By Rajiz
Yes you read it right! this trip brings you to the Rafflesia forest Reserve to see the world’s largest flower Rafflesia and the carnivorous Nepenthes. Good news.. it is located at the Crocker Range National Park reserve approximately 60km east from Kota Kinabalu city. This makes an ideal day trip for nature enthusiasts.
Let me walk you through the whole trip. Don’t worry it is just a 3 minutes reading short blog.
Covering around 356 hectares of pristine jungle, this reserve was established in 1984 under the Sabah Forestry Department to protect the flower for research and educational purposes. The journey to the Rafflesia Forest Reserve took less than two (2) hours through the beautiful mountain pass.
Upon arrival at the Rafflesia information Centre, you are required to register your name and passport nu. A safety briefing will be conducted by the ranger in charge before venturing into the beautiful temprate jungle where the flower is blooming. The trekking distance depends on the blooming location and it sometimes took around an hour just to get there and another hour back to the starting point.
The starting point is located at 1,200m a.s.l with a nice high humidity 20 degree celcius makes the forest floor always wet. A hiking shoes with good grip is recommended to tackle the undulating and slippery forest floor, at the information counter you can also rent the rubber shoes with stud. Due to the unpredictable weather at the montane forest, a rain jacket is highly recommended to bring.
Rafflesia are big parasitic red colored flower with white dots that grows on the forest floor, feeding on it host the Tetrastigma vines for nutrients. It has no stems and leaves. From a small bud to full blooming it took around nine (9) month, the blooming only last for a week, depending on the environmental factor. During the nine (9) month period it is vulnerable to ground squireel, moon rat and other predator.
Finally after almost 40 minutes of trekking we found what we came for, the big red flower on the forest floor, this is the moment that everybody is looking forward to.. a magical and special moment. I still remember when I read the first time it was discovered in Java in 1791, they must be baffled by this beautiful flower not knowing what exactly it is. The ranger said it is day two blooming. We are so excited to see the rare flower at its natural habitat.
Happy to see what we came for, after twenty minutes spend taking photos and videos, we decided to trek back to the starting point and drive 20 minutes to the nearby ranger station to see the insect eating pitcher plants and some orchids that grow along the trail.
Pitcher plants are specialised plant-life that grows on a poor and acidic soil, it traps and digest insect for nutrients through its modified leaves. The jar shaped leaves contain enzymes to dilute and break its pray. Insects are lured by the smell, colour of the pitcher.
Our trip at the ranger station ends at around 12pm, after lunch at the restaurant nearby, we decided to call it a day and drive back to Kota Kinabalu at 2pm. It is about time as the mist starts to swril inside the jungle every afternoon without fail.
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