Showing posts with label Tenom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tenom. Show all posts

Monday, June 8, 2009

Sabah Agricultural Park, most beautiful and restful destination!

Sabah Agricultural Park, most beautiful and restful destination!

First time visitor to Sabah?

If you have some extra time and love nature, orchids, exotic flowers and unique native plants you should plan to include a visit to the Sabah Agricultural Park in the interior part of this beautiful part of Malaysian Borneo as a part of your Borneo experience ! This Sabah Agriculture Park is huge ! so be prepared to allocate some time if you can. You can get additional information about the place from their website but it really is worth a visit .

serene and peaceful

serene and peaceful and just the kind of place for nature lovers

My home in Keningau is located about a hour away from this magnificent hidden nature jewel and I have always looked forward to such a trip every time we plan to go and be fascinated by the wonders of nature. We have since visited the beautiful sprawling park on many occassions.. sometimes with my family and other times with overseas guests.

Beautiful Avenue

An introduction to the park is beautifully summarised in their main website but words will not do justice to the real thing so I encourage any one who is passionate about nature, orchids and anything tropical to make that enjoyable visit.

About Taman Pertanian Sabah

Background

Taman Pertanian Sabah is part of the 1,500 acres of the Agriculture Research Station, Lagud Sebrang Tenom which is administered and owned by the Agriculture Department Sabah. It is a complex consisting of the Agriculture Research Station, seed Production Centre for Cash Crop, Farmers Training Centre and Taman Pertanian Sabah itself. The Park sprawled over an area of 500 acres.

The park was first opened to visitors in October 2000, and was officially launched by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on the 25 March, 2001.

With its rich biodiversity, the Park has a magnificent collection for indigenous and introduced plants species. It is also a conservation centre for the native Orchids of Borneo. This park would become a heritage for the next generation and this will help to educate people in nature conservation and the preservation of natural rainforest through cultivation of trees, shrubs, plants and flowers.

Aunty Doris and American Visitor Leah at the Park

Aunty Doris and American Visitor Leah at the Park

The lush greenery, multitude species of plants / flowers of endemic to Borneo Island and very rare, panoramic view of the lakes, captivating landscaped gardens provide an excellent base to expand your knowledge and ideal environment for those who seek peace, quiet and tranquility away from stressed and urban noise. This park also provides a great trekking ground as well as nature walks and jungle activities. The park is blessed with mother nature’s treasures.

The park is a showcase of integrated activities carried out by all the Departments and Agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture Development and Food Industry. It also serves as a training and education centre for agriculture, horticulture, apiculture, seed production, forestry, fishery and animal husbandry. It is divided into five key areas:

Agriculture
Living Crop Museum
Demonstration Farms
Agro forestry
Bee Centre
Germplasm Collection
Fisheries
Freshwater Fishing

Horticulture
Native Orchid Centre
Hybrid Orchid
Evolution Garden
Model Garden
Ornamental Garden

Animal Husbandry
Animal Park
Animal Farm

Objectives of Taman Pertanian Sabah

1. As a major Agro-Tourism centre in the state
2. To provide demonstration farms for Agricultural activities, Animal breeding and
Fisheries
3. To serve as a centre for training and demonstration on Agriculture, Horticulture,
Fishery, Apiculture, Seed Technology, Forestry and Animal Husbandry;
4. To provide facilities for nature-based recreational activities
5. To promote awareness and love for nature.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Beautiful Belian Wooden home in Sabah !

Beautiful Belian Wooden home in Sabah !

Sabah has always been a very important exporter of logs and sawn Timber. However, the timber resources are now being strictly controlled and instead of just exporting raw logs and timber, more local companies are encouraged by the government to get involved with downstream processing of timber products such as doors, furniture and other timber related .

For local sabahans, the availability of timber meant that it was easy to build homes using this abundant material. But that was then. Now it seems, the price of timber has gone up steadily and it is relatively cheaper to construct homes using bricks and cement.

The beauty of timber homes is obvious especially in a tropical setting. The home is much cooler and the elegance of natural timber has a special attraction. An old friend , Jules Stephens recommended that I visit his Uncle Richard Baxter who has a beautiful wooden home in Tenom, Sabah. So I was very fortunate to visit such a home today in the beautiful farm owned by the Baxter family of Tenom, in the interior of Sabah Malaysia.

Mr. Richard Baxter is a very prominent planter based in Tenom Sabah and loves to share his years of experiences in agriculture and outdoor lifestyle .He lives with the family in the beautiful timber home that was built by his father in the 1950’s and to this day is proof of the quality of the native sabahan timber, especially the local hard wood belian which is used as the pillars of the stately home! Belian is known to last for many many years and is the preferred timber for building timber homes in Sabah.

