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Part 6 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World – Day 5

Continued from Part 5

Hundred-Feet Observation Tower

I wake up early at 5am in day 5, when others are still in their dream. Next to the Nepenthes Camp is an observation platform on top of a 33-Meter Agathis borneensis tree. I want to climb up there early to see the sunrise.

Soon Mr. J and Mr. T also wake up to join me. Ms. S doesn’t join coz she has issue with the height and says there is no way she will do it. It is already frightening just looking at this tall tree. Anyway, adventure is doing something that scares you. At 5:15am, one by one, we climb up to the tree top with aluminum ladder that fixed to the tree body.

Imagine you climb a ladder to the top of a building over 10 floors high in the dark (about same height as the Karamunsing Complex in Kota Kinabalu). This is the second scariest climb that I attempt so far (the first is Batu Punggul). A misstep and you will be a free falling object for hundred feet.

One good thing to climb in the dark is, you can’t see anything under your feet, so it is not that terrifying. Mr. T and J got up there first. I hang the camera and tripod over my shoulder and move up carefully. After a few days of holding camera to take thousand of photos, my fingers are really painful. The extra camera weight also makes my legs tired and shivers. I have to stop a few times to rest. Finally, I reach the top within 10 minutes.

Above: a helipad not far away from Nepenthes Camp

Above: Nepenthes Camp looks so small from top. You can see the solar panel on the roof.

Strictly speaking, the observation tower is only a wooden platform on top of a tall tree. It is not really a tower. The structure is fenced and solid enough to take 5 to 6 persons. It is 5:40am. We look out from this platform and see that our house is so small under our feet. We also admire and appreciate the pretty Agathis borneensis tree that house the structure.

Above: the beautiful skin of Agathis borneensis tree, note the pocked-marked, greyish-reddish bark.

Above: Mr. J waits to video sunrise

The sunrise comes at 6:10am. The surrounding and the trees are painted with golden hue of colors. The birds also start their days. Many colourful birds such as Iora and Scarlet Minivet gather around the canopy of this tree. This platform is quite a nice bird watching spot. We climb down at 6:40am for breakfast, when the sunrise show is over. Damn it! I find a crack on the LCD protector. Luckily it helps to block the damage to LCD which would cost hundreds to fix.

Above: Mr. T climbing down

Above: it’s me climbing down the tree

Back to Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC)

We are very relaxing today, coz we will leave the total wilderness of Maliau Basin and the trail is mostly descending (easy) path. Even though I am cut off from civilisation for many days, I don’t really feel homesick, it’s a sad day for me actually. After we have our breakfast, we depart at 8:30am to Agathis Camp, which is 7.5 KM away and a move from 1,005 to 421 Meters above sea level.

Above: trail in red is our path to Agathis Camp today

Above: the trail in 3D model

The guides warn us about the steep downhill trail and we should “brake” always and don’t run too fast. And they are right. The descending trail is not easy and it does not make us move faster, and it poses another challenge. There is no way you can tell if the soil is soft or solid until you step on it. The slope area is dangerous coz the soil is soft and slippery. The slippery “trap” is so evil coz the mud layer is just thin enough to make you slip, but not deep enough to hold your foot. I have to make sure both of my hands are supported by a rope or tree before I take the next step. I can survive a fall but my camera might not. Just be careful of the precipitous hills…

Over the days, I discover a special ability of women. They just can’t stop talking, during trekking, eating and sleeping, ALL the time. I am already out of breath trekking and they still talk to me. At the end, I just pretend I don’t hear them. Sorry, I am just too tired.

Above: lookout point, where you can see Maliau rim through gap between the trees.

Since this is the last jungle trekking of our trip, we just walk slowly, open all our senses and enjoy the surrounding view. We saw a family of 3 Bornean gibbons swings on tree branches. Red & Hose’s Leaf Monkeys (langurs) and Bornean gibbons are very common primates in Maliau. We also hear the distinct calls of Black & Yellow Broadbill and Bornean Bristlehead, and also the loud pecking noise of a woodpecker. Then Mr. T is very excited and shows me a flower of Dendrobium cinnabarinum. He says this flower is very rare, the two (all) varieties are found in Maliau Basin only.

