of giant clams will settle and find a spot to grow, then they are moved to settlement tanks.

The giant clam larva will spend half a year to grow up to 3 cm. Then they will be released to the sea inside a cage (to protect them from predators), until they grow to 9cm or more after a few months. At last, they will be released independently to the ocean bottom without a cage. Less than 10% of the eggs will survive at the end.

T. gigas and T. derasa have the fastest growth rate. They may reach up to 9-12cm after a year. The suitable release spot will be clean and well-illuminated sea about 10 feet in depth or less with mild water current. Giant clams reach maturity very late, at about 7 to 8 years old.

Bohey Dulang Hatchery Station has a mini exhibition hall and a settlement tank area, which are open for public to visit. You can see at least 5 species of big giant clams in their display tank, great for an education tour. To visit the islands of Tun Sakaran Marine Park, you need to get a permit from Sabah Parks first.

However, no matter how hard and how long these two centres try, they are only able to increase the population of giant clams in limited scale, not the whole ocean around Sabah. The conservation has to be started from you, the consumers. Just don’t eat and buy any giant clam product and the killing will stop. Eating giant clams is as bad as eating shark fin and turtle eggs. The key obstacle of all conservation efforts in Malaysia is the mentality of “if I don’t kill them, others will”, a selfish excuse for greedy mouth of Malaysians. Well, that’s why our country is so dirty, as everyone thinks, “if I don’t throw rubbish, others will.” Anyway, if I can make only one of you to stop consuming giant clam, this blog already worths my time and efforts.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu & Semporna, Sabah Malaysia

Beetles of Kinabalu Park

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Kinabalu Park is the first World Natural Heritage Site of Malaysia due to its biodiversity. No doubt you could find many interesting (even the weird ones) insects everywhere. Like the beetle below, I found it rested on a shrub near the Botanical Garden.

This beautiful beetle has metallic-like case, and its shell also looks like body armour. Some beetles bite and some release unpleasant odour. This one played death when I put it on my palm.

Kinabalu Park is a paradise for specimen collectors and entomologists. However, you will be fined heavily for taking anything from the park. Recently a tourist was compounded RM1,000 (about USD330) for plucking plants.

The beetle below was also found near Kinabalu Park. It has a very soft wing cases that feel like leather cushion.

More beetle… In fact, there are less bugs at the foothill of Mt. Kinabalu today. Because of global warming, many bugs have migrated to higher altitude.

Last year I kept complaining about the non-stop rainy poor weather, but now the weather is too hot and dry after Chinese New Year. A minute under the burning sunlight and I already can feel smoke coming out of me. Dry season is supposed to be great for travelling, but the photogenic bugs are all gone hiding.. My blog has been quiet for a long time coz I am busy transferring my files from old laptop to my new PC, and I haven’t gotten a copy of Photoshop installed yet. I was using free graphic editor. It is less user-friendly and contains bugs, but can get the job done.

Photos taken in Kinabalu Park, Sabah Malaysia