Tag Archives: Birds

Climbing Mount Trus Madi, the 2nd highest mountain of Malaysia – Part 2 of 3

Start Climbing

After a group photo at the Starting Point, we started to climb at 10:30am. It was about 26° Celsius and the air was misty and refreshing. It was mainly uphill trail but not very steep. Thick layer of green moss blanket is everywhere on the floor (survival tip: you can lick the water on the wet moss blanket as the last resort, if you run out of water).

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Summit Trail

We began our climb in a hill mixed dipterocarp forest, characterized by closed-canopy forest with taller trees. Due to the moist environment, you can see many lichens, liverwort and algae plant. The hill forest is dominated mainly by dipterocarp of genus Shorea, and understorey plants dominated by Rubiaceae with 16 species.

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The dim and humid environment also promotes the growth of mushroom and fungus. We saw many of them in different colours and size along the trail. The most special one is the blue mushroom, which is only found in Mt. Trus Madi. Unlike the summit trail of Mt. Kinabalu, the trail is heavily foliaged and we are surrounded by dense vegetation most of the time. The nature trail is narrow, no boardwalk and hand rail, and a lot of overhanging trees and entangled roots. You have to watch your head and steps carefully.

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Lower Montane Forest

The lower slopes represent a transition zone where dipterocarp species mixed freely with hill non-dipterocarp species. This gradually gives way to lower montane forest vegetation between 1,500 and 2,000 M asl, which is dominated by tree species belonging to families of Fagaceae and Lauraceae, and also the altitude where two species of rafflesia are found (rafflesia tengku adlinii & keithii). More standing trees are densely covered with epiphytic mosses. We saw some orchids (Eria, Dendrochilim, etc.). The flowering season of orchid is from November to December, so we did not see many orchid flowers. Nepenthes tentaculata (small pitcher plant) is quite common here.

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As we moved up, the decreasing number (remaining distance to summit in Meters) on signage motivated us. I also stopped frequently to photograph the interesting plant, most looked new to me. There are two resting huts on the way, one after 1 KM, and another one after 2 KM. You can use the small toilet next to the hut. Water tanks filled with river water are available at the huts if you want to refill your bottle. The water is uncooked but taste really sweet, cold and fresh!

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When we had our pack lunch at second hut, we were saying that the first 2 KM was not that challenging and thought that it would be the same later. We were wrong. The last 1.4 KM of trail after second hut was where the nightmare began. The trail was getting steep and required the use of fixed ropes. Then it rained on and off, turning the trail into muddy and slippery path. Luckily, for the first day, we only needed to reach the cabin (1.5 KM away from summit) to stay a night.

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We spotted some friendly and colourful birds. One of them is Mountain Black-eye, which is endemic to montane zone 1,800 M above sea level. Some of them were probably Kinabalu Friendly Warblers. The guide said if we sat still for a while, many curious birds would come near us.

Multi-Peak Challenge

What makes Mt. Trus Madi so tough is its “multi-peak” terrain. To reach the summit of Mt. Trus Madi, there are at least 3 peaks you can’t avoid, namely, Taman Bunga (Flower Garden) Peak, Taliban Peak (which is named after the first Native Chief in Tambunan and has nothing to do with terrorist) and Trus Madi Peak. Slopes become steeper closer to the peaks. When you climb to the top of a peak, you will see another peak in front, you conquer it, then you will see another peak in front again. Taliban Peak is slightly lower than the highest Trus Madi Peak, so someone call it a “faked summit”. There are many ascending as well as descending trail. The descending is not easier than ascending.

Above: the peaks of Mt. Trus Madi. The highest peak is not visible from this side.

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The guide also showed us some old trails to Mt. Trus Madi. They looked so narrow, steep and dangerous. The old trail has a few narrow ridge walk with deep drop at both sides. If you slip, nobody will see where you are (no kidding).

