Mountain stream
Gunung Santubong
GUNUNG Santubong was calling a couple of weeks ago – so away we went to be reinvigorated by this amazing mountain.
What was even more amazing, we did not meet anyone else on the Jungle Trail, which traverses its lower slopes.
Mountain stream
We decided to follow the looping spongy-leaf covered Jungle Trail that skirts the boulder-strewn mountain stream that chortles towards the South China Sea along the foot of Gunung Santubong.
The water is clear but tea-coloured not from pollution, but from the soil that it flows through.
The startling reddish orange-barked selunsor trees (Trisaniopsis sp) dot the riverbank on both sides. The bark of this outstanding tree peels off in long ribbons and falls to the ground.
Starting the jungle walk
The plank trail runs through the dipterocarp rainforest of the mountain. Even on hot days the forest floor is cool.
Startling fungi appeared randomly along the trail. Fungi, despite their similarities are not plants, but a separate kingdom.
The conspicuous fruiting bodies emerge from the mats of mycelium that run through the soil.
Jungle path between saplings
Saplings that have grown from seedlings that germinated following a mast fruiting season a couple of years ago heavily shade the jungle path.
Then, the ground was completely covered with winged dipterocarp seeds.
Santubong itself
The upper slopes of Gunung Santubong was declared a national park in 1998. This mountain, visible for kilometres out to sea, drew sailors to its shores.
It continues to draw visitors not only from the sea but from the land.
Come celebrate and learn more about the magical, mystical Gunung Santubong at the first Santubong Nature Festival, which runs from Nov 9-10.
This festival is co-organised by the Kuching Branch of the Malaysian Nature Society and Permai Rainforest Resort, with support from Limkokwing Borneo, Sarawak Museum Department, Sarawak Photo Art Society, Friends of Sarawak Museum and Sarawak Heritage Society.
It is hoped that the Santubong Nature Festival will:
- Raise public awareness of the priceless natural and historical – local and global – heritage value of the Santubong Peninsula;
- Advocate for a holistic and integrated approach to development and management of the area safeguarding its unique landscape, biodiversity and historical assets;
- Showcase the tourism and recreational potential of the natural and cultural values of the Santubong Peninsula;
- Stimulate reflection on responsible and sustainable further management of the peninsula and its surroundings.
For more information on the Santubong Nature Festival and coming activities, visit the festival’s Facebook page or email [email protected].