Day 3 of Kuching (Part 1) - Sarawak National Park

1.5 hours drive away from Kuching city and we reached Sarawak National Park 

in one straight line, we set off for our hike into the 'park' 

2 mosquito patches, one on my t-shirt and one of my pants, were not enough to ward off the commando mosquitoes so I had to have a third one on the back of my t-shirt to protect my neck within 5 minutes of trekking into the 'park'.... =S

pitcher plant - seems to be everywhere in Kuching

a plant whose roots can be made into insect repellent 

the main draw of this National Park is the Rafflesia...
although they were several rafflesia buds along the way, we din manage to see any bloomed ones as the flowers usually only last for 5 - 7 days 

a video i found on youtube 

2 black spheres --> 4 to 5 month old rafflesia buds 

2 brown longan like sphere --> 1 month old rafflesia bud

1 black chestnut like sphere --> 2 month old rafflesia bud  

Rafflesia's host plant - Rafflesia is a parasite flower that does not have roots, leaves or stem. It starts its life as a bud on the stem or roots of this host plant and absorb the required nutrients from the host plant. 

our guide with the tallest flower in the world - Amophorphallus 

blossom only for 13 days and whose fragrance attracts ladybugs 

Hammerhead leech - was too slow in capturing the pix as i had to elbow through my kids hence unable to see the hammerhead as it wriggled down the edge... =S

i believe it should look like this

random pix of the surrounding  

Black termite nest - made with latex and soil  - super sturdy

树也喜欢手插腰哦!

stream from the waterfall

lantern bug 

at least 4 out of the 20 pupils slipped and fell during the hike....that's how slippery the paths are.... but we did learnt a plentiful and there were so much to see even when we only went for the 45 minutes trail.... I dun mind going on the 3 hours one but it's a must to get the guide else it would just be a boring walk in the jungle...