The Taman Bunga (Flower Garden) Peak

Though I sound like being tortured, I have a lot of fun in fact. 500M before the cabin (at 2,000M signage), you will enter Taman Bunga Peak, which means Flower Garden. It is an Upper Montane zone about 2,300M asl and a natural garden full of flora. This is one of the few places where you can see the rare pitcher plant, Nepenthes lowii, everywhere. Kinabalu Park was used to have a lot of lowii but most of them were killed by a prolong drought in late 90.

Above: Taman Bunga Peak in mist

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The showiest flower is the bell-shaped rhododendron flower. Wild orchid is easy to find here. Lichen, which is a composite organism of a fungus and a green alga, is abundant around, an evident of zero pollution. I also found many other interesting plants that I’ve never seen. According to the guide, there are different flowering seasons, so you would see different things in every few months.

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Our cabin is only 500 Meters away from Taman Bunga Peak. As the rain was getting heavier and the day was turning dark, I speed up my walk and reached the cabin by 6pm. Normal people would reach the cabin latest by 5pm. I was slow because I stopped many times to take photos.

The Cabin

We would spend a night in the cabin in first day. The cabin is built at 2,400 Meters above sea level in year 2008, and the summit is only 1.5 KM away. There are about 7 bunk beds (14 beds) in the cabin. The beds have no mattress and blanket, so you must bring your own sleeping bag. On the bed is a layer of canvas with a zinc plate underneath. Even a bit of movement on the bed will create loud noise, like you are sleeping on a zinc roof, very annoying.

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Though this cabin looks more like a refugee camp, it is better than nothing coz it is warmer than sleeping in camp. The bed is quite small too, even for a short guy like me. After putting my backpack and camera bag on the bed, there was not enough room for me to fully extend my legs.

Most of us were cold and wet. Our cook prepared some rice with sardine and black bean salty fish for us as dinner. Though there is a small kitchen next to the cabin, there is nothing inside. We need to carry our own cooking utensils, gas stove, plate, pot, spoon and cup ourselves. I felt better after sipping some hot coffee. There is a gravity pipe that brings river water to a tap, so I could refill my bottle with water. Trust me, the water here tastes far more better than our tap water that is full of chlorine smell. There is a toilet not far from the cabin, but none of us wanted to take a shower as the water was freezing cold.

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The guide burnt the mosquito coil to chase away a small and yellow flying bug called Agas. Agas is an insect that sucks your blood and leave an itchy bite mark. Another pest is the mice that running and fighting under our beds and I could hear them all night. The porter had to hang the food high, so these mice couldn’t steal it.

Above: kitchen next to the cabin. Behind is the camp of porters

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We were all exhausted and we had to wake up at 2am the next day, so we went to bed early. When I almost fell in sleep, I was splashed by cold dripping water. I checked the ceiling for water leaking but found no crack. Due to the warmer temperature in cabin, water condensation formed on the cold ceiling. For every few minutes, the water droplet dropped on my face. I tried to move my position but still could not avoid the dripping water. The strong smell of mosquito coil also choked me. So for the whole night, I laid on the bed listening to mouse fighting and heavy rain. Not only that, my bags were all wet in next day.

Usukan Cove

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“A bay full of corals” is my first impression of Usukan Cove in Kota Belud district. In fact, the rich diversity and density of corals in Usukan Cove reminds me of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park 30 years ago, the time when the corals were in pristine conditions and found in shallow water only a few feet away from the sandy beach, before they were spoiled by thousands of tourists nowadays…

Above: Japanese Bridge

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To go there from Kota Kinabalu, just drive in the direction to Kota Belud town. After an hour, you will arrive a roundabout, just follow the brown signage that says “Jeti Ke Pulau Mantanani” (Jetty to Mantanani Island). Then you will see second roundabout (Kuala Abai), follow the junction at the left, and you will arrive the entrance of Usukan Cove Lodge within 10 minutes.

On the way, you will pass by a white steel bridge built by Japanese to transport the copper that they collected from Mamut Minefield about 30 years ago. The locals call it the “Japanese Bridge”. The funny thing is – it is a one-way bridge in arch shape. Cars entering from both directions can’t see each other until one of them reaches the top. One car has to give way (by reversing back) to the car that comes up to the top first. The traffic volume is low so the locals seem to get used to such inconvenience.

