Into Borneo with the Unforgettable 2016 IPS Pretour

October 7, 2016

October 7, 2016

Juvenile Licuala bintuluensis

Areca arundinacea, yet another beauty I had never heard of prior to signing up for this trip!

October 7, 2016

Yes of course I chose the all day "long" walk!

October 7, 2016

We near our lunch spot. One of the items was a Cloud Nine bar. My mother's Afghan hound show dog kennel was called Cloud Nine and hence the photo to show her. I ate the actual candy bar!

I don't think she cares that much for endless photos of palms anyway. Some people are strange that way. Here it is considered normal, like a support group for palm fanatics.

October 7, 2016

Our fearless leaders were quite dismayed to see the devastation in this area.

Apparently after a fire raged through a gorgeous group of Cyrtostachys renda, park employees were directed to cut down everything instead of letting the forest try to heal on its own. As you can see, there are a few remaining lipstick palms that are trying to reforest.

Sad, but we were hungry and distracted by the beauty of the beach. So soon after lunch we headed down to see a lovely cycad and continued on our hike.

October 7, 2016

Cycas edentata at Similajau Park. I wish this one and the surrounding beach could be teleported to my farm.

October 7, 2016

The group of palms in the middle are Oncosperma tigillarium which are spiny but lovely.

October 8, 2016

I believe that Cindy has invited other trip members to add photos that might add to her wonderful trip narrative. I have three pictures. First is a pic of the weird little chalet that I and my roommate shared (upper floor), and similar to those used by other trip members:

My understanding is that we were to be put up in a new, more modern wing, but, alas, it was not ready. These "rooms" had two tiny bathrooms each, barely large enough to squeeze into. One had a shower, the other had a toilet and sink. Other features were weird, too.

Here is a picture of a Korthalsia sp. (a type of rattan). We saw many of these on previous trip days, some along the river when we were in boats.
Some were quite massive. This small one shows the typical diamond-shaped leaves:

Finally, one of Cindy's photos above shows a cluster of stems of pinnate palms with long narrow leaflets, most of which were growing in water near the bank (perhaps semi-aquatic). Here's one of my pics of Eliodoxa conferta.

All my names, BTW, are what I was told by our leaders. On my own authority, I couldn't identify a single one.

October 8, 2016

Thanks so much Mike for adding more photos and narrative! Yes, I hope to see more from others over time.

October 8, 2016

Any guesses as to the name of this non palm with pink new leaves?

Yes, this is the real color of a delicious snack offered by our guides. Of course with a long hike most any food seems delicious!

October 8, 2016

Here is our aptly named "Riverfront Inn".

We got to experience a bit of non jungle local flavor. Notice our colorful bus.

October 10, 2016

I liked the presentation of food as wrapped like presents on the table, but as I did not eat here the contents remain a mystery.

As I wandered this cat caught my eye and posed, now to be seen around the globe. This is a non palm interlude.

Notice the Karaoke Lounge that I also bypassed.

A hedge of palms met with my approval.

As you can see, I was not the only one photographing everything!

October 10, 2016

Fantastic. :greenthumb:

October 10, 2016

I'll bet lots of these fruits and vegetables would grow in Puerto Rico. Many of them probably do, but like these ferns than I ate many times in Borneo, perhaps I just need someone to point out the tasty ones and provide cooking instructions!

I could have spent several hours in this market alone!

At 50 cents USD, it was a bargain.

October 10, 2016

These are the beautiful and delicious ribbon cakes (kek lapis). I wish I could have transported many back as gifts.

Later during a free day in Kuching, Sarawak at the Biennial, I did get to visit a bakery and take one back to store in the hotel fridge. Great for after hike snacks!

I was not tempted to taste these little fish.

October 11, 2016

"You throw, you pay" RM 2000 is about $500.

I liked the fake tree trunk constructed to support the branch of the old Samanea Saman tree.

The incense fumes made my eyes burn so I wandered outside.

October 11, 2016

No, we did not see the famous flower nor any hornbills here but still had a most enjoyable hike!

Dillenia suffruticosa

October 11, 2016

Termite trail

More adventure awaits us at the Batang Ai Longhouse resort accessible only by boat.

