The
alarm went off at 5:15 and immediately it started to rain. We headed for the buffet at the Kinabalu
Balsam Restaurant and then drove up the road and walked around in the drizzle/
rain. Suddenly we saw probably the
most spectacular bird of Borneo, Whitehead’s Broadbill, a fluorescent green bird
about 10’ long with black under the chin and black edging the feathers on the
back. Even in the middle of a very
green forest it glowed! It flew
around several times so we all got good views.
 |
Whitehead's Broadbill
From surfbirds.com ©Simon
Harrap |
We
then split up into two groups and hiked from the top or bottom of a trail that
follows the Silau-Silau, a nearby stream. Bob and I hiked up stream with John
and got very good views of the Bornean Forktail, a lovely bird with a very white crest, very black body adn white again on its lower back and a very long white and black striped tail!
It started to rain in earnest
but we had no choice but to continue up the trail climbing up muddy roots and
rocks with our bins, umbrellas and walking stick! We met the other group coming
down and finally got to the top and our bus. We drove back to the Liwagu
Restaurant for lunch. I had a great plate of veggie-filled samosas with a
delicious peanut sauce.
 |
| A walking stick on Keith's
hat |
 |
| Birding in the wet
jungle |
2 PM
we all set off for the other side of the park at a much lower elevation, where
there is a large hot springs resort, Poring Hot Springs (named for Poring, a
high-quality type of bamboo). On the
way we stopped at a Rufflesia garden. Rufflesia is rare parasitic plant that has a
very complicated life cycle; the park officials encourage the local people to
grow them, allowing the gardeners to charge tourists a set fee to view the
flowers. The flowers which can reach
almost 40” in width and 20 lbs. in weight give off an odor of rotten meat,
attracting flies. The flies spread the
pollen and fertilizing the flowers. The resulting fruit is then eaten by
squirrels and tree shrews that disperse the seeds. The seed must fall near a particular species
of vine which it invades and parasitizes. A small bud grows beside the vine which
finally turns into the flower which is open for only a few days after which it
collapses and dies if it hasn’t been fertilized. The family who owned this plot grew all
sorts of exotic fruits which I could have spent quite a while tasting and
photographing!
 |
| Rafflesia bud |
 |
| Rafflesia flower |
We
stopped across from a fruit stand to check out a weedy area that contained some
very large pitcher plants, Nepenthes
sp. The fruit stand was selling
Durian, a foot long spiny fruit that has been called “the King of Fruits” by some! It is supposedly wonderful to eat but many
people think it stinks horribly and can make your breath smell foul for
days! I was sorely tempted to try it,
but being on a small bus, thought the better of it!!
 |
| Durian fruit |
 |
| Pitcher Plant, ~6"
long |
We
arrived at the springs at almost four and walked through a park and past the
baths. We returned to the parking lot to await the Waterfall Swifts who fly out
from behind waterfalls just at dusk.
 |
| Poring Springs
baths |
Alas, they didn’t show, but we had a very
interesting day nevertheless. We got back to our Lodge at seven and walked over
to the Liwagu restaurant for dinner. I had prawn fritters, elaborately coated
shrimp with a delicious hot sauce and tequila and lemon water to drink.
Several of us followed dinner with a great dessert of banana in pastry,
raspberry sorbet and mango pudding!
 |
| Beautiful moth outside Lynn's
door |
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