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Usukan Cove Lodge offers basic and economic accommodation, from bunk-bed room (2 to 4 beds) to sea front twin-bed room (Online Booking available). These building were used to be the staff quarter of Shell who has oil rig off Mantanani Island. A tour operator took over it in March this year and turned it into a lodge. Though the rooms have no attached bathroom cum toilet, they are clean and cosy. The lodge is able to host maximum of 50 people, so it is a suitable school retreat location. Many European tourists also like this quiet place, because other islands such as Sapi and Manukan are too crowded and noisy to them. But frankly, the beach area there is quite small.

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Snorkelling

Snorkelling is the best choice of activity due to the rich corals in Usukan. Diving is available but you should not expect “too high” coz in rainy season, the flowing river nearby would make the sea water a bit murky and poor in visibility. One of the highlight is the “Christmas Tree” coral, which I believe is a tubeworm. Turtles and seahorses were spotted here before but not common. There are about 4 dive sites in Usukan, and 3 wreck diving sites for advanced divers.

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The density and size of the coral reef is remarkable. The boat dropped me in Usukan Reef and Icy Point for the snorkelling. The Usukan Reef mainly consists of hard corals. Each species seems like gathering in large clusters. I saw large areas of big plate corals and stag-horn corals. In Icy Point, I also saw mainly hard corals, with more mix of soft corals and sea grass. The sea water in Icy Point is a bit funny. In one spot I felt warm, but moving a few Metres away I would feel cool, probably that’s why they call it Icy Point. The corals come in different shapes, like big boulders, brain, hand, pyramid, sponge and flower. Though the shore is quite a distance away, the water was shallow and the corals grew quite tall. I had to be careful so I would not destroy the corals by accident.

Above: Diving / Snorkelling sites of Usukan Cove

The sad thing I noticed was the coral bleaching. About 10% of corals here were showing sign of bleaching. You can even see these white spots (bleached corals) clearly from the boat. This was not present two months ago. I saw a big and white “coral tree” underwater. Its look was so stunning, like a big snowy tree with ice branches. But the corals were dead actually, a heart-broken but beautiful scene.

Due to global warming, the corals of Peninsular Malaysia are badly affected and they have to close down 12 dive sites. Now the coral bleaching is slowly spreading to Sabah. It is not a local issue, as other Sabah islands in west coast (in South China Sea) are also facing the same problem. In fact, the pollution from our mainland has been stressing the corals, global warming is just the last stack of grass that crushes the camel.

Above: clear spot of coral bleaching

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Deep Sea Fishing

Then I went “deep sea fishing” in the sea 20 minutes off Usukan Cove by boat. Ehem… it was only 14 Meters in depth, not really deep. The “real” deep fish fishing is going for the depth of over 30 Meters. This tour operator does take hardcore anglers to real deep sea but that’s another package. It was so nice that the workers prepared everything for us, the fishing rod, hook and bait, making our lives so easy.

Above: fishing bait (basung fishes & squid)

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Can you believe it? In 3 minutes, we got our first fish! I thought we were only lucky. But from there on, we got fish in every 3 minutes. That’s not my case though. At first my fishing line entangled, then my fishing hook stuck in a rock, no fish for 30 minutes but the bait was gone, my fishing became “feeding fish”. Then a worker taught me a tip, I had to release my fishing hook all the way down to the bottom, not letting it dragged in the mid water or surface.

Above: blue-dotted stingray that has venomous sting

Above: our caught in one hour

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The tip really worked! Within 20 minutes, I got 3 fishes, two blacktip groupers (red color) and a Jackfish (silver color). One of us even got a puffer fish and another got blue-dotted stingray. The capture of blue-dotted stingray caused a brief moment of fear onboard coz its sting is venomous. I’m not sure about other countries, stingray is considered a delicacy in Sabah. Its meat is quite delicious if you don’t mind it gets a weird “chemical” taste (can mix it with lime juice to cover the smell). The sea was a bit choppy, so I walked like a drunken man on the deck. Btw, it is perfect to enjoy some beer while fishing. After an hour of fishing, we returned to Usukan Cove Lodge with our fruitful caught and they cooked the fishes for us.

