trip to bukit patoi

last week, we have a trip to bukit patoi in temburong. we head to the jetty as early as 6.00a.m in the morning. we took the boat and reach Bangar 45 minutes later. we took the bus and reach bukit patoi 20 minutes later. upon ariving, we have to wait for the rangers to show us the way up the hill. the initial point was challenging as we have to climb up the stairs that is built there. moreover the hill was really steep and i have trouble balancing myself while climbing up.

the bukit patoi is an example of the tropical rainforest. here two types of forest are found, the mixed dipterocarp forest and the kerangas forest .the rainforest are known for their high diversity of plant and animal species. among the notable characteristic of the forest includes the height of the tree which can grow up to 60 metres tall. the trunks are columnar and often butresses with plant like extensions of roots. the trees are evergreen and there are gaps in the forest caused by fallen trees. other forms of plant life found in the tropical rainforest includes climbers, lianas and epiphytes. all these plants depend on other tress for support. too bad we did not see any animals around. maybe because it was aware of our presence but we do heard the sounds of the insects or animals coming from the thick forests.

as i walk along the walkway. i notice that there are a lot of leaf litter around. this is due to the leaves that fall to the ground which attract many decomposer organisms. among them are ants and termites. i also saw the nest of the termites which is as hugh as a ball. as we walk further up, which was around 700 metres from the walkway, we saw the sight of the Kerangas forest. the walk there was getting tougher as there are many big rocks along the walkway. we have to be very careful when stepping onto the rocks because it was covered with green moses and algae and it is really slippery. the algae covering the rock was really nice and it looks like a carpet grass. some of the trees around has bracket fungi grown on it. we spooted that the fungi grown in the mixed dipterocarp forest and the kerangas forest are actually different.

not long after the that we reach the Batu Berdinding. it was a really hugh structure of rock with water dripping out from it. the rock was wet and covered with some kind of algae or liverworths. we reach the peak of the hill after one and a half hour and it was really satisfying because i have accomplish the 1,600 metres walk. the scenery was really nice up there and we can even see our neighbouring country from there. after taking a few pictures, we head back down the hill again.

the trip to bukit patoi is really enjoyable and interesting. the forest is beautifully preserved with minimun destruction. this can be seen from the diversity of the plant and animal species found there. it is hope that other forest can be preserved so that we can enjoy the beauty of our flora and fauna species.