Wildlife of S. E. Asia and S. America. A Photo Journal by Francis Burlingham.: The Cameron Highlands; home of carnivorous pitcher plants and wild orchids.

Introduction

Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to live in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Colombia and now Brunei. In my spare time I have had the opportunity to travel fairly widely, camera in hand, in search of wildlife. In these posts I aim to share some of these experiences and show you some of the extraordinary wildlife that can be found in these regions. All of the photographs you see within the posts and pages here are my own unless otherwise stated. Copyright © Francis Burlingham 2015

Monday 24 August 2015

The Cameron Highlands; home of carnivorous pitcher plants and wild orchids.

I recently managed to spend some time in the Cameron Highlands in Peninsular Malaysia. The cool fresh mountain air was a relief from the heat of KL. This former colonial hill station established by the British has a few relatively old colonial era buildings and we managed to stay in a 1930s British school house now converted to a hotel.

The area is home to a number of tea estates and tea shops offering up the chance for a reasonable cup of tea. The views across the tea estates form interesting patterns on the hillsides.

The main disappointment with the area for me is that so much of the original forest has gone and the ongoing development has turned the lakes and rivers brown through soil loss. Despite this some good trails remain. Well worth a visit is the mossy forest on Gunung Brinchang at a height of 2032 meters above sea level. The cool climate and constant watering from the clouds that blow over the ridge make this an excellent place for epiphytes (plants that grow on trees) including orchids and pitcher plants.

Epigeneium longipes

Ceratostylis eriaeaoides

Nepenthes Macfarlanei

View from the mossy forest trailhead

Another feature of the Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill as well, is the profusion of Bamboo Orchids (Arundina graminifolia) that can be seen growing along the roadsides where the ground has been disturbed. These plants seem to have benefited from human activity and form spectacular displays along the roadsides.