Above: They cooked our caught as dinner. I hope this is steamed though.

Above: meat of stingray

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River Cruise

We started our river cruise at Kawa-Kawa River at 4PM, to look for playboy of Borneo. I mean the Proboscis Monkey, which has many wives and always in “ready” mode to mate. On one side of this 15-Meter-wide river is human settlement and another side is mainly mangrove and nipah forest. Since the proboscis monkeys are used to people, they are relatively less elusive and we can get really close to them.

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Proboscis Monkey has the habit of spending the night on the trees next to the river in the evening. For them, riverside is the safest site to stay away from predators at night. About 4 to 5 herds of Proboscis Monkey were spotted at Kawa-Kawa River. But there is no guarantee we can see them. Luckily we found 3 groups of them despite the poor weather.

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Besides long-nosed monkeys, we also saw crab-eating macaque (long-tailed macaque), monitor lizard and many birds such as oriental darter, white-bellied sea eagle, little heron, blue-throated bee eater, white-collar kingfisher, frigate, doves, egrets and bulbul. After we exited the estuary of Kawa-Kawa River and on the way to Abai River, we were rewarded by the magic moment of the sunset.

Above: a male proboscis monkey showed warning then ignored us

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Then we proceeded to the mangrove forest of Abai River to look at firefly around 6:40pm. Normally there should be hundreds of them. Unfortunately, that night was rainy and bright with moonlight, the most inactive time for firefly, so we only spotted a few twinkling fireflies in the riverside. Weather is not something we can control so nevermind then. Anyway, I had so much fun that day and would call it an excellent trip.

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If you are interested in tour to Usukan Cove, you may contact Inno Travel & Tour Services (http://www.sabahholidays.com).

Photos taken in Kota Belud, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

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)

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.

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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.

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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

Tawau Hills Park (Taman Bukit Tawau)

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Last time I blogged that Tawau is an ecology desert and its ecotourism is over. Actually Tawau still has the last remaining natural heritage, Tawau Hills Park (Taman Bukit Tawau). After a few days of exploring this park, it turns out to be one of my favourite sites, and I will go there every week if I live in Tawau, which is so near to the park. Gazetted as a State Park in 1979 and 24KM away from Tawau town, Tawau Hills Park is an important water catchment area consists of five major rivers, i.e. Tawau River, Merotai River, Kinabutan River, Mantri River and Balung River. The park covers an area of 27,972 ha (about 280 sq. KM).

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Last month I took an express long-distance bus from Kota Kinabalu to Tawau, which was an 8-hour journey (one way ticket costs RM45, about USD12). Taking a flight will only take 45 minutes. But sum up all the fees such as flight ticket, baggage charge, airport tax and transport from airport to Tawau town, it will cost over RM100 one way, too much for a poor traveller like me. From Tawau town, you need to get a taxi to the park, which costs RM30 one way, and there is no bus going there. The taxi driver may offer RM50 to pick you up for returning to Tawau. FYI, you can book such transport for RM30 at the counter of the park. Don’t waste your money.

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By the time I reached Tawau Hills Park, it was about 5PM. I saw many long-tailed macaque monkeys were moving from the nearby oil palm plantation to the park. The park became their playground and they were free to loiter around. They screamed, they f**ked, they fought, they chased one another, and they swam in the river. For unknown reason, I hate long-tailed macaque, probably it bite me before.

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The photo above looks like a happy monkey enjoying soaking in the cool water. In fact, it was screaming and beg for forgiveness from alpha male, after he lost the fight and escaped into the water.