The timber home is surrounded by matured tropical fruit trees such as Durians, Mangosteen, Pamelo and Dragon fruits and many others. Flowers with colorful blooms line the cemented pathways while orchids grow in specially fenced areas around the 55 year old home making it a living paradise ! A cluster of giant orchids grows near the entrance of the home and has been named the 14 sultans orchid ! Apparently this unique orchid was transported all the way to Kota Kinabalu for display at a special event where VIPs were impressed by the beauty of the giant orchids ! The beauty of the place is equally matched by the great hospitality of the hosts, Mr and Mrs Richard Baxter who kindly gave me and my friends a grand tour of the whole property !

Group Photo taken at the entrance to the Baxter Home

We ended the tour with a nice evening of refreshments served on a unique polished table that is made of solid timber measuring some 8 in thick , 3 ft wide and 12 ft long !! Its quite a sight ! We really enjoyed our visit to the Baxters home and learned many great ideas and shared experiences from our jovial hosts. We wish to thank Jules and Anna Stephens for helping to arrange the visit and of course our big thank you to our wonderful hosts Mr. and Mrs Richard Baxter and family !

Sunday, May 10, 2009

White Water Adventure Rafting at Padas River Sabah!






White Water Adventure Rafting at Padas River Sabah!

When Zainol , a seasoned traveller, and his friends Teresa, Henry, Cecilia and David, all with a passion for outdoor adventures, from Singapore called to ask if I could help to organise a Mountain Climbing trip to Mt. Kinabalu and also White Water River Rafting at Padas River in Tenom, I was not sure if I could get the bookings organised at first due to the very tight schedules and the long waiting list for mountain climbers who are eager to conquer Mt Kinabalu, the highest peak in South East Asia !

There were some moments of initial disappointments.. the travel agents who were contacted did not respond to Zainol’s requests and they also somehow did not indicate that the railway service to tenom had since been changed to accomodate new revamping programs !

Teresa, Henry, Cecilia,David and Zainal (standing with banner) Alfons,Ida and Doris  showing active support for Dagu Pinapin Language Preservation Project (DPLPP)

Teresa, Henry, Cecilia,David and Zainal (standing with banner) Alfons,Ida and Doris showing active support for Dagu Pinapin Language Preservation Project (DPLPP)

I managed to establish good contacts with the many essential links for Zainol and was finally able to organise what turned out to be a very enjoyable sabahan adventure trip for Zainol and his 4 good buddies.

On arrival at Kota Kinabalu Airport, an arranged 4X4 double cabin Toyota vehicle was on hand to bring them ( Zainol self drive ) all the way to Kundasang where they were greeted with all the beautiful sceneries and the cool freshness of the Kinabalu National Park. They were able to visit many places of interests including the Mushroom farm, Cattle farm and visited Mr. Michael Chin an old friend who also runs Cinta Mata Cabin. They checked into Pine Villa Resort strategically located to have a commanding view of majestic Mt. Kinabalu ! And what an awesome view !


The drive back from Kundasang to Kota Kinabalu city the next day was just as eventful with friends taking time to stop for photo shoots along the route !

Back at the hotel in Kota kinabalu, my husband Alfons and I were waiting to meet the group for a nice and sumptuous seafood dinner at the Ocean Seafood Village Restaurant where the dinner bill was as attractive as was the quality of the fresh seafood ! We really enjoyed it !

The big event was of course the surprise birthday for Teresa, one of the members ! She was clearly touched by the thoughtful gestures as we all lighted candles and sang Happy Birthday at the seafood restaurant, much to the delight of all at the popular seafood Diner.

Teresa ended up paying for a beautiful evening of aromatic coffee at the nearby 5 Star resort of Sutera Magellan. We all asked the talented live band to sing another happy Birthday to Teresa !!




The trip obviously left some beautiful memories and we look forward to the return with much anticipation. The White water Rafting experience at the Padas River was really a thrilling adventure for everyone. The normal Sabah State Railways Train service was undergoing some major changes and the journey to the starting point for the White Water Rafting had to be done the old railroad maintenance trolley style !

Zainol is already planning another trip possibly to the interior region of Sabah where there is a mystical limestone rocky outcrop with steep cliffs called Batu Punggul . Now that is another great adventure for sure ! Sabah has more rare gems to be discovered !

Batu Punggul, a limestone pinnacle in the heart of virgin rainforest

Batu Punggul, a limestone pinnacle in the heart of virgin rainforest