Gunung Gading Nationalpark / Rafflesia Giant Flower

If you plan to see the Rafflesia Flower (giant flower)- Gunung Gadin Nationalpark is the right place. The Rafflesia is the biggest flower on the planet. The Rafflesia is a parasite and grows without any leaves on the roots of the trees. Its needs 9 month to grow, the blooming takes only 5-8 days. After that the Rafflesia begins to rot and smell, animals eat the flower and bring the seeds to new places.

Picture Gallery - Please click to enlarge!
bud (football size)	bud on the liana	inside the flower	old rafflesias

Please ask Eric if there is a rafflesia to see at the time of your visit, he will call the park headquarter. The staff of the NP will show you the currently blooming flowers in the forest when you get there.

Gunung Gading NP has much more to show the the giant flowers. You can do many interesting jungle treks with different destinations. There are 5 trails you can walk. One of them leads to the summit of the Mt. Gunung Gading (965 m). On this trail you also pass an old english army camp from 1960. Another trail follows a chain of waterfalls. This opens nice possibilities for swimming. There are also some short walks around the headquarter and a long round trail.

There are many animals (mammals, birds, insects and reptiles) to watch. Here you can see several species of giant fig trees too and find a lot of interesting seeds and jungle fruits on the ground of the path. It´s worth to stay there at least 1 night and to do 2 daytrips.

If you have no fear of the dark just do a nightwalk in the Nationalpark around the headquarter. If there is no full moon you will be suprised how many animals you can observe at night after 10 pm. Better bring another spare torchlight for safety reasons and enough batteries. In the evening you can listen to and record the amazing sound of the rain forest - this is the right spot for that.

There are clean facilities to stay for low rates directly in the park. There are no cooking facilities. It´s reccommended to make a reservation at the Kuching tourist information near the waterfront (possible by phone also) if you want to stay overnight.

Picture Gallery - Please click to enlarge!
giant roots	trail to the summit	waterfall no. 2	waterfall no. 7
mushrooms	tree snake	spider	kingfisher
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Snales	butterfly	giant frog	dragon lizard
What to bring for the trip:		How to get there
Walking boots or sport shoes 1 bottle of water per person Some food - the headquarter sells nothing to eat or drink - to walk to the village Lundu needs 30 min. Swimsuit (nice waterfalls) Torchlights and batteries Medical aid, mosquito repellent		1,5 h (80 km) west of Kuching Nearby Lundu (2km), Pandan Beach (5km) and Semantan (20km) Go by the local bus to Lundu (3h+) Ask Eric to bring you there by car Hitchhiking back is possible from the main road by the bridge.