Mount Kinabalu: view from the hotel window.
 N. reinwardtiana |
The Carnivorous Plant
Web
701 Rossland Road E., Box 271,
Whitby, ON,
Canada L1N 9K3
Phone(905) 666-3126
A Trip Through
Sabah to Mt. Kinabalu
All
photography by Glyn Constant and Gina Constant
| Visitor: |
Please
note:
Export of Nepenthes seed, plants and cuttings from Brunei is not
permitted.
Mount Kinabalu: view from the hotel window. |
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Mt. Kinabalu: It
certainly was a wonderful trip. For us it was very low cost, we
live in Brunei so it was quite easy to just drive over the
border. Mt Kinabalu is reputedly a paradise for Orchids and many
other plants. Unfortunately I know little about the orchids but
saw enough in the conservation centre at Tenom to want to know
more.
 Paphiopedilum lowii |
 Bulbophyllum lowii |
The mountain itself is
not a difficult climb. It is normally done in two stages. The
first day is a 6km walk starting at 6000ft and ending at the rest
house at 10,500ft. As a straight walk it would take about 5 hrs
but if you take it easy and look around at the plants it can take
up to 8 hrs - thats the easiest way.
On the second day you normally get up at 3am and do the more
strenuous part, climb the last 3000ft (about 2km) to reach the
summit in time to watch the sun rise. You can either return all
the way to the 6000ft mark or spend a second night at the rest
house. Most people opt to return to 6000ft. There is no physical
climbing involved, the trail up is mostly a never ending series
of steps. I always found the most difficult part was coming down,
even though I am reasonably fit. Stretching the muscles used for
the upward climb in a different direction is difficult. The only
slight problem I ever had was when I climbed to the top a couple
of years ago and suffered altitude sickness at the 10,000ft mark.
I got over it and it didn't stop me.
Normally, when we go to the National Park we stay in the Park
accommodation but this time we decided to treat ourselves to a
hotel perched on a hilltop opposite the mountain (See the first
picture). We were at 5000 ft and had a beautiful panoramic view
of the mountain from our bedroom window. On our second night
there we awoke at 3:30 am, opened the window and lay in bed
watching the flickering torchlights of the early morning climbers
on the summit trail. In the clear early morning darkness, lit
only by starlight, it was a beautiful sight.
 Mosses grow everywhere in the high humidity. Here a clump weighing several hundred pounds is seen growing on a tree trunk. It is spotted with epiphytic orchids. |
 Orchids can be seen growing among the terrestrial mosses also. This photo was taken in moss forest at the 3000 ft level on Mt. Silam. |
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Nepenthes
macrophylla Three photos of N. Macrophylla taken by Glyn's wife Gina on Mt. Trusmadi, Sabah. |
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Nepenthes
macrovulgaris
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This is a group of lower pitchers, one of which is yet to open. The photo was taken on Mt. Silam. |
 An upper pitcher |
 .An upper pitcher with a lodger. It gave me quite a shock when it started to appear, just as I was focusing - it has to be a land crab as the site is 2500ft above sea level and 10km from the coast. This species seems to prefer ultramafic, serpentine soils. Upper and lower pitchers grow to around 25cms in height. |
Nepenthes veitchii
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| Veitchii grows from sea level up
to 1000m in heath or moss forest. It has a unique tree
climbing habit where the stem will go straight up the
trunk with the leaves wrapping around it until the young
pitcher tendrils link together on the far side and anchor
the plant to the tree. The plant is quite widespread in Sarawak but rarely found in Sabah, growing only close to the Sarawak/Kalimantan border. |
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Nepenthes fusca
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Next: some habitat shots and a few
more spectacular species
Forward to Nepenthes page 4
Forward to Nepenthes page 5
Back to Nepenthes page 2
Back to Nepenthes page 1
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