Introduction
General Information
Trip Planning Resources &
Contacts
Padang
Keresik Tua
Letter "W" Waterfall
Sungei Sangir
Sungei Penuh
Tapan Road
KERESIK TUA
& MOUNT KERINCI
The trunk road just outside Pak Subandi's house. The LHS leads to Sungei Penuh while the RHS to goes to Padang.
Mount Kerinci is home to 2 famours endemic birds - Schneider's Pitta and Salvadori's Pheasant. Before you get to climb that steep and claustrophobic trail, you will need to pass by several kilometers of expansive tea and vegetable plantations.
WEATHER : In July 2005, there was occasional rain encountered but most were brief spells. Most lowland areas were very hot. However, at higher elevations like Keresik Tua, it can get very chilly (likely to be around 15 degrees Celcius) in the early morning. Warm clothing is a must especially if pre-dawn departures to birding sites are expected.
ACCOMODATION : Pak
Subandi’s Homestay is where most birders stay
when they attempt Mount Kerinci’s trails. The rooms are
pretty
basic but adequate. Rooms that open to the living room have private
toilets while those at the back of the house have shared toilets.Pak Subandi’s wife is a great and versatile cook. After a hard day of birding, I looked forward to having her home cooked food. Upon request, she would wake up long before sunrise just to prepare packet lunch for birders to bring into the forest. She is the one to look for if you have laundry needs.
Pak Subandi has several shelves full of birding books and field guides. He has a logbook where birders would contribute their interesting sightings and tips.
Feral Rock Pigeons were common Keresik Tua, while Black Shouldered Kite, Black Eagle and Oriental Magpie Robins were also seen. Caged birds seen displayed outside the locals' houses include Long Tailed Sibia, Green Magpie and Blue Whistling Thrush.
BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS: On the trail up to Mount Kerinci, I came across a solitary Salvadori’s Pheasant (endemic) picking off uncooked rice off the floor of Cochoa Shelter. That made the strenuous climb up worth its while.
Although I trawled trail leading from scrub
tunnel to Camp Cochoa at
least 20 times (from daybreak till dusk), Schneider’s Pitta
was
not seen. It called several times from a distance away. Wreathed
Hornbills and Blue Tailed Trogons were quite easily found though. The
large fallen tree after Camp Cochoa attracted lots of insects in the
morning and that was a magnet for lots of small birds like the Blue
Nuthatch and Great Tit. Pak Subandi and I were pleasantly surprised to
find a Dusky Woodcock perched on a fallen branch on the ground about
100m up from Basecamp Shelter just before sunset. We had a good 5-10
minute view of that skulking bird until it got too dark to see it
anymore. At night, Pak Subandi arranged for an owling trip and he
called in a Short Tailed Frogmouth several times. That unusual looking
bird sat still for long periods while offering superb views. Do
remember to bring along your camera!
BIRDS SEEN : Over a period of
several days, the forested trail leading
up to Mount Kerinci yielded birds like the Black Shouldered Kite, Black
Eagle, Long Tailed Sibia, Black Throated Babbler, Eyebrowed Wren
Babbler, Golden Babbler, Grey Throated Babbler, Pygmy Wren Babbler, Rusty Breasted Wren Babbler*,
Spot Necked Babbler, Black Browed Barbet, Fire Tufted Barbet, Oriental
Cuckoo, Ruddy Cuckoo Dove, Bronze Drongo, White Throated Fantail, Grey
Headed Canary Flycatcher, Indigo Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher,
Pygmy Blue Flycatcher, Snowy Browed Flycatcher, Short Tailed Frogmouth,
Wreathed Hornbill, Chestnut Capped Laughingthrush, Scarlet Minivet,
Sunda Minivet, Javan Mynah, Large Niltava, Blue Nuthatch, Collared
Owlet, Salvadori's
Pheasant*,
Plain Prinia, Slaty Breasted Rail, Sunda Blue Robin, Lesser Shortwing,
White Browed Shortwing, Bar-winged Flycatcher Shrike, Long Tailed
Shrike, White Browed Flycatcher Shrike, Mountain Tailorbird, Shiny Whistling Thrush*,
Sunda Whistling Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tailed Trogon, Mountain Leaf
Warbler, Sunda Bush Warbler, Sunda Warbler, Yellow Bellied Warbler,
White Breasted Waterhen, Mountain White-eye, Dusky Woodcock.
(* :
endemics)LEECHES : None encountered.
MAP/SKETCH : Refer to Sketch of Keresik Tua and Sketch of Mount Kerinci.
SCOPE: The trail up Mount Kerinci is through tight forest and that renders a scope pretty useless. Also, be warned that the trail becomes steep after Camp Cochoa and becomes very steep after Cochoa Shelter. The climb is tough so I call this form of birding “Extreme Birding.”
LESSONS LEARNT : As a minimum, learn the calls of all the small babblers and warblers before you arrive. There are lots of them there. In such a thick forest, such familiarity will prove invaluable. Before your trip, do get used to climbing steep slopes for hours on end.
GETTING TO KERESIK TUA
By minibus : From Padang town, I took a taxi to Aie Pacah Bus Terminal which is 12km east of town. It is a large bus station and the taxi driver will let you alight at the bay where the mini-buses leave for Sungei Penuh. There is likely to be more than one bus waiting for customers so the touts will try to get you to board their respective bus. Board the minibus with the most passengers as it will likely to be the one to depart first. Tickets which were offered by the tout at 40,000Rp were slightly cheaper than those being sold at the official counter inside the station. My 0830hrs bus arrived at Keresik Tua at 1430hrs. It stopped once for lunch and another time for a toilet break. The bus driver claims that minibuses leave for Sungei Penuh throughout the day and not just once (as stated in one of the guidebooks). The continuous availability of buses means that you do not have to arrive at Pak Subandi’s house at an unearthly hour. Pak Subandi’s house is about 50m beyond a tiger’s statue (See sketch of village).
Ask the bus driver to let you alight infront of
Pak Subandi’s
house. If he does not know where it is, write the following phrase and
show it to the driver. “Ke partum harimau di Keresik
Tua”
which means “To the tiger’s statue at
Keresik
Tua”. You can request the driver to inform you upon arrival
with
the phrase “Kapan datang tempatu, tolong beritaku”.By taxi, van or pre-arranged transport : Taxis are easily available from Padang town or Tabing airport. Each taxi carries a laminated price list showing the rates to get to the various destinations. It costs 600,000Rp for a one-way trip to Keresik Tua. Pak Subandi or Afin can arrange for chartered transport to pick you up from the airport for the same price. Look under the section of Useful Contacts.
