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Writer's pictureMr & Mrs Wright

Catchment to Coast

After our extended period in the humid lowlands Esti put in a request to the chief travel planner (Dale) for a few days of lying by the pool at a decent hotel in Kota Kinabalu. Given that I had exposed her to many hours of sweaty, leech infested jungle treks in search of rare birds and other biodiversity I felt this was deserved and so the request was approved. In the end we spent almost a week in the city of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah Province, and also managed to fit in a trip to a Buddhist temple, visited the Sabah state museum to learn a little more about Malaysian culture and watch a stunning sunset from Tanjung Aru beach (including buying the two most expensive GnTs we will hopefully ever purchase). All in all it was a relaxing and cultured week, but after three consecutive pool days Dale was very ready for some more adventure (to be fair, I did of course also fit in a morning's birding at the KK wetland and ramsar site, walking through some mangrove habitat).



The next stop on our adventures was Mount Kinabalu National Park. As the highest peak in Borneo, but topping out at a fairly moderate 4,095m in altitude, it has become quite the tourist attraction. Providing a good feeling of accomplishment for willing climbers after a short two day trek. We were not to receive that ultimate feeling of accomplishment however, as our focus was the forested slopes of the mountain, rather than the barren rocky peak. By this stage I'm sure you can guess why...



Mountains and islands offer up interesting biodiversity, often including "endemics" - species which are found nowhere else. This is primairly due to their isolation. Species arriving at islands, after somehow crossing the seas, will find themselves isolated from their siblings and perhaps facing different ecological pressures. As they adapt in response to these pressures, so they change, generation by generation, until they are no longer that which had arrived, having now become a species of their own, which if it encountered it's original progenitor, would now be unlikely to succesfully reproduce. But why mountains you may ask. Well, they often represent islands of their own, primarily due to climatic and habitat differences which occur along their slopes with the changing altitude, and which make them different from the surrounding lowlands. As a species moves up a slope it may encounter slightly different habitats to those further down, and it may become accustomed to slightly cooler temperatures. Now an inter-glacial period arrives (a time of warming) and the cooler habitats retreat further upslope...with the bird (or other critter) in hot pursuit. The individuals now find themselves marrooned on the upper slopes in their ideal habitat, cut off by the warm jungles below. As time progresses so they diverge from their original buddies...once again leading to speciation as the two populations become increasingly different, to the point where they can no longer inter-breed. You have just completed speciation and evolution 101. Well done. That's probably not what you came for, but it provides some important background information.


Mt Kinabalu is a mountain ON an island...leading to remarkable levels of endemicity among its species. This mountain alone contains between 5-6,000 species of plants (more than Europe, Canada and the USA combined!), and a large number of Borneo's endemic birds - about 24 species are isolated to the mountain habitats. It hosts about 800 species of Orchid (a few more than your local woolworths), and over 600 species of ferns (more than the whole of Africa), with about 50 being endemic. Just for good measure, the mountain top has 26 endemic snails. I'm sure you can now appreciate why we chose to spend the few days here exploring the lower slopes and this remarkable biodiversity, rather than joining the trekker train to the top.



Our three days on the mountain were punctuated by thunderstorms in the afternoons, with the peak shrouded in mist for much of the day. The mountain and the surrounding range being the primary water catchment for the urban areas spread along the coast below. This left the morning for trekking (or rather, birding) through the forests, the cooler high altitude weather being a welcome respite from the humid jungles. One morning we hiked the Liwagu trail, named after the river which it follows. This six hour trek took us through stunning forest, with not another soul in sight...just how we like it. The beautiful views along the river valley and up the forested slopes kept us mostly distracted from the very narrow path with a rather high, steep drop off. We were rewarded with a sighting of the rare and elusive Asian short-clawed otter, the smallest otter species in the world, which quickly took off down the river after seeing us. Whitehead's Trogon was another exciting find, along with a few good flocks containing various montane endemic birds. These included the Bornean magpie (with a pair attending their nest), Bornean treepie, Bornean leafbird, Mountain Imperial Pigeon and Golden-naped Barbet (as you can guess - any bird with "Bornean" in the name scores double points for awesomeness).



After a few days of trekking, like the rivers we had crossed, we floated gently down to the sea, for our final days in Borneo. Dropping off the steep sides of the mountain in a matter of two hours, to the coast near the town of Kota Belud. You know you've booked a good spot when the only access is by a tiny boat. Getting your luggage and feet a little wet is well worth the peace and quiet resulting from the inaccessibility. Our lodge, named Big Fin, was perched on a little hill just above the tranquil, warm waters of the Sulu sea.



Our plan here was to take it easy and do as little as possible...which we mostly achieved, with the help of some well positioned hammocks. One very fun morning was spent kayaking across to the tiny island opposite the lodge, a 20m long white sand beach surrounded by dense green jungle, which we had to ourselves for a couple of hours before some day visitors arrived. We took the opportunity to snorkel around the island, taking in the underwater life, before paddling back to the lodge in time for lunch. A subsequent day of rain aligned well with the plan to do nothing, as we caught up on reading and writing. The storm cleared just in time for another stunning sunset, signalling not only the end of the day, but also the end of our epic month in Borneo.



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Irich Creativestudio
Irich Creativestudio
Apr 25

Best place to explore

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Sep 02, 2023

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