Above: flower of Dendrobium cinnabarinum.

Finally at 12:30pm, we arrive Agathis Camp, where we have our pack-lunch. We are asked to take a shower and put on clean clothing, before we are allowed to sit in the beloved 4-wheel of the guide. Then we leave Agathis Camp and go to the hostel of MBSC, where we will spend the last night in Maliau Basin. After staying 3 days in jungle camp, the hostel is really a 5-star accommodation to us now. The guides and porters are very happy too coz now they can watch World Cup 2010 in MBSC.

Above: don’t know who brings this tiger leech back to the hostel. It is fully fed with 1 year worth of meal, so fat… lol

Skybridge (Canopy Walk)

You are wrong if you think we are holidayers who can sit still for day doing nothing. After we unpack our bags in hostel, we start to get restless and want to go to Skybridge (suspension bridges built between tall trees high above the ground). It rains heavily in the afternoon so we go around 4PM.

The Skybridge is only a 10-minute drive from MBSC. Constructed in April 2007 and linked up with about 8 super tall trees (Uratmata, Sepatir, Merbau and Seraya), Skybridge is the second longest canopy walk of Sabah, with a length of 293.8 Meters (Highest Point: 21.35 Meters).

Above: can you see them? They look so small…

Maliau Basin is an Important Birding Area. More than 290 bird species are found here, with more than 20 are endemic to Borneo, and 26% are listed as threaten or near-threaten by IUCN. Here you can find all 8 species of hornbill of Borneo, 6 species of kingfishers and all 9 species of Bornean barbets. We see fruits of fig species (Ficus), which is the favourite of hornbills, who visit as many as 240 species of fruit trees. We spend an hour here and back to hostel later.

Above: fruit of Ficus tree

Above: a weird praying mantis looking at us

Night Safari

Tonight we have a night safari at 8pm. We just sit on the jeep and let the guide scans for wildlife by using a spotlight. If the guide spots anything, the car will stop and he will show and tell us what we see. This is highly depends on luck. In bad day, you would see nothing.

Above: this wild boar (Sus barbatus) always comes to MBSC. She got 8 babies.

During an hour of fun drive, we see Malay Civet cat, Sambar Deer (cervus unicolor), Flying Squirrel, Rhinoceros Hornbill and Buffy Fish Owl.

We have been seeing the fresh dung of Banteng and elephants and hope to see them tonight, but too bad none of them turn up. Anyway, below are their photos for you to know how they look like.

Above: Banteng (Bos javanicus), Asian Wild Cattle or Bornean Wild Ox, known as Tembadau locally. Left is the female and right is male Banteng. Banteng is extinct in West Malaysia (since 1950) and Sarawak (since 1980). It was used to be the favourite game species of hunters but now it is endangered and protected in Sabah. The domesticated Banteng becomes Bali cattle. Note the white “stockings” on the legs. About 15 to 20 Banteng are recorded in Maliau.

Above: Pygmy elephant of Borneo is the smallest elephant species in the world.

Above: Common barking deer (Red Muntjac), known as Kijang locally. It can grow in length up to 98 to 111 cm, a height of 50 cm and a weight of 15 to 35 Kg. You can buy its meat as it is still the game species.

FYI, all 5 cat species (i.e. flat-headed cat, marbled cat, bay cat, leopard cat, clouded leopard) of Sabah are found around Maliau Basin. They are very elusive and secretive animals active at night, so they are very hard to spot.

Finally, we have joined all the programme In Maliau Basin and will go back to Kota Kinabalu tomorrow. But there is still one more unplanned programme waits for us tomorrow.