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My late grandfather was used to keep a pig-tailed macaque as pet in his house in countryside. Though also wild, pig-tailed macaque is friendlier than long-tailed macaque. Villagers seldom keep long-tailed monkey as pet as they are more aggressive and tend to bite people. If you are lucky, you will see red-leaf monkey (maroon langurs) in the park. Further inside the jungle, you would see other primates such as Borneon gibbon, grey-leaf monkey and slow loris. Rangers say they spot orangutan very deep inside the hill forest. The rare white leaf-fronted monkey is only found here (too bad I didn’t see any, though a sighting was reported during my stay).

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Ok, enough with the monkey, just to let you know you can see them in morning and evening. I was staying in a 4-bed room in a chalet in the park. It was only RM20 a bed/night for a room with 4 beds, 2 small tables and a fan. The toilet and bathroom are at the end of the walkway outside. That time was not peak season, so I could have the whole room, and even the whole chalet! At night you could see many small animals such as frogs and lizards around the area, which is what I like.

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During my 4-day stay in Tawau Hills Park, I tried the trails to Sulphur Springs (3.2 KM) and Bukit Gelas Waterfall (2.5 KM). Each trail took only 1 hour+ of walking. Since I walked slowly and looked for photography subjects, I took more than 6 hours to go back and forth (it would take longer if it didn’t rain in the afternoon). Due to prolong drought caused by El Nino, the trails were dry and leech-free. As this park is a water catchment area, the trails could be flooded by rivers during heavy rain. The Park HQ even has siren to warn swimmers, if the upstream station detects any flash flood.

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Tawau Hills Park is a mix of primary lowland and hill dipterocarp rainforests, 60% of them is virgin forest and the remaining is secondary forest. Along the trails, you will see many giant commercial timbers such as seraya, selangan, keruing and belian. Some trees have huge buttress roots. I was told that if you were lost in a jungle, just hit the buttress with a wood, and the rescuer can hear you 1KM away. This is more effective than shouting for help. The trails are along the rivers, so it is quite refreshing.

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Wildlife you would see here are leopard cats, wild boar, giant tree squirrel, clouded leopard, forest tortoise, giant river toad, etc. Sighting is not guaranteed. Sadly, I didn’t see any of the above. The first bird you will notice is the noisy hornbill. Out of 8 species of hornbills in Sabah, you can find six of them here (black, bushy-crested, helmeted, rhinocerous, white-crowned and wreathed hornbills). Three rare species of pheasants (crested-fireback, great argus, Malayan peacock pheasants) also live in this park. I saw the very beautiful Asian Paradise Flycatcher that has an extremely long tail like paradise bird. At first I thought it was a “flying towel”. When my camera struggled to auto-focus it via the leaves and tree branches, it flied away, sigh…

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In the park, there are three main peaks in the form of extinct volcanoes, namely, Mt. Magdalena (1,310M), Mt. Lucia (1,189M) and Mt. Maria (1,067M). It takes 2 days to conquer the highest peak, Mt. Magdalena. The trail is 17 KM long and you will spend a night in Mt. Lucia Hostel (at 10.55 KM). After 1,000 M above sea level, you will enter mossy forest, a totally different vegetation from lowland forest. It is far more challenging than climbing Mt. Kinabalu. If this is too adventurous for you, you may try the 1.9 KM trail to Bombalai Hill (530M), which is a a remain of an ancient crater. The rugged volcanic landscape of the park is abundant with volcano rocks ranging in age from Middle Miocene to Quaternary. I save Mt. Magdalena for the future.

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Most part of the trail is next to a river. It is an ideal spot for nude swimming, coz I didn’t see anyone tried jungle trekking. The water is unpolluted and is piped to the households in Tawau and Semporna. Ever wonder why the rivers here still flow in dry season? The rainforest serves as a water retention system for the rain water. The forest ground can hold the water and slowly releasing it to the stream, even after month of drought. If the trees in this park are sold by greedy politicians to lumbering companies, the rivers here will be polluted by eroded soil and run dry. Most Sabahans underestimate the importance of rainforest. That’s why whenever there is any serious flood and landslide, the politicians can get away easily by saying these are the Act of God and has nothing to do with the forest clearance that is approved by them. Crocker Range Park and Maliau Basin are under threat now. So, just protect our forest and stop blaming God / Allah.

