Upon reaching the resort pontoon, Ah Man, the resort supervisor informed me that there was some activity to our fishing lines. This caused a lot of excitement to Robin and me. Upon alighting off the boat, we immediately attended to our fishing line.
Robin was the first to reach his line and when he reeled in his line, it was noted that the fish had snagged the line near the pontoon walkway near the flight of steps to the café. Boy, it was disappointing to lose a fish that way. As he retrieved his line, I noted that he had not used a wire leader line on this occasion. So, it was easy for a huge fish like Giant Snakehead a.k.a Toman to snap his line especially with razor sharp teeth of the fish. I could feel his disappointment of not landing the fish but I guess, things like this will happen.
As we walked back to the pontoon where we had kept our fishing gears and bait, I walked to my fishing rod and I immediately noted that the line was taut. My heart leapt and missed a beat as I know from experience that there is a fish on the line. As I reeled in my line, I saw that distinct head and body markings of a Giant Snakehead. Woo hoo! The fight was on and I shouted , “ I’ve got fish! I’ve got fish! “ I must say that I looked like a bloody lunatic on the pontoon; uncombed white haired and grinning ear to ear as I fought the fish and brought it up. Yup, the fish mangled my line badly but it survived. After some photographs, I released the about 1kg fish into the lake.
Yeah, the feeling was good and I immediately thanked the Lord for good catch. I had asked Robin to use one of my tied rigged wired trace line to his line and he was game for it. We both prayed that we would have fish that day and as we casted out our bait. We prayed that we would get some good size fish to eat for that day! I tell you this, when you pray earnest enough, God will answer and grant you that favour! It is proven and I will you that story later though.
Lunch of fried rice, sausages and fruits were served. It was really delicious and tasty. In fact, all the meals served by the chef of Belum Eco Resort was above expectations. The dishes were very good. Compliments to the chef, really. My only regret was that I did not get his name but I know that his 30 years experience as a chef elsewhere does shine through very nicely through his dishes. Really good and great dishes indeed!
After a short rest, we were off to Rafflesia flower site at Royal Belum National Park. Along the way, Awang told us that there were many sites available for rafflesia flower sighting. However, we were extremely lucky as there was this site whereby the rafflesia flower just bloomed about 2 days ago and there was two rafflesia flower at the site. Elated and excited, we were off to the site immediately. It was about an hour ride from our resort and the tiredness from the morning hike and waterfall trail begun to take its toll on all of us.
Rafflesia, a native of rainforests of Thailand, Malaysia and in the Indonesian Archipelago, is the largest flower in the world. Interestingly, the Rafflesia is a parasitic plant. It has no roots, stems or leaves, only a humungous flower. In addition, it only seems to parasitise the stems of Tetrastigma vines, which are members of the grape family, Vitaceae. Rafflesia is the world’s largest, the heaviest, the rarest and the one of the most stinkiest flowers in the world. It grows to 1 metre wide and weighs about 10 kgs.
Rafflesia flower has a small lifecycle of 5-7 days. Rafflesias have their stamens and pistils fused together in a central column, producing a corona, or crown, in the shape of a ring. The reddish brown colors of the petals, are sprinkled with white freckles. The smell attracts the carrion flies and then pollination occurs. After 9 months of maturation, Rafflesia plant opens into a cabbage-sized bud. The sexual organs are located beneath the rim of the disk.
There are three species of Rafflesia flower found in Royal Belum-Temenggor Forest Reserve. They are Rafflesia Kerrii, Refflesia Cantleyii and Rafflesia Azlanii. We had the honor to see two lovely Rafflesia Azlanii in bloom that day.
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| The Rafflesia Azlanii..... |
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| The second Rafflesia Azlanii |
We were relaxing in the boat when we arrived at a slopey banks somewhere. We were told that there were many sites of rafflesia flowers but this place was the nearest to our resort. So, after going through a very calm small river, we arrived at the slopey banks. We started climbing the almost 40 degree angled steps terrain upwards. After some laborious efforts and battling cramps, we made it to the top. There to greet us was one beautifully bloomed Rafflesia Azlanii in front of us and another beautiful Rafflesia Azlanii on the right side. What a privilege indeed to get to see two bloomed rafflesia flower which is a rarity,actually.
Awang went on to explain to us on the flower roots and the numerous rafflesia buds found at the site. He also gently reminded us to be very careful not to step on the roots of the rafflesia flower nor disturb any of the buds. To me, it was that precious and important that the next generation of our young ones would be able to see this beautiful flower.