>> Next Article (Part 7)

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…

Other canopy walk in Sabah:
Poring Canopy Walkway (highest in Sabah)
Canopy Walk of Danum Valley (award-winning attraction)
Rainforest Discovery Center (best for bird-watching)

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

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

More Photos

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

BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Part 3 of 8. Day 2 in Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World

Continued from Part 2…

The Real Start

Though this is my second day in Maliau, today is the “real” day as I will go to Maliau Basin on foot. We wake up early in the morning to prepare our breakfast and packed lunch. The porters arrived shortly after we had our breakfast. At first, we thought our porters will be a group of muscular tough guys like King Kong. We are surprised that our porters are youngsters who are “smaller” than us. Most of them are 18 or 20 something, and a few even married with kid.

Above: our strong porters. Look like boys huh?

To ease my burden, I get a personal porter that carries 12 KG of my stuffs, so I only need to carry 5KG of my camera and tripod. One of the porters even carries over 30 KG! Seeing the heavy bags pressing their back, I have a bad feeling, like I am treating them like camel, just for a fee of RM100 (USD$32) per day. They are nice people but speak very limited English.

Agathis Camp

Then everyone is transferred by 4-wheel to Agathis Camp, the starting point of our 9-KM jungle trekking to Ginseng Camp today. Agathis Camp is 8.82KM away from Maliau Basin Studies Center (our hostel) and located at the southern-most edge of Maliau Basin Conservation Area, about 20 KM to the north of the Security Gate and 500 Meters above sea level.

Above: the trail in red is our route for today

Above: the trail in 3D model

Agathis Camp is named after Agathis trees (Damar Minyak), the large conifers, growing up to 55 Meters, with 3 species being found in Maliau. It is easily recognised by the abundance of resin and distinctive jig-saw patterned bark and absence of buttress. Agathis tree is very limited and scarce in distribution and found in mixed dipterocarp, heath & lower montane forest.

The largest Agathis tree in Maliau has a circumference of more than 7 Meters. Agathis trees were also found in New Zealand. The wood is very popular among the Japanese as it is used for building attractive ceilings and walls. Agathis is considered as the “iconic” tree of Maliau Basin.

Above: fruits of Agathis tree

Explorer who spent 6 days in Agathis Camp recorded 109 birds and 30 mammals. The camp is near the edge of rainforest and Agathis River. The camp is furnished with very basic facilities such as canvas beds (for up to 30 visitors), kitchen, dining area, electricity supply, toilets and showers. A 1-KM self-guided nature trail at the camp provides visitors with a fascinating introduction to the forest and its wildlife. If you want to stay inside the forest but don’t want to explore deeper inside Maliau Basin, Agathis Camp is a good choice.

Going to Ginseng Camp

But we do not stay in Agathis Camp. After we looked around in Agathis Camp for a few minutes, we proceed (at 8am) to the next destination, Ginseng Camp, by jungle trekking over a rugged terrain of 9KM. The forest ranger (with VHF radio sets) and porters were also going with us. Forest Ranger is not a guide. He monitors the visitors to make sure they don’t violate the park guidelines (such as poaching and stealing Gaharu wood (Aquilaria malaccensis)).

Before this, everyone told me they were either too old or weak and said something like “I will be very slow, please wait for me lah”, but when the trekking started, I was always the last one. Anyway, it is the worst day of Maliau trip for most of us. We are inside the mixture of lowland and hill rainforest, and many trees are over 50 feet high.

Due to the dense canopy created by the tall trees, the space below is wet, shady and lack of undergrowth plant. Most of the time we walked on thick layers of foliage and saw many tiny insects such as ants, spiders and cockroach fleeing around (and leeches that come to us!), when our steps stir the leaves. I spotted many interesting mushroom and fungus along the trail.

Above: wild orchid

Above: camera trap

Above: message on camera trap. I guess they are really pissed off already, lol…

Basically most of the trails are uphill roads and part of them is suite steep and need the use of ropes and ladder for moving up. The trail about 3.5 to 4.5 KM before the Ginseng Camp is the most terrible part, due to the steep uphill trail. We saw the sky on higher point. But after the long long walk, we still see the sky, like the highest point is unreachable, very de-motivating. So I quit to look up, I lower my head and only focus on small distance of trail in front of me and move up slowly.