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Pay attention to the small stream and you would find something interesting, like the green sucker fish below. Before that, I thought all sucker fishes were dark in color.

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The water volume of Gelas Waterfall was so small during dry season. I lost my mood to photograph it when I also saw two big logs lean on the waterfall, spoiling the whole view. Anyway, my photo album has a few nice close-up of the waterfall. It is very tempting to jump into the clean and cold water under this waterfall. But be warned that there were many cases of drowning here, especially students. Their bodies couldn’t be found until they floated on top. No survivor can live to tell how they were dragged into the water. Don’t swim there alone. As a matter of fact, all waterfall is a beautiful dead trap.

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You would find the butterfly below sipping water in the river bank of Gelas Waterfall. They moved so fast and I only managed to get one shot. It looks like a Green Dragontail butterfly (lamproptera meges virescens).

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Frankly speaking, I felt very strong presence of spirits in the remaining 400 M to Gelas Waterfall. One of my photo even shows something like a ghost orb. Well, it could be reflection of dust or moist. After I heard the tragedy stories from my aunty later, then I confirmed there were probably unseen entity lingering nearby the waterfall area. I always had such goose-bump experience in certain jungle trails, but I don’t quite bother as I can’t see “them”.

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The thing bothers me the most is a flying blood sucker called Deer Fly. Its bite is worse than leech as the wound can stay itchy for week. The itch is under the skin, scratching also can’t help much. I encounter deer fly in almost every jungle trekking. They can follow you a long way, land on your exposed skin to look for opportunity to suck blood. I kept sweeping them away with hand but they never wanted to give up. If I sweated heavily, the smell would overexcite them and even attracted more deer flies, and I ended up having 3 or more of them following me. The only way to stop them is to kill them. I just waited for them to land on my face or hand, then hit them by palm. I don’t want to kill anything in the wild but I have no choice..

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Besides tall trees, you will be amazed by the rich variety of fungi, lichens, shrubs and undergrowth vegetation. Despite my visit in dry month, I saw many types of fungus and mushroom in different sizes, shapes and colours. I think this park really can open a Fungus + Mushroom Garden, no kidding. Previous scientific field trips found that Tawau Hills Park has over 150 species of orchid, include the rare elephant-ear orchid. Most of the forest is yet to be explored, and the researchers believe many new plant species are waited to be discovered and given a name.

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There are some big fungus that I’ve ever seen. Fungus decompose dead trees and recycle the carbonic substances, so they are very important for the forest. The humid and dim rainforest is suitable for their growth.

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One fungi also looks like hair.

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Everytime I went to Tawau Hills Park, I saw different lizard. This time I spotted a comb-crested agamid. Later I spotted a gliding lizard. It thought it did a very good job to blend into the tree, so I could go very near for more close-up photos.

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Just slow down and observe the surrounding, you will see some interesting bugs in the park. Even cricket can be so pretty. Is it a “tiger cricket” below?

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When threaten, pill millipede can roll its body into ball. This time I waited and saw how long it would stay rolled. It opened up bit by bit, kept watchful eyes outside, and started moving after 20 minutes.

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The photo below is a feather bug. I passed by a tree and saw a few “bird feathers” on the trunk. A closely look revealed that it’s a bug. A few of them even mimic the movement of feather in the wind. Amazing bug…

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The funniest bug of all is the ant-snatching assassin bug (Acanthaspis sp). It collects dust, sand and soil particles, plant parts and even empty ant corpses, and stick those stuffs on their abdomen. Such heavy “backpack” is a camouflage to confuse their predators. Can you see it in the photo below? I spotted 3 of them in the park.

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Most animals come out at night, so I joined the night walk (costs RM30) guided by a ranger. We toured around between the forest and a nearby oil palm plantation, also the Bombalai trail for two hours. I hoped to see the king cobra and big ular sawa snake that the ranger told me. Too bad I did not see any, but I spotted Malayan civets, fat porcupine and firefly.