I am a firm believer that our flora and fauna in our jungles today are slowly and surely being driven to extinction by over population, human greed and robbing of the Mother Nature resources. This is one living example that tourism can sometimes do more harm than good. Too many people crowding the site and soon, the flower dies and it is another 9 months wait before it blooms again. What if it doesn’t bloom? Do we scrounged another site for it? Yes, it fuels the economy and the pockets of the people but at what expense?
More often than not, the flora and fauna loses out to the greed of the people who are constantly in need to make money and to exploit the natural resources for their own selfish end. I am aghast and disgusted when people fail to see that their money making ways are killing our Mother Nature. I am beginning to see algae appearing in the lake and that is not a good sign as algae will soon choke the lake ; making the lake lacking in oxygen and killing the water life around it. I am also told that the gaur and seladang had been poached to near extinction while tigers ( only 23 tigers left according to a NST article in 3 August, 2019 ) tapirs, elephants, water shrew and sun bears are virtually dwindling as we speak and much closer to the extinction bracket.
The one species that had gone extinct in our land is the Sumatran Rhinoceros. Isn’t that sad? Many more will perish if poaching flourish in our land. We should support, write letters of protest and give support to various organizations who are fighting the extinction of our flora and fauna. It is vitally important or else our children and children’s children will only see the remnants in a zoo or worst still, just read about it. As we finished off our photography session at the rafflesia site, we immediately came down from the hill top and headed towards our boat. I managed to speak to Awang about the conservation works for the rafflesia flower.
Awang informed that there are a couple of sites and researchers are doing their best to raise awareness of the sensitivity of the rafflesia flower. He even informed us that great progress were made but usually the researches and conservationist efforts were hampered by the arrival of tourists and the tourism industry as a whole. He further explained that it was a Catch 22 situation whereby you have the biggest flower attraction in world and you want to show it to the world and yet you’ve got to balance it out so that you don’t kill the flower by the acts of unsuspecting tourist or blatant acts of disregards from the tourists/guests.
When I suggested educating the public of the do’s and don’ts, Awang said that it was difficult to tell the tourists/guests as people tend to want to touch/feel and smell the flower. Couldn’t agree more with his answer, actually. All along the way, I pondered on this matter as it pricks me inside that plants and animals are slowly going into extinction from our nature parks. I truly believe in a real concerted effort to save our animals and truly there is a need to save them.
As we have ended our rafflesia flower site early, Awang suggested if we would like to go for a swim nearby. We were game on and Awang took us to a shaded spot after we told him to move away from the nearby swim site as it was hot and a resort nearby looked deserted. With a quick turn, Awang brought us to a lovely shaded place and a nice rockface swimming area. Everyone jumped in to the water except for Fook Meng and myself.
I guess, when we asked Fook Meng why he wasn’t in the water, he simply muttered “ Adventure overdose! “. That as the most honest answer ever as it had been a real long and energy sapping day ever! I guess, eventhough Fook Meng wasn’t an outdoor person, he really tries very hard and he would do his best whether in hikes or physical challenges. Hats off to you, Fook Meng! Actually, I was as bushwhacked as Fook Meng. I was tired – physically tired after a long day. Yeah, I wasn’t fit at all; that I must admit. No excuses, just plain tired and I do not want to experience cramps in the water!
There was so much fun in the water especially the children, Sophia Joy and Ethan. I find both children to be privileged as they get to enjoy the beauty of nature at their age. Looking at Robin, Jaclyn, Joo Li, Edwin , Lorna, SLing and SYuen in the water and Fook Meng on the boat, I felt very happy for them. I felt very blessed having them as my family and friends. These are light- hearted people and humor is virtually in their veins as we laughed a lot and cared for one another. I felt so blessed with their playful antics, teasing and simple ways. Truly happy to have spent some great days with them.
We then packed up and headed towards our resort after the swim. By this time, my hair was in all sorts of places and I do feel like the Birdman from Alcatraz ,man. Yeah, hair was puffed up on one side , almost 80% in white and burnt like some roasted pork from Ipoh la. Again, the breeze and the surrounding view were breathtaking. I remembered asking Awang when the others were swimming, if he knew the depths of some places in the lake. He told me that some places are about 100 feet to 300 feet in depth while most places are between 30-40feet. That’s deep,man! We joked around as Alif and Awang smoked the rolled up “rokok kerai” or sometimes known as “rokok daun”.
As we reached the pontoon at our resort, the first thing Ah Man told me and Robin is that our fishing rods were bent and had screeching sounds were heard………………