The nice thing is – when we move up to higher altitude, the air getting cooler and refreshing. We have our lunch in the jungle. But frankly I lose my appetite and only take a few bites of the dry rice in lunch box. Then we continue again. On the way, we were constantly asking the guide “how many kilometres left?” and hope to get motivated from smaller number each time. Mr. T is a plant expert so he is able to identify the rare plant for me to photograph. Without him, the trip would be less fun.

Above: yummy… the fungus look like sweet bun.

Above: cookie fungus? Look tasty…

Legion of Leeches

Due to the heavy rain the day before, there are hundreds of slimy leeches on the trail because these little blood suckers are active in wet environment. Though they are blind, they can detect heat and vibration and also extremely persistent, with so many of them around, a few of them will crawl onto your skin eventually.

Above: two leeches f**k each other on the shoe

Whenever we stop and rest, we will see dozens of leeches coming to our feet. As expected, very soon the leech claims its first victim, Ms. S, who got a leech bite on her stomach. She didn’t even notice it until a guide told her the bleeding under the shirt. I was once very afraid of leeches. But I become so used to them in Maliau trip and even help others to remove the leeches by hand.

Because I know the leech prevention method, I got only one leech bite in the whole trip. In fact, that only leech bite happened in the camp. Someone didn’t remove the leeches hidden inside their shoes when they entered the camp. So a brown leech crawled out of the shoe and came to me. I didn’t know I was eaten until Mr. T told me. Please always de-leech yourself before you enter the room ok. Usually leech bite only takes a tiny amount of blood and it does not bring any infection and disease. The only problem is the anti blood-clotting agent from the kiss of leech will cause non-stop bleeding for hour. The amount of bleeding from only a few leech bites is as shocking as a devastating injury.

Ginseng Camp

After 7 hours of trekking, we arrived Ginseng Camp at 15:20pm. Ginseng Camp is 645 Meters above sea level. This camp is named after Ginseng plant (Renellia borneensis, coffee family – Rubiaceae) around this place. This “Malaysian ginseng” has reddish-yellow to orange color roots, with medical properties that improve your energy and vitality.

Above: almost there

Above: Malaysian Ginseng

The 27-Meter Ginseng Waterfall is about 500 Meters away from Ginseng Camp, so I took a 20-minute walk to check it out. Below is a 1-minute video of Ginseng Fall:

Constructed in 2005, Ginseng Camp has toilets cum shower rooms, cooking area, dining area and staff quarter. The structure is on stilts and built with wood and aluminum / zinc roofing. Our accommodation is just a wooden hut that has canvas bunk beds (with mosquito net) that can accommodate up to 20 visitors. As everything is so primitive, Ginseng Camp looks like an army camp to me. We also cook with firewood. The camp has electricity supply, generated by generator from 6pm to 11pm.

Below is a 1.5-minute video of Ginseng Camp surrounding:

The river is the only source of water inside Maliau, so Ginseng Camp has gravity water pipe that collects water from the river. The river water of Maliau Basin is tea-coloured and acidic, due to the tannins leaching out of the peaty leaf litter. Some even call it “tea river”, as the water is naturally stained by tannins from vegetation. It looks like urine but absolutely safe to drink after boiling.

Cold Shower

I am a typical city guy. I take hot shower even in warm day. I have no choice in Maliau coz there is no heater. The water is from the river and it is so icy cold, making me skipping and moaning. Then I also hear a Canadian girl next door moans. I’m not alone then. You better take shower earlier when the water is not too cold.

The Night

After dinner, everyone is exhausted and there is nothing to do in the evening, so we go to bed earlier. Very soon I hear everyone snores. I lay on the bed and glad that the first day is not as bad as I expect. However, this is not the case to Ms S. She complains that the muscle on her right hip is painful and she wakes up in agony that night at 2am. We call her “Iron Lady” coz she walks very fast and always in front of us. We guess she will be fine in next day.