The time between 6:30pm to 11pm is the best time to look for anurans (frogs & toads), especially after rain. There are 64 species of anurans in Tawau Hills Park, 31 species are endemic to Borneo and 3 are endemic to Sabah (research by Mr. Kueh Boon Hee, University Malaysia Sabah). That means for every frog/toad that you see here, more than 50% chance it is found in Borneo only!

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Basically that’s all about my trip. Luckily the weather was good. Now I can’t wait to have another trip to climb Mt. Magdalena. Do expect me to blog about Tawau Hills Park in the future. This park has sulphur springs, lowland rainforest, montane forest, mountains, waterfalls, volcano remain, etc. The tour operators should create a package and promote it.

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Most Sabah travel agents are still lacking some creativities as they only know to demand more quota to climb Mt. Kinabalu and dive in Sipadan, as if there is nowhere else is worth to visit in Sabah. They only wait for others to develop and promote a new tourism product, when it becomes famous, only then they try to offer the same package, trying to get an easy share of the profit. They should learn more about Blue Ocean Strategy, so we can have both monkey and gold.

Photos taken in Tawau, Sabah Malaysia

Say Cheese, Not Wee-Wee

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Finally, after month of waiting, I got a new telephoto len (EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, roughly equal to 14x optical zoom) for my Canon 400D. Happily I tried to take some pictures of bird-bird. In fact, it is better to have at least a 400mm++ len (something that can cost more than my whole year salary) to photograph birds. The photos below are after big cropping, only good for identification and web graphic. I might be better off using digiscoping…

If you go to KK Wetland Centre (formerly KK City Bird Sanctuary), you have almost 100% chance seeing the bird-bird below. Unlike the friendly sparrows and pigeons who like to shit on your cars, these wild birds flee before we can get close enough to ask them to say cheese.

1. White Collared Kingfisher (Halcyon chloris)

Don’t know why. Kingfisher is always the favourite subject of photographers. This one was about 25 feet away from me, so the shot is quite ok.

2. Ashy Tailorbird (Orthotomus cuculatus)

Sometimes I feel like throwing stone at this bird (just kidding). I have been trying very hard to take its picture, but it was almost impossible with my compact camera that needs 2, 3 seconds to focus. Ashy Tailorbird never stops. They fly from one tree to another, jump from branch to branch quickly.

3. Great Egret (Egretta alba)

This is not the egret you always see in longkang. It is bigger and has a distinct “S” neck. Too bad the detail of its feather is lost in the highlight area. Probably this is caused by what they call dispersion, a common problem of a cheap telephoto len at high zoom.

4. Green Imperial Pigeon (Ducula aenea)

Not sure if I got its name right coz it was 100 feet away from me. It is 2 to 3 times bigger than normal pigeon. I was using maximum zoom. Without a tripod, IS (Image Stabilizer) also cannot help much to prevent blur image.

5. Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)

According to book, Common Greenshank is migratory bird. We only can see them between Sep and Apr. But I see them in the park all year around. Probably some of them have become the permanent resident of Sabah.

6. Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia)

Beautiful bird… They are quiet and hide among the leaves. Not common to see them in open space. I got this shot from the observatory tower.

Overall, the performance of my new len is so-so. Canon claims its IS (Image Stabilizer) works as good as other models, but I think a monopod or tripod is highly recommended for use in higher zoom. The len got a plastic look. Without USM (UltraSonic Motor), the focusing is slightly noisy. Due to its small aperture, it only performs under good lighting condition. It costs me RM900, which is considered very cheap if compare with another model that I wanted to get earlier (300mm f/4.5-5.6 zoom len with IS, RM2,300+). Well, with a price tag lower than RM1K, it does an adequate job, though not impressive but not too bad either.

