Rafflesias & River BBQ

Tour code: FD001

Itinerary

0800 hrs - pick up from your hotel in Kota Kinabalu. We will head for Donggongon with its many markets. This small town, the centre of the Kadazan people of Sabah, comes to an especially colourful life during the weekly Tamu on Thursdays and Fridays and these are our two preferred days for this tour! After a stroll through the market we continue through villages and along rivers into the foothills of the Crocker Range. Good weather permitting we’ll have an exhilarating view from the Gunung Alab Pass over the plains of Kota Kinabalu and the islands of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine National Park. A couple of minutes below the pass we find the Rafflesia Conservation Area. The genus Rafflesia has the largest flowers in the world, alas also the rarest. It is a parasite that grows on a liana found in abundance here, but a flower bud takes some nine to 21 months to develop and burst into full bloom! After only five days to one week the flower is already rotten away. It is a flower that continues to baffles scientists who occasionally find new species in Sabah. Due to the high concentration of Rafflesias at the conservation area the chances are high that we will spot one in full bloom. Successful or not, we will then head back into the plains visit the Kipandi Butterfly Farm – which comes with an impressive orchid garden as well – and then have a well merited BBQ lunch on the crystal clear Moyog River that has its source within the Crocker Range National Park. Here the river is still unpolluted and inviting for a refreshing dip. The area is also popular with locals who flock here over the week-end and the people living in the vicinity come here to take their bath. Time is no constraint, enjoy the company of the locals and maybe they even take out the gongs to show you how to dance the Sumazau, their very own dance to the thundering rhythm of gongs.

Meals: BBQ lunch

notes: There is unfortunately no guarantee that a Rafflesia flower can be seen in full bloom!