Our sleeping area only has a roof over us and three sides of wall. One side is an open area and has no wall and door. Such setting is same as putting our beds in an open area exposed to the cold. The night was so cold that I wake up at 3am to wear socks. As my torchlight cut through the dark, I can see tiny droplets of mist in the air. It is so cold and humid that the jean and clothing hanging next to me turn wet. I got a good sleep anyway.

>> Next Article (Part 4)

Photos taken in Maliau Basin, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

More Photos

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

BONUS! More new photos of Maliau Basin…

Part 1 of 8. Trip to Maliau Basin, Sabah’s Lost World

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Also known as “Sabah’s Lost World“, Maliau Basin looks like a huge volcanic caldera from the aeroplane, which spans 25 Kilometers in diameter. This saucer-shaped geological structure, which is formed about 5 million years ago, is not the remnant of a dead volcano. In fact, it is a plateau gradually uplifted by volcanic & tectonic movements, and the middle was eroded to a basin due to weathering. The basin is a sedimentary formation comprised mainly of gently inclined beds of sandstone and mudstone, deposited between 15 million and 9 million years ago when Maliau was a coastal delta.

Maliau means “Land of the Giant Staircase” in Murut language. The reason Maliau Basin is called Sabah’s Lost World is because of its almost circular outer rim, with steep slopes and cliffs range from 300 to 1,600 Meters in height, creating a natural barrier that isolates the basin from the world (and “gene exchange”). Some flora and fauna, which are “trapped” in the basin for millions of years, may have evolved into new species. The only “opening” of Maliau is via Maliau Gorge, a narrow gap to South East, where Maliau River flows and joins Kuamut River outside basin, then to Kinabatangan River, the longest river of Sabah.

The Maliau Basin Conservation Area covers an area of sprawling 588.4 square Kilometers (nearly the size of Singapore!) in Tawau district, at the South Central Part of Sabah. The Basin itself is about 390 sq. KM in size, the additional 200 sq. KM is the buffer zones surrounding the basin for extra protection. The highest point of Maliau is Gunung Lotung (Mt. Lotung) on the north rim, which is over 1,676 m in elevation.

Sorry if you are bored with the geography stuffs above. However, those are the basic knowledge for you to really understand why Maliau Basin is such a special place.

Below is a 5-minute video of jungle trekking in Maliau Basin:

Forest Types & Vegetation

Because of its unique geology, topography, soils & range of altitudes from 215 Meters to over 1,650 Meters above sea level, Maliau Basin houses at least 12 forest types. They can be divided into 4 main groups:

Mixed dipterocarp forest
Occupy 12% of Maliau Basin. Tall rainforest trees with 25M-45M in height, greatest plant & animal diversity, dipterocarp means “two-winged fruit” in Greek, lianas & rattan crawling plant prevail.
Lowland dipterocarp forest
Occupy 11% of Maliau Basin. Tropical rainforest with abundant commercial timbers such as menggaris, seraya and ironwood.
Lower montane forest
750M – 850M asl, trees are only 15-30M high, fewer big tree but more epiphytes, conspicuous mossiness.
Tropical Heath forest (kerangas)
Occupy 21% of Maliau Basin between 900M and 1,600M asl. In Iban language, kerangas means underlying soils are unsuitable for growing rice, dense stands of smaller sized, small-crowned & shorter trees, up to 20M high.

Above: dipterocarp rainforest

Their distribution is complex, with many overlapping and transitional zones, which are called “ecotone” by the scientists. Researchers are pretty excited by ecotone, because the hybrid conditions produce unique plant form, some can be new to science. For travellers like me, walking from one zone to another is like entering a different world each time.

Above: heath forest (kerangas)

Over 1,900 species types of plant have been identified in Maliau Basin, including 9 species of pitcher plants, 440 tree species and 80 species of orchid. 54 plant species are endangered. For fauna, over 69 mammal species, 290 bird species and over 35 species of amphibians are recorded so far. A rare Rafflesia tengku-adlinii flower has been spotted in Maliau Basin.

