Though this lightweight National Park weights in at only 2,230 hectares, it packs a powerful package with its luxuriant vegetations, scenic jungle trails and waterfalls. Only one hour’s drive from Kuching downtown it encompasses three visible peaks, the tallest – Mt. Serapi (911m), forms the famous mountainous backdrop for the Kuching Waterfront when looking westward.
Gunung Serapi in the background
What this park lacks in wildlife, it makes up abundantly in its vegetations, chief of which is its rich variety of palm vegetation, which one botanist had remarked as its having the richest varieties of palm in the world.
Kubah National Park’s claim to fame is its incredibly rich variety of plant life, particularly the palm, which one botanist had described as having the largest concerntration of palm plant in the world. The jungle floor is also home to many variety of frogs, and crawling insects. Although larger animals are not normally sighted here, there are reports of small deers, squirrels and macaques roaming in the foothills off the jungle tracks.
This 6-inch long colourful centipede roam the jungle floor of Kubah National Park
Entrance to the Kubah National Park
There are 6 jungle trails from the park HQ colour-coded on tree trunks for hikers. Among the more popular is the Waterfall Trail, a one and a half hours trek one way reaching a delightful three-tier waterfall.
The waterfall at Kubah National Park
The tracks are easy to negotiate and with not much climbing. The three and a half hour (one way) Summit Trail takes one on cement slope to the top of Mount Serapi, where a panoramic view of the South China Sea on one side, and the distant high rise buildings of Kuching can be discerned on a clear day.
Clearly marked trails with steps
The Matang Family Park is just situated outside of the entrance of this park and is a popular picnic and swimming spots for recreation-starved Kuching residents. Thus on weekend, hordes of Kuchingites descent on its scenic rock-lined streams and barbeque pits for their recreation.
Matang Family Park is a favourite picnic and swimming area for locals
Also in the vicinity is the Matang Wildlife Centre, where the star attraction, orangutans, are kept in cages and enclosures, to be release into the jungle after a certain period of rehabilitation. Unlike the more famous Semenggoh orangutan centre, this place gets fewer visitors but the bonus is the chance to view the apes up close. There are also gibbons, civet cats, sun bears, deers, porcupines, peacocks, crocodiles, adjutant storks, among others.
One of the many palm plants for which this park is famousDenizen of Matang National Park jungle floor
Kubah National Park is indeed a botanist’s paradise with its rich flora and fauna, and is definitely worth a visit even for a short morning or afternoon.
