At the location from Neph. rajah

In 2015 I had the opportunity to visit Mount Kinabalu Park again for a week. Our program also included visiting the higher part of the park in Mesilau. Here we wanted to visit the location of Paph. volonteanum and Nepenthes rajah again. Unfortunately, I had not taken enough pictures of the plants on the last visit and some of the slides were blurry, etc.

To our horror, the park rangers at headquarters tell us that an earthquake in spring 2015 destroyed, among other things, the accommodation in Mesilau and the location of the plants. Apparently, the accommodation in Mesilau is still closed today.

What now? A local taxi driver put us in touch with a man from the neighboring town who could take us to another Neph. rajah location for 100 Malay dollars - he didn't know whether Paph. volonteanum also grows there.

A car owner received $50 of the agreed costs, $25 went towards petrol and our guide also received $25.

In the park I was then able to persuade someone interested in botany to join us on our day tour at short notice. We set off the next day.

We had trouble following our guide through the dense reeds.

We soon left the reed belt behind us. Orchids and pitcher plants were constantly to be found along the path, which we then had to photograph.

The "path" always went uphill and led through a sparse jungle with 5-10 meter high trees.

After 90 minutes of climbing, it was standing in front of us: almost two meters high Neph. rajah plants - what a sight.

Nicht an jedem Blatt waren Kannen hier zu finden.

In total, about 20 plants were found here.

After spending almost two hours here at the site, our guide reminded us that we had to go back before the daily rain at around 5 p.m. made the descent a slippery affair.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to find any Paphiopedilums here, but the Neph. rajah were gigantic - a unique experience.

The descent to the car was anything but easy, in places we slid down the slope on our bottoms. And there was still so much to photograph.

Coelogyne radioferens

Almost there.

Now we had time to look around the area. Various types of cabbage were grown at this altitude. The daily and heavy rainfall is diverted away from the cabbage plants by water channels.

The harvested vegetables could also only be transported away using off-road vehicles.

Here you can still see the damage caused by the earthquake. Entire landslides have destroyed the area and the infrastructure. New bridges must be built to restore access to the villages.

For us it was an unforgettable day in the jungle.

I took a soil sample from the Neph. rajah site, which was examined in a laboratory here.