Why Maliau Basin?

A 6-day-5-night “Full Loop” tour package to Maliau Basin costs me about RM2,000 (about USD$630) even after deep discount and exemption of some fees. Wow, with RM2,000, I can go to China, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and other foreigner countries already. Going to Maliau Basin is like paying $ to buy suffering, as the trip demands a lot of physical strength. Exploring Maliau is more like an achievement, an adventure, than a trip.

Why didn’t I use that $$$ to go to more popular tourist destinations? The first reason is, to me, popular means “many had seen it”, I dislike places that are too commercialized or frequented by millions of tourists. For example, just do a Internet search on Great Wall of China or Phuket of Thailand, you will find tons of info and photos. I want to see something pristine and less popular.

Above: Maliau Waterfall

For second reason, I love Sabah, so I would like to promote Maliau Basin to more nature lovers. To promote an attraction, we need a lot of beautiful photos and interesting info. Since not many photographers are keen to go deep inside the forest with heavy camera equipments, probably I can help to present Maliau Basin to the world with my blog.

However, it’ll be too lengthy to cover the 6-day trip in one single blog, so I break the stories into 8 parts like below:
Part 1. Introduction to Maliau Basin (this blog)
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. Useful if you plan to visit Maliau
BONUS! More photos of Maliau Basin…

Below are some important items that you should pack for the Maliau Basin trip.

Things to Bring

Backpack (avoid the bulky one. Best if come with raincover)
Torchlight
Clothing (T-shirts, jeans, socks, underwear, etc.)
Light sleeping bag
Mini towel
Anti-Leech Socks
Insect repellent (Mosiguard with anti-leech formula)
Raincoat
Water container / bottle (1 Litre or more)
Lunch box & spoon (for packed lunch enroute). Can seal to avoid leaking
Snacks and High energy bars
Cash
Personal toiletries (e.g. tooth brush & paste, soap, cloth pegs)
Adidas Kampung (rubber hiking shoes) or other good hiking shoes
Sandals / slippers
Plastic bags (to store dirty clothing or waste)
Hand glove (I’m ok without it. Recommended for lady with “soft” palm)

Camera & Accessories

Canon EOS 50D DSLR camera (LCD screen protector is a MUST!)
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC, Canon EFS 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS.
Memories cards (a total of 18GB)
External Flash 580 EX II
Battery Grip (Phottix brand) and 50+ AA batteries
Tripod (ball head): Manfratto
Filters: UV, GND, ND8, CPL
Camera bag (with raincover)

After I packed everything, the total weight is about 17 Kg (about 10Kg are camera stuffs!). I hired a porter to carry 12Kg, so I only carried about 5Kg of weight, coz shooting photos around with 17Kg on my back was not very convenient. 3 day of porter service costs me RM300 (less than USD$100).

For long hours of jungle trekking, every pound counts. Keep your burden as light as possible or hire a porter. If you plan to carry everything yourself, I strongly recommend you to keep the weight between 6 to 8Kg only. 10Kg and above is for those who are really tough and experienced. You can wash your clothing so you can bring less clothing. I wore the same jean for 5 days. You think this is terrible? One of us wore the same cloth & jean for 5 days, I had to stay 10 feet away from this person while trekking, due to the strong smell like sour rotten food.

Above: the trail in red color was the trail I covered in 4 days.

Physical Exercise

Everyone says the Maliau Basin trip is tough and physically demanding. I was very lazy and never did any exercise for years, and I knew Maliau Basin trip was no joking matter. I felt really apprehensive when the Maliau Basin trip was only a month ahead and I was running out of time. Without hesitation, I started my intensive training. If weather permitted, I would jog about 4 KM every day. I also did some push-up and sit-up to strengthen my muscles, so I could carry heavy stuffs. Though the training was only one month, it did help me a lot. The Maliau Basin was not as terrible as it sounded. The trip was tiring but I was not totally exhausted, and that extra energy kept my photography going. Taking photos really can drain your energy. What I can tell is Maliau Basin is a nightmare to those who are lack of exercise.

