After having lunch in Keningau Town, we drove all the way back to Manis-Manis Rooftop Borneo Resort which is located in the Crocker Ranger Park, around 1000m above sea level, with 20 minutes drive from the Town. There's an entrance fee RM3/person to enter the Park before we lodge in. We were not sure where was the reception after we passed by some huts, then we finally found the reception right at the cafeteria. We chose to stay in a chalet with RM224/night after promotion 30% less from the original price RM300/night. The chalet was clean, come with a king-size bed, and antique feel.
We unloaded our luggage and rolled on the bed for a while, then daddy rushed us to quickly get ready to visit the Crocker Nature Centre before it closed at 4pm. It's just walking distance from our chalet but we drove there as the sky looked gloomy. Once we reached, the staff told us that Rafflesia was blossoming on its second day. Since it wasn't far from the centre, we quickly walked down the stairs but in plain sandals, not sports shoes! I was so worried with this attire as the steps were getting wet and slippery, and we were carrying a baby with us!
In less than 10 minutes while descending, we saw a Rafflesia bud not far from our track, it was pinkish ,wrapped tightly in a black colour skin, with the size as large as a cabbage.
We walked through a small section of muddy track, my shoes were almost stuck in it cause I was heavy. Then we found the blossoming Rafflesia! It was our first time witnessing the flower in such a close distance. Then it's camera time, nonstop.
The flower in the picture above is Rafflesia Keithii, named after Sabah Forest conservationist Henry George Keith. This flowering parasitic plant has five petals, with small irregular shapes of whitish spots distributed on them. In the middle of the flower there is a center column with orange colour thorn-like anthers attracting insects such as flies to pollinate. While we found the flower was already closed to 4pm, we did not smell any unpleasant rotting flesh odour like described in the book. Another reason was we were at a higher altitude with a colder climate. R. keithii was reported to have intense odour at noon, particularly on hot days. Another species you can find in endemic Sabah is R. pricei.
Let me quote the cause of Rafflesia rarity from Rafflesia Centre:
One of the causes of the extreme rarity in Rafflesia is its double habitat specialisation. First, the host plants (Tetrastigma spp.) occur only in certain habitats (for example, riparian or riverside forests) and secondly, the plants are narrow specialists on only specific species of Tetrastigma, creating 'double specialisation'. This makes Rafflesia doubly rare.
Rafflesia keithii's bud takes 12 to 16 months to blooming. One reason blooms are so rare is that many buds die before they flourish. The causes of this mortality are uncertain, but may be linked with the host vines's inability to provide support and vital nutrients at crucial times, direct predation by animals like rodents and infection by parasitic wasp larvae. (Garbutt & Prudente, 2006. Wild Borneo: The Wildlife and Scenery of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan, pg 45-46)
So we were back to our lovely chalet. This is the outside view of Banyan chalet.
The interior of our room, attached with bathroom and water heater. No air-conditioning needed as the night was very cold. No wi-fi available in this resort, but we were still able to connect weakly from our mobile data. However, we just put the phone aside and enjoyed the family time playing with Forrest, who was busy discovering this new place. The downside of the bathroom was the tape water was cloudy and yellowish.
When I was about to get my clothes for a bath, I saw my foot was attached with a little dark patch of mud from the jungle trekking just now. But I soon realised it was my darkest fear when I was in the forest: it was the unforgivable leech!!! I screamed for help like mad, shook my leg trying hard to get rid of the leech, failed, then jumping off the ground while taking off my pants. It was detached from my foot. Then my hubby slowly shook the pants when the leech dropped on the ground. That was the most unbearable fear I had since childhood and the more I fear the easier I got hooked by leech. Lesson learnt: must wear a proper footwear into the jungle next time.
So it's dinner time. We ordered chicken chop with rice for RM22 only. The entire Cinnamon cafeteria had only us as guests. So it took about 20 minutes for them to prepare the meal. To our surprise, the meal portion was huge! We just enjoyed ourselves at the cafeteria very much. It has free flow coffee and tea from 8am to 9pm.
The next morning we got up at 6 to catch the sunrise. It was nice but the sun seemed to rise behind the mountain so we couldn't catch the yolk but yeah get to see the sea clouds from the observation tower just in front of the cafe. Then we packed our luggage and checked out. Breakfast was included in our package so we can choose our choice of breakfast in advance.
This is the operation hour of the Crocker Range Park Nature Centre. There's handful info about Crocker Range Park as a Biosphere Reserve exhibited in the centre. Some wildlife models and local ethnic groups traditional arts and crafts are displayed too.
The sea clouds view from the cafe. Down there is Keningau town.
On another note, our photo had won the best photo in Manis-Manis Rooftop of Borneo Resort Facebook Photo Contest. We won another chance to visit Crocker Range again!
For more info:
http://www.manismanisresort.com.my
http://www.sabahtourism.com/destination/crocker-range-park
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keningau
