The facebook page of Gunung Gading National Park indicated that there was a rafflesia in bloom. I decided that I’d take Paul and Steevie (my guests) there and suggested that my brother take his guests too. They are all in town for my mother’s 90th birthday.
We set off around 1000 for the 1h50 drive to Lundu where we had some lunch before going to the park nearby. We paid the park entrance fee at the park gate and at the office, we were introduced to an older guide whom we paid directly.
The eight of us plus two others were guided through the steamy jungle to some buds and eventually the rafflesia in bloom. The rafflesia is the world’s largest flower and this one was about 80 cm in diameter.
The guide explained that the smell of putrefying flesh is only around when it firsts open and we are a little late. The entire walk took about 45 minutes; about 400m direction through uneven ground climbing over logs and tree roots.
I thought my previous guide who was a young forestry student was much better at her explanations than the old guide. We got back to Kuching about 1600.
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- Rafflesia bud.
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- Rafflesia in full bloom.
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- In the National Park.
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- Cooling off with drinks.