More Photos

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

>> Next Article (Part 2)

The Green Connection

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The Green Connection Aquarium is an eco theme park which showcases the remarkable biodiversity of Sabah. At first I thought it was just another new mini-zoo, until I saw its first-class facilities that are not found elsewhere in Sabah. This park combines zoo, aquarium and science discovery centre into one great environmental education experience.

Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

A Walk into Sabah’s Biodiversity

Operated by conservationists, the Green Connection houses over 500 native species of animals from 9 major habitats. A friendly staff will guide you for an interpretation walk into different ecology zones: through limestone caves, dense jungle, muddy mangroves, magnificent reefs, coastlines and out into the open ocean.

Cave Zone: a cave-like environment for you to see some creepy cave dwellers such as scorpion and spider in the dark.

Rainforest Zone: information of status and threats of our Borneo jungle. A few big pythons wait to take photo with you.

River Zone: a collection of native freshwater lives such as blade fishes, terrapins, catfish and pig-nosed turtle. Say Hi to reptiles such as monitor lizard, crocodile and snake.

Coastal Zone: see feeding of turtle and stingray. There is a fish tank with a hollow in middle, where you can “pop” your head in and see yourself surrounded by corals and fishes. It is so fun!

The coral garden tanks show various hard and soft corals, sea anemone and giant clams in close distance, without making you wet. You will see highly venomous marine creatures such as sea snakes, stone fish and scorpion fishes.

Ocean Zone: the aquarium tank with 8-inch thick glass is the highlight as it is the largest in South East Asia. During feeding time, you will see cowtail stingray, black-tipped reef sharks, striped catfishes, guitar shark, blue-spotted ray and bat fishes in a frenzy for food.

Above: these bat fishes change color almost every minute.

An Outdoor Classroom

I remember one day I was in Sabah Museum, a boy complained to his parents, “I’m so bored. Can we leave now?” If you ask the children what impresses them in the zoo, they might answer that is the parrot that they touch earlier, not the charismatic animals such as lions and giraffe. Kids are more interested in Nemo than clown fishes. Kids see and learn the world differently.

Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

Therefore, that is why I think the Green Connection is more than a tourist attraction. It is a great outdoor classroom that stimulates learning because it encourages kids to see, touch, feel and smell things in fun way. For example, the Touch Pools allows them to touch starfishes, bamboo sharks and horse-shoe crabs. This should work very well because Malaysians have very itchy hands and want to touch everything.

The science and discovery centre with creative and interactive hands-on modules which are not only fun but an interesting demonstration of oceanography, biology, chemistry, physics, maths, technology & engineering concepts. Even adults find them fun. When you can make the children open their mouths to ask WHY and HOW, you know it’s great chance to educate them. My favourite is a 3D frog illusion projected by manipulation of reflection of light. The frog looks so real and solid but you cannot touch it.

Kids nowadays seldom get in touch with nature. I recall my childhood that is filled with memories of fishing, cycling, tree climbing and “loitering”. But when I look out the window, there are no children plays outside their house. Probably they are busy with computer, video game and TV? How do we expect the younger generation to conserve the environment if they do not love it? The Green Connection does an outstanding job to “connect” them to the nature and learn to love and protect it.

Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

Above: not everything is touchable. Like the stone fish above. A victim says, “the sting made my hand felt like inside the boiling water for 3 days. It’s so…. hurt.” Its venom can be fatal.

Contact & Info

The Green Connection is situated at 5 KM Tuaran Road, Likas (see Location Map). Just make a turn to the junction near Wisma Wanita, follow the sign and you will see it next to St. John Ambulance. The entrance fee is RM25 for adult and RM15 for children (2 to 16 years old). Please note that they have discount for Family and School groups.

