Site icon THE FIGS OF BORNEO

Ficus racemosa & Nunuk Ragang, Tampios River Valley, Sabah

uluulublog

 ABOVE: Ficus racemosa growing next to the river at Kg Wonod on the Kota Kinabalu – Sandakan Road in central Sabah. Local names for this fig are Nunuk Ragang (in Kadazan Dusun this means Red Fig) and Tangkol (in the language of the Orang Sungei people of the Kinabatangan and Segama Rivers in east Sabah).

Nunuk Ragang also refers to the  this strange building overlooking the Tampios River Valley in central Sabah. The building represents the base of a giant  Nunuk Ragang fig tree, and commemorates the  Kadazan Dusun site of the  “Garden of Eden” .
Inside the Nunuik Ragang building is a photographic exhibition of Kadazan Dusun traditional costumes and weapons.
In the garden of the Nunuk Ragang building there is Ficus benjamina fig tree of an imported variety obviously bought from a nursery. Unfortunately there are no genuine Nunuk Ragang Ficus racemosa fig trees anywhere to be seen !  (Tony Lamb for scale)
The view from the roof of the Nunuk Ragang building overlooks the Tampios river  According to Kadazan Dusun legend a giant Nunuk Ragang fig tree that once grew along this river gave birth to the first Kadazan Dusun tribe. After a disaster befell the fig tree, the tribe split up and moved away to many different locations in Sabah.
From the roof of the Nunuk Ragang building you can also see the junction of the Tampios and Liwagu rivers where they join to form the mighty Labuk River (on the left in this photo).
Looking north from the roof of the Nunuk Ragang building you can see the Tampios River Bridge  km 160 km  from Kota Kinabalu. In the background is  Mount Kinabalu.  The Tampios river valley is  almost exactly midway on the road between Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. Truly this site is in the center of Sabah.
The Labuk River reaches  the sea at Labuk Bay just north of Sandakan. At the time (probably more than 3,000 years ago) that the first Kadazan Dusun people arrived from the Philippines, the Labuk River valley would have been rich in wildlife  including elephants, rhinos, tapirs  and orangutans  all feeding on the fruit of the Nunuk Ragang figs trees that lined the banks of the river. Truly a Garden of Eden. 
Exit mobile version