February 2009 – Mesilau trail and Nepenthes

Our goal was to see several Nepenthes in the wild that grow on the slopes of Mount Kinabalu. The most famous is Nepenthes rajah.  Nepenthes rajah is rare and you had to have a park ranger guide you.

First we hiked up the Mesilau trail for a while where we saw wild rhododendrons and found several other nepenthes; Nepenthes tentaculata and Nepenthes fusca.  Later we met the guide and he took us to the reserve area where we found Nepenthes rajah. It was one of the highlights of our trip.