Opening Hours: 9:30am-5:30pm every day (last entry 4:30pm)
Feeding Show: Weekdays: 11:30am & 4:00pm, Weekend & Holidays: 11:30am, 2:00pm & 4:00pm
Address (see Location Map): The Green Connection, Badan Sukarela Complex, Mile 2, Tuaran Road, Lorong Bunga Matahari 2, 88450 Likas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
Website: aadcgreenconnection.com
E-mail: Enquiry@aadcgreenconnection.com
Facebook: Green-Connection-Aquatica-Aquarium-Discovery-Centre-Sdn-Bhd-OFFICIAL
Phone: +60 13-8978005, +60 88-263326

Click Here to see more photos of The Green Connection >>

Green Connection is quite big. I only show the photos of part of (not all) The Green Connection here, as a teaser. Personally I call it a must-visit place to family and recommend it to my friends. After they visit this place, they also become a fan and tell others about the exciting experience.

Photos taken in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Malaysia

Mud Pool that traps 3 elephants

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Besides hot spring and oil, Sabah also has pond that releases mud. One of the mud pools is located inside the Binaung Oil Palm plantation of Sime Darby in Kunak. After a long drive on the gravel road, we arrived the location of this 15-Meter diameter mud pool. They say its size is gradually growing.

See the observation platform at the right? They say it was used to be in the middle of the pool, but it was pushed to the edge by the mud. The mud pool is quite active and we could hear the loud burping sound when the “mud bubbles” (as big as soccer ball) rises to the surface. The “buuluun.. guluun..” sound is like people fart in the water and multiple that volume by 50 times. Hope you get it.

This mud volcano is not as big as the Lapid mud volcano in Tabin, but it has an interesting feature. Though this mud pool is about 180 Meters above sea level, it seems to have “linkage” to the sea. You know there are many Indonesia workers work for oil palm plantation, and some of them travel by sea back to Sulawesi. They found out if the mud pool is calm, the sea is calm, if the mud pool is very active with big bubbles, then the sea is rough. Before the workers sail home, they would come here to check the “bubbling” for marine forecast, and delay their trip if necessary.

Most bubbling happens near the middle of the pool. The activity brings out the earth materials which is rich of minerals. They say the mud is good for the skin. Some tourists take the mud home to use it as facial mask.

This mud pool can be promoted as an attraction of Kunak. It’ll attract even more tourists, if they could organize mud wrestling of sexy bikini girls. The locals may join the mud fight, why not as the mud is good for the skin.

This mud pool can offer mental therapy to the patient of depression too. The loud burping sound and bursting moment of the big mud bubbles are quite an entertaining show. I won’t feel bored sitting here and watch and listen to the bubbling all day long. It’s kind of… “cleanse” my mind. Below are some photos of mud bubbles…

Above: the “1Malaysia” bubble by Najib.

Above: the “1Malaysia” bubbles burst and vanish like fart, when Deputy PM said MALAY FIRST, not Malaysians.

Wow, this one looks like susu (milk). But how come one D-cup and one G-cup?

Hope you are not bored. May be I should play some sound effects. *bulunn… gurunn.. boooon…*

*guluunn… borrrvuun…*

*BUUuuRuu…*

Okay, no more. Thanks for watching. Are you feeling better now?

The power of mud. This lady is actually 80 years old.

The wild animals have a habit called “salt lick”. Salt is an important diet for their bodies, but salt is very scarce in the forest. If they find a spot that has salty material, they will go there regularly to eat the minerals. Mud pool is such place. There were at least three cases of elephant trapped in this mud pool and needed help from human to pull them out. This may be the same elephant who is crazy for salt lick or facial mask?

Anyway, be careful if you come near to the mud pool for a salt lick. The outer edge of the mud pool is dry and looks like hard surface. But it is still soft and wet under the dry surface. If you step into the mud, due to vacuum effect, the sucking power is very strong and you may have problem to pull your leg out of the mud. They may not find you until you turned into fossil million years later.

Photos taken in Kunak, Sabah Malaysia

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

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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.

Click Here to see more photos of Danum Valley >>

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