Page 55 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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Mount Kinabalu Africa. This is one of the most biodiverse places Cotopaxi
on the planet and a hotbed of endemism thanks
to its tropical climate and abundant rainfall.
NEED TO KNOW NEED TO KNOW
The three-day climb of this giant granite dome
LOCATION Mount Kinabalu begins at the Timpohon Gate, which lies at an LOCATION Cotopaxi is located in the
National Park is located in Andes of South America, about 50 miles
the Malaysian state of Sabah elevation of 5,900 ft (1,800 m). Accompanied by (75 km) south of Quito in Ecuador
on the island of Borneo .06/5 SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES
#36/&* mandatory guides, trekkers rise through forests HIGHEST POINT
,*/"#"-6 2VJUP
HIGHEST POINT ."-":4*" of conifer and oak, cloud forest, and subalpine 19,347 ft (5,897 m) $0501"9*
13,435 ft (4,095 m) ,VDIJOH FIRST CLIMBED 1PSUPWJFKP
meadow. Like the rain forest below it, the mountain &$6"%03
FIRST CLIMBED In 1872 by German geologist
In 1858 by British 1PUJBOBL #PSOFP 4BNBSJOEB boasts a wealth of unusual fauna, including giant Wilhelm Reiss and Colombian (VBZBRVJM
naturalist Sir Hugh Low red leeches that prey on giant earthworms, Ángel Escobar 1BDJmD
0DFBO
*/%0/&4*" 1&36
CLIMBERS PER YEAR extraordinary rhinoceros hornbills – birds that CLIMBERS PER YEAR -PKB
Around 50,000 Around 5,000
look as if they have a shoe attached to their heads
– and the threatened orang-utan, one of the four
On anyone’s list of bizarre flora, a carnivorous great apes. Pygmy squirrels, fruit bats, and brightly Cotopaxi, which is known locally as “the neck of
plant that can eat small mammals would certainly colored tropical birds share the forest canopy on the moon” because of its near-perfect symmetrical
be near the top. On the same list you would also the steep mountain slopes. Hand-carved stone cone that seems to stretch forever upwards, is one
expect to find the parasitic Rafflesia plant, which steps, moss-covered wooden stairs, and fixed of the highest active volcanoes in the world. Its
has the largest flower in the world and is also ropes assist trekkers on the trail’s steeper sections. last eruption, in 1877, sent pyroclastic rivers of fire
known as the “corpse flower” because it smells The final leg of the climb emerges onto a slippery streaming down all sides of the mountain, melting
and looks like rotting flesh. These are just two of surface of exposed granite that leads to the glaciers along the way and carving deep valleys
the extraordinary plants found in the jungles of summit and boasts fantastic panoramas. with scorching mudflows that ran as far as the
Borneo, where the ascent of mighty Mount Pacific Ocean, 60 miles (100 km) to the west.
Kinabalu begins in a shuttle bus carrying trekkers Today, trekkers either camp or stay in huts on the
Practical Information
to the trailhead. The jungle also boasts more than mountain, where the most popular route to the
Getting There and Around A 3-hour bus journey takes you from Kota
800 orchid species and 600 fern species – to put Kinabalu Airport to Kinabalu National Park, where you join your tour group. summit can be climbed in a long day from a hut
this in context, there are only 500 fern species in When to Go Mount Kinabalu can be climbed at any time of year, but is at 15,800 ft (4,800 m). Though not a terribly difficult
most enjoyable in the dry season, which is from February to April. climb, it should only be attempted by experienced
Climbers roping up for the challenging ascent of Mount Kinabalu’s Website www.sabahparks.org.my mountaineers with appropriate climbing gear.
rocky summit, Borneo
Practical Information
Getting There and Around From Quito, local and shuttle buses run to
Cotopaxi National Park, which is an hour to the south.
When to Go Cotopaxi can be climbed at any time of year, although January,
June, July and December offer particularly clear, dry days.
Website www.moggely.com
Snowcapped Cotopaxi, Ecuador, with its sharply pointed peak

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