Gopeng and Ulu Geroh, Rafflesia, Birdwings and Lizards

Last week my family and I took a trip to Kampung Ulu Geroh near Gopeng in search of Raffelesia, the genus with the largest flowers in the world. We stayed at the Rainforest resort where the owners organised a trek for us with a local Semai Orang Asli guide from the village.  The trail through the jungle to the site I was told is called Leech Trail and it certainly lived up to its name.  My leech socks certainly proved useful and I knocked about six leeches out of each boot when I finally took them off. I was assured that a Raffelesia flower was out and looked forward to seeing an open bloom for the first time.  The species I was told was Raffelesia cantleyi. Unfortunately when we arrived at the site the flower had been ripped apart by monkeys!

This photo was taken by our guides the day before.

Holding the flower back together.

Flower bud

The trek through the jungle to the Raffelesia was ok despite the leeches and yielded a few interesting photo opportunities.  A highlight was finding a beautiful Great Angel Head Lizard on a rock in a stream.

Gonocephalus grandis (Great Angel Head Lizard)

Gonocephalus grandis (Great Angel Head Lizard)

A number of interesting gingers were in flower along the way.  The water that settles in the flowers picks up the ginger scent and can be used as a refreshing insect repellent when splashed on the skin.

Zingiber spectabilis (Wild Ginger)

 Etlingera megalocheilos (Ground-Ginger Flower)

A few wild bananas grew along the trail, with purple rather than yellow upward pointing fruit.

Wild Banana

Possibly Sphenomorphus scotophilus (Spotted Forest Skink)

Bronchocela cristatella (GreenCrested Lizard)

The area seems to be particularly rich in lizard species.

Calotes emma emma (Forest Crested Lizard)

Calotes versicolor (Garden Fence Lizard) 

Draco sumatranus (Common Gliding Lizard) Male

After the rafflesia trek we were taken by our hosts from the resort to a local hot spring, rising from the ground in the edge of an old oil palm plantation on the edge of the forest.  The spring was too hot to dip feet in for any length of time and ran out into a small stream. This site was host to well over a hundred male Rajah Brookes Birdwings. These were a spectacular sight as they gathered around the spring to suck up the salts from the water.

Trogonoptera brookiana males (Brookes Rajahs Birdwing) 

Trogonoptera brookiana males (Brookes Rajahs Birdwing) 

Trogonoptera brookiana males (Brookes Rajahs Birdwing) 

Trogonoptera brookiana males (Brookes Rajahs Birdwing) 

After Gopeng we stopped for a night in the Cameron Highlands. There I managed to photograph this beautiful dinosaur looking lizard, endemic to the region.

Gonocephalus robinsonii (Robinson's Angle-head Lizard)

On the way down from the highlands we stopped at another hot spring in a recreational park called Kuala Woh where the hot spring runs into a river. Here again many Rajah Brookes Birdwings could be found puddling on the minerals.  The river and forest park provided a nice place for stroll before heading back to KL. Not a place for the romantically inclined though as this sign in the park made clear!

Kissing banned!