October 14, 2016

As the Longhouse Resort really was long, so was the walk from the restaurant to our rooms. However the views as shown above plus the roosting bats along the way made the stroll worthwhile. There was a nice pool here too that I actually made time to use.

Of course we traveled by boat the next day as well. Transportation is always part of the adventure!

I believe these are rubber trees, Hevea brasiliensis.

Here are black pepper vines.

October 14, 2016

Nice to have internet even though I lost electricity a few hours ago during a storm. Computer by candlelight until my battery runs out!

These were burial urns.

October 15, 2016

October 15, 2016

Wow, looks like you guys had quite an adventure. Makes me jealous I couldn't join in for this portion. Thanks for sharing.

October 15, 2016

Adding four more:

A massive colony of Eugissona utilis on the river bank:

Agin on a riverbank, but in the forest, we found a colony of these dainty little palms, Pinanga tenella, var. tenella:

Cindy showed a couple of these above. My picture of a small Licuala species, Licuala collina, is not as good:

We had lunch along the riverbank, Sarawak cuisine cooked in logs native style. While we waited on the chefs, some of us waded into the river to cool off. The bottom was of smooth rocks and pebbles. Standing are Jerry and Cindy Anderson with Mary Lock in between. Jeff Searle (baseball cap) is in front of Mary:

October 16, 2016

Thanks so much for the excellent photos Mike! I clearly remember the moment with the folks swimming and am so glad to see your post.

I recall wanting so much to join them, but as I had just removed 5 leeches (whose anticoagulant effect was causing my legs to look a bit like a horror film) I declined. I thought the water would further prevent clotting. However we were then given the option of an additional walk to see Salacca dransfieldii. How could I pass up that chance when I was going to see John Dransfield at the Biennial in a few days!

Well it ended up involving a final stroll in maybe knee deep water to see the intended palm and thus I ended up immersed anyway. No anemia, no infection. Clearly I should have indulged in the earlier dip.

The palm itself was not spectacular but as you see below we all photographed it anyway.

The waterfalls were unexpectedly nice and so were the other companion plants I saw wandering.

And the water felt great.

Seems like life and especially travel can be like that. You start out aiming for one thing, but it turns out something else along the way was even better!

Can you tell the photos are very slow to load with all this extra typing?

The view on the boat ride back to our longhouse resort wasn't bad either.

October 16, 2016

The next morning I was packing up to check out when I heard a little noise and realized I had a visitor! I believe someone on the tour told me what this creature is called but I have forgotten so please remind me. It was very cute and I did try to help it escape but no luck. I believe it came in through the area of the a/c unit so may routinely check out rooms for food.

I even saw a member of its species on the outside looking in as if trying to communicate with the one inside. I was charmed. The rats that sometimes got in the house in Virginia were somehow much less appealing. Must be the tail? Or maybe I liked it because we have no squirrels in Puerto Rico.

Nearly to the end of the trip now as these photos were the start of day 11 out of 13.

October 16, 2016

Cindy,

What a real pleasure to enjoy all of your wonderful pictures. This was probably my best trip ever, and I've made a few over the years. Thank you so much!

October 16, 2016

Thank you for these great pics. Although I didn't attend the pre-tour, the Biennial tours of Sarawak were magical and I will never forget them. These pics really brought that back to me.

October 16, 2016

6 hours ago, Jeff Searle said:

Cindy,

What a real pleasure to enjoy all of your wonderful pictures. This was probably my best trip ever, and I've made a few over the years. Thank you so much!

Thanks Jeff and CLINODAVE! This trip was memorable for me too.

October 16, 2016

We stop along the way and of course find things of interest everywhere. I believe this is an old Plumeria.

We try on hats.

I end up taking a photo before I realize that I just photographed a sign telling me not to take photos....

October 16, 2016

We arrive at the Borneo Highlands Resort!

It is a golf resort although I never actually saw anyone playing golf. Apparently Tiger Woods played here.

October 16, 2016

There was an optional night outing. Of course I went! I liked the tarantula best but there were several other interesting creatures so perhaps others will add them here.