Western part of Kalimantan Barat

[kuching]

Before the end of 2008, I returned to Kalimantan again.


some shots taken in western part of Kalimantan Barat:


Pix 1





Pix 2





Pix 3





Pix 4





Pix 5: Jembatan Kapuas (Jembatan = bridge)





Pix 6





Pix 7







.....to be continued.

[kuching]

On the 1st day, I travelled almost whole day in Kalimantan Barat to look for a town for a rest. Then, 2nd day, I visited the coastal areas of Kalimantan Barat to look for plants & nice places to photograph.


Local people completely destroyed the Mangrove forest along the coast for firewoods & charcoal. The consequences: the erosion caused by wave has destroyed the houses & coastal roads. Now, people learnt from the mistake & starting to plant Mangrove trees.





A Kerangas forest near the beach. Here, also a terrible place. Another destruction caused by Humans.





Nepenthes albomarginata growing abundantly here:





Nepenthes albomarginata










First time found a pink coloured Bromheadia finlaysoniana (orchid):

[kuching]

A beach in Kalimantan Barat, Indonesian Borneo.











There are a lot of beautiful mountains in Kalbar....but too bad, I didn't have time to climb & explore:





An old Catholic church built by Dutch.





("Damai Bagimu" = Peace, I give you)






A street in Kalbar (Chinatown).




If u come to visit Indonesia, don't forget to try their delicious Nasi Kuning (yellow rice):








....... to be continued.

[kuching]

This shot was taken in the bus.




On the 3rd day, I went deep into the jungle with my friends. It took us sometime to find the right trail to the summit of a mountain in Kalimantan but unfortunately, it rain heavily around 12pm, so we're forced to get out of the jungle.


A cascade






Rainforest of Kalimantan Barat.




A cascade




A cascade




Jungle stream.

[kuching]

A waterfall (after rain):





The jungle of Borneo






Probably juvenile of Polypedates leucomystax ?? (Take note that it still got a small tail behind its body)





Ansonia sp.??






Black pill millipede.





Millipede.

[kuching]

Flat worm (land planarian):





Flowers of unidentified species (leafless):





The bud of the largest flower on earth, Rafflesia tuan-mudae (same species as the those found in western Sarawak):




Flowers of unidentified species






The giant aroid of Borneo, Alocasia robusta !!! The leaves can reach the height of 10 meter !!!




The inflorescence of Alocasia robusta

[kuching]

The green jungle.





Jewel orchid, Anoectochilus albolineatus






Orchid, Calanthe sp.





Begonia sp. Never seen this species before.






Inflorescence of Begonia sp.







...... to be continued.

[richardesc]

Thanks a lot for sharing those beautiful pictures. Really amazing!!!

[kuching]

Thanks a lot for sharing those beautiful pictures. Really amazing!!!

Welcome....

[kuching]

The main reason I came back to Kalbar was to search for an unidentified species of Borneo sucker (Gastromyzon spp.) in a river near the coast. However, the water level was too high & somemore it was raining, we couldn't catch any Borneo sucker except the common flying fox (Paracrossochilus sp.)


Hunting for Borneo sucker in the rainy day (visibility is pretty bad):






Shrimp which got hairy & bluish pincers (Macrobrachium sp.)






Paracrossochilus sp.






Juvenile of Piuntius everetti.

[kuching]

When the rain stopped in the afternoon, we went to a Kerangas forest to search for wild fighting fish...


A blackwater pond in the disturbed Kerangas forest.




Gotcha! A Betta anabatoides ....common in Kalimantan.





Betta anabatoides






The following day, we went to a peat swamp but too bad, the water level was too high....so we left the swamp & went to other places.






Then, we visited another disturbed Kerangas forest & found some juvenile Betta edithae on the flooded trail. The fish was hiding near the submerged Sphagnum mosses.

[kuching]

Can you believe this?!! Sphagnum mosses growing in the blackwater!!!




Close up of Sphagnum mosses :





Utricularia sp. (Carnivorous plant)





Three-spotted gourami, Trichogaster trichopterus.





Water Gentian (Nymphoides indica) which looks like a small water lily.





Before dark, we went deep into a peat swamp forest & caught some Betta rutilan, probably juvenile of Betta foerschi & Betta anabatoides.




Betta anabatoides.






........to be continued.

[kuching]

Some wild fighting fishes from Kalbar:



Probably juvenile of Betta foerschi





Betta rutilans





Betta rutilans






Betta antoni from middle part of Kapuas river basin:





Close-up of Betta antoni.

[kuching]

Probably Betta dimidiata??










Betta krataios

[kuching]

Unidentified species of Parosphromenus :








Chocolate gourami

[kuching]

Wild collected pitcher plants are for sale in some nurseries of Kalbar:









This house got a lot of wild collected orchids from the swamp....I suspected it's a plant collector's house:





I almost wanted to faint when I saw this ....one of the most interesting orchids from the swamp....Taeniophyllum obtusum !!! It is a leafless orchid. The roots are greenish coloured!









Dipodium pictum (orchid) from Kerangas forest.

[kuching]

Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (scrub):





A trail at Kerangas forest:





This kerangas forest is almost destroyed completely by Humans!





The red Nepenthes mirabilis:





This year 2009.....I shall be back to explore Kalimantan again.


THE END.

[kuching]

For viewing more pictures, please visit my friend's flickr photo album:

http://flickr.com/photos/sarawaklens/

[yyylarry]

wow that is a lot of pics! took sometime to load.
maybe you could put up a warning for those 56kbps fellows out there?

The only thing i am scare of out in the jungle are leeches. Cant stand them crawling everywhere!

[kuching]

wow that is a lot of pics! took sometime to load.
maybe you could put up a warning for those 56kbps fellows out there?

The only thing i am scare of out in the jungle are leeches. Cant stand them crawling everywhere!

Not much leeches in some areas that I explored....