Photos taken in KK Wetland Centre, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Uncle Tan’s Wildlife Camp – Part 1 of 8

Lok Kawi Zoo

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In the past, I always wonder why Borneo never has a zoo of its own, since we have been telling the world that we have rich variety of wild plant and animals. We also enjoy making the mouth of our tourists open wide, with the number of blah blah species we have in Borneo. Whatever, all this impressive facts sound more like a number. Nobody really knows what are the “content”. Many locals don’t even know what are pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys. At last, we have a “Lokkawi Zoo” (The correct name is “Lok Kawi Wildlife Park”). It is a good start, though it is not only showing animals that are native to Sabah.

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If you said Lok Kawi, I would think you mean the road between KK International Airport and Kinarut. Later I figured out the Lok Kawi Zoo is actually next to the Old Penampang road. If you follow the road from KK to Dongongon town, just go straight after you passby Dongongon town, after nearly 10 minutes, you will see its signboard at your left side. About 18 km from KK, but very near to people live in Penampang. The zoo is open daily from 9.30am to 5.30pm.

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Probably it is newly open, the response is quite good. I went there on Monday and there were 30 to 50 cars parked there at any time. To see what are in their zoo, you may Check out the Trail Map I got with the ticket. The entrance fee is RM10 for Malaysia Adult, RM5 for children, RM20 (nearly USD6) for foreigner adult tourist, RM10 for foreigner children. The admission is free for Malaysia Senior Citizens (above 60).

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What they have? They have birds, deers, orang utan, proboscis monkeys, civets, elephants, ostrich, hornbills, tigers, otter, rhino, etc. They also have a Botanical garden, but I haven’t explored it. For serious visitors who want to learn something, it can be a full day trip. However, they don’t have restaurant or cafe shop in the park to provide lunch. Overall, the facilities and trail are well planned. For bigger animals such as tiger, they have an allocated open space, and the visitors can see them from a viewing shelter, which is equipped with fans and description board.

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They also have elephant ride (for children below 12 only) at 10.30am – 11.30am and 3.30pm – 4.30pm. Hope they will have tiger ride soon, hahaha… I personally think that morning is the best time to visit. Coz in the hot afternoon, most animals would become tired and sleepy, hiding in shaded area, no mood to move already. BTW, I recorded a video of orangutan playing and relaxing, Click Here to watch it.

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Sadly, the Reptile House (for snakes and lizards) is still under construction. Hope they will be completed soon. Overall, the park is well done, but I have a few suggestions:

1) Provide more shaded area for the animals
Goodness… I advise the people there take a walk in the forest and feel how cooling it is. Most area only provide a small tree or net covering roof. The excessive light still makes their surrounding very hot.

2) Animal Employee’s Right
Welfare for the animals again. The park should be closed for 1 day per week, so the animals can rest and release stress.

3) Offer Lunch and Food
With that number of traffic flow, it is probably not wise not to have a restaurant that provides food, something like stomach filler, not just light snap.

4) Provide better direction
Build more signboards next to the road. Good for promotion too.

Photos taken in Lok Kawi, Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

MySabah.com

Travel guides to Sabah, Malaysia Borneo

Tag Archives: Birds

Climbing Mount Trus Madi, the 2nd highest mountain of Malaysia – Part 2 of 3

Start Climbing

Summit Trail

Lower Montane Forest

Multi-Peak Challenge

The Taman Bunga (Flower Garden) Peak

The Cabin

Usukan Cove

Snorkelling

Deep Sea Fishing

River Cruise

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

Continued from Part 5

Hundred-Feet Observation Tower

Back to Maliau Basin Studies Centre (MBSC)

Skybridge (Canopy Walk)

Night Safari

>> Next Article (Part 7)

More Photos

Danum Valley, 130-million-year old Borneo rainforest

5-STAR RAINFOREST

NIGHT DRIVE

JUNGLE TREKKING

CANOPY WALK

Other canopy walk in Sabah:

Tawau Hills Park (Taman Bukit Tawau)

Say Cheese, Not Wee-Wee

Uncle Tan’s Wildlife Camp – Part 1 of 8

Lok Kawi Zoo