Expedition to collect ants at the Mount Mulu (by Dirk Mezger): Part 6
On Sunday, 14th April, it was time for me to leave the Gunung Mulu National Park. But before I headed back to Germany, there was still a highlight waiting for me: one week in Sabah. I flew from Mulu to Kota Kinabalu where I met some ant researchers at the University of Malaysia Sabah and visited the affiliated natural history museum, the BORNEENSIS Collection. This institution holds one of the biggest collection of ants from Borneo and it is a delight for everyone interested in ants.
After that, there was time for a few days holiday. I went to Pulau Manukan and Pulau Mamutik, two small islands off Kota Kinabalu belonging to a marine national park where I enjoyed the species rich underwater life with beautiful corals and a colorful array of tropical fish species. After that, I went to the Mount Kinabalu. This mountain is the highest elevation of Borneo with a summit height of 4095 m and the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. However, I did not climb to the summit since I have been on this summit many years ago. But around the headquarters of this national park, there were beautiful forests waiting to be explored. In these montane forests at an altitude of 1500 to 1800 m, I encountered many interesting species, some being only found on this mountain and nowhere else in the world.
When my time at the Mount Kinabalu was over, I went back to Kuching, the state capital of Sarawak, where my journey started. There, I had to manage some formalities at the Forestry Department and I met some people of the University of Kuching. They invited me to attend the International Bornean Frog Race, a unique event consisting of captive talks about amphibians, excursions to the nighttime rainforest in Kubah National Park and a photographic competition. It was great to meet so many enthusiastic people interested interested in nature and to experience together the diversity of the frogs of Borneo.
But after this event, it was time to return home. After flying from Kuching over Kuala Lumpur and Doha to Frankfurt, I arrived back in Germany on 2nd May 2019.
With my arrival at home, this expedition to collect ants on a mountain of Sarawak came to a successful end. But very soon, a new journey to Borneo will begin in order to uncover more secrets of the ants of Borneo, the fascinating tropical island.
Copyright 2019 Dirk Mezger and Martin Pfeiffer