Date: Thu, 17 Apr 97 10:03 WET From: egilding@lava.net To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1494$foo@default> Subject: Re: Borneo
Borneo is amazing!!!!
Nepenthes everywhere! Well just about everywhere. I don't think a day went
by in Borneo when I didn't spot at least one, perhaps a N. gracilis here and
there. The more rare ones I saw were N. albomarginata, N. reinwardtiana, N.
tenticulata, N. bicalcarata(HUGE plants!) and N. fusca. The more common
ones were N. gracilis, N. rafflesiana, N. ampullaria and the natural hybrid
N. hookeriae. I also saw a few 'variants' of N. rafflesiana in Sipitang
Sabah. One had winged tendrils while the other had a pure white pitcher!
In any case.... I went with a group of folks who got in touch for the sole
purpose of going collecting. I went along to collect Hoya ssp.
(Asclepiadaceae), Epiphytic Gingers, and Nepenthes seed(and we sure did find
some!). Others in the group were more or less interested in Hoya, and that
group was the focus of our search. What got me very excited was that we
found many NEW Hoyas! Also we found a Hoya that hasn't been in cultivation
since...since the 1800's I believe.
I also wanted to go see N. merrilliana in the Philippines so before the
entire group went to Borneo, my Mother, two others and I went to Surigao,
Mindanao to search for Hoyas and Nepenthes. We sure did see a lot of
Nepenthes in one day along the east coast of Surigao. The roads were bad
and there were 'raids' on passing vehicles(people carrying guns the usual
stuff). All part of the fun. Anyway there was about 4-5 plants of N.
merrilliana. along with many N. alata, N. mirabilis, and N. sp. petiolata.
N. truncata was supposedly there but the bad news is we never found it. My
gripe was that our group never slowed down to enjoy all the plants around.
It was a speedy daytripper affair. If I go again I'll take my time, hike
into the forest more, particularly on Borneo, although that sort of thing
isn't for everyone. Seeing these things in the habitat in an invaluable
experience. It helps you understand what conditions they enjoy and you get
to 'feel' just how humid the air is and .....its I can't explain it.
Most species in Borneo were in heath forest swamps. Where the soil is poor,
sandy, and in places waterlogged. The trees are stunted, ants of all types
abound, and many orchids growing on the ground or in the trees.
In Surigao the soil was red with Iron deposits (infact the locality is
called Red Hill, it is also near a Nickel mine). We stayed in Surigao City,
the rooms were cheap and at night the balcony would be crawling with rats.
The rooms were ok though. It might have been better if we could've gone to
Tandag in Surigao del Sur, which is even more off-the-beaten-path. People
there were real nice food was exetremely cheap and good to boot.
Borneo was the opposite of the Philippines. It was much cleaner, much
more......western. More orderly in the since they have city planning
ordinances there and such. In KK we stayed at Farida's B&B, its cheap and
friendly....sorta like sleeping over at a friends house. We were lucky
because we were taken around by an employee of a Ag Park in Sabah. That
meant government hotel rates(way way cheaper!) Cheap transportation and they
knew where good habitat was. I definately would go to Sabah again, it is a
fascinating place.
In any case I put up some pics of the trip on my webpage at:
http://www.lava.net/~egilding/index.htm
There are a few Nepenthes pics in the Travel Section. I haven't scanned all
my Nep pics yet, there are a few of N. bicalcarata and such that didn't
develop very well.
All the best,
Ed
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