Butterfly trip to Gopeng, Perak – Part I

I have always wanted to visit this place, especially after reading about the Rafflesia and Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing at Ulu Geroh in MNS Naturalist magazine.

Finally in mid Mar, 5 of us made our way to Gopeng. During our 2.5 days there we sighted 100+ species of butterflies ! This is definitely a 5-STAR location for butterfly watcher

Accommodation

We stayed at Rumah Rehat Adeline which is located at Kampung Geruntum, about 7 Km from the town of Gopeng. The place is located in a durian plantation and next to a large oil palm plantation.

Simon (right) and I in front of Rumah Rehat Adeline

This is our the hut we stayed in. It has fan, light and mattresses. It is simple and clean and that’s all we need for our trip.

For those who enjoy cold shower, they have outdoor shower area which is fantastic after a hot day out.


and that’s me having a shower before dinner !

Food

Our package includes 4 meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. The food here is one of the best and a friend commented it is many times better than what he had at Taman Negara.

All the food are prepared with the freshest ingredients and some prepared right in front of us. The picture below shows the cook preparing chicken soup in bamboo stick, one of many delicious dishes served.

Tou Fu with Petai and prawn

After a long hot day out chasing butterflies, nothing beats having hot delicious food waiting for you at the dining table.

Butterflies

The Rajah Brooke’s area is located 4 km away from where we stayed.

We have to cross a river to get there but on the first day, the bridge was submerged due to the heavy down pour the night before.

So we had to use the suspension bridge instead

Here is Simon checking out one of the tracks.

Simon and I outside the RBB/Rafflesia visitor center

Finally, I get to see RBB puddling, up close !

There were at least 50~60 of them spread over a 3 sqm area. What a spectacular sight !

A male RBB

The female RBB is very rare and does not puddle. They only feed on nectar and can usually be seen gliding high up at the canopy, feeding on bauhinia flowers. We were fortunate to see at least 4 of them feeding on wild Clerodendron about 10 feet above the ground.
 

 

continue in Part II