踏進知本森林遊樂區 The First Step into Jhihben National Forest Recreation Area

開始踏入知本國家森林遊樂區會經過一座紅色的大橋，橋旁兩方可以看到淡灰色的知本溪。往左邊抬頭望，可以看到不遠處的時雨瀑布。為何叫做時雨瀑布呢？郭英姐告訴我們這座瀑布只有在山上下過雨後才會出現。在橋上可以看到遊樂區周圍壯觀的景色。之前在網上看到的圖片還以為知本森林遊樂區只是一個小型的遊樂區，怎麼會有那麼大的反差呀？哈哈哈～

知本國家森林遊樂區提供了各種不同的設施，主要的是遊客服務中心。遊客服務中心專為遊客提供關於知本森林以及遊樂區的資訊。多媒體室會在設定的時間播放關於知本森林的影片，讓遊客在還沒開始探索知本森林之前簡單的了解森林遊樂區的特色。此外，遊客中心樓上的展示室也展示了不少在知本森林所可以看到的特有動植物種類。

遊樂區裡也專設了具有大自然的特色、以千根榕為設計主題的知本自然教育中心。知本自然教育中心的建立，目的是通過不同的活動如暑假營，向大眾傳授自然保護知識。通過一些有趣的小遊戲，小朋友在生態保育的學習上顯得更有興趣。在馬來西亞，自然環境的保護只會在小學教科書上大略說明，並沒有一個專設的教育中心向小學生傳達這些珍貴的知識。因此，資訊沒辦法有效的傳達給民眾，使生態保護意識在馬來西亞變得越來越差。知本自然教育中心是其中一個令我們感到佩服的一個遊樂區設施。

另外，遠道而來參觀遊樂區的遊客大部分都是為了體驗遊樂區裡不同種類的步道。在整個遊樂區里共有四條主要步道，而且各有各的特色。

在前面的兩個星期裡，遊樂區的工作人員和其他志工都一直再問我們全部步道都走過了沒有，所以我們不把它走完都感到不好意思呀。就在課長、郭音姐和凱琳姐等不同時間的帶領下，我們在每一條步道都留下了腳印。我最喜欢的步道是森林浴步道，因为我原本就热爱大自然，运气好的话还可以在那里看到一些野生动物。心想走完每一條步道是有點開心和成就感的，但回到辦公室看看日曆才發現這一切只是開始呀！可是在步道上，我們學了不少以往在課室裡學不到和看不到的，是一個不錯的體驗。

The journey into Jhihben National Forest Recreation Area starts from crossing a red bridge before enters the main entrance. On the bridge, I saw grayish colored Jhihben River flowing rapidly under the bridge. On the left hand side, there was a waterfall on the mountain distance away from the recreation area. The scenery on the bridge was brilliant especially after rainfalls. This is because workers who woks here told me that the waterfall only appears if there are rainfalls on the mountain..

Jhihben National Forest Recreation Area provides various facilities. The main building where visitors can acquire information about this area is Visitor’s Center. In Visitor’s Center, there was a multimedia room which will play a short introduction clip about the recreation area 4 times a day. Besides that, tourist can know more about the species and attributes of plants and animals which can be seen in this area by visiting the exhibition room on the upper floor of the Visitor’s Center

Jhihben National Forest Recreation Area also provides a learning environment on forestry for elementary school students through summer camp. This camp was organized by trained volunteer and some high school students.

There are four main trails in this area:

In the first 2 weeks, we finished all the trails with the guide of Mr.Huang and other employees of the recreation section. The trail which I liked the most is Forest Trail because it is the place where I can see many wild animals. Although we feels very tired after hiking such a long distance in the area, but we learned many precious knowledge about the forest recreation area that we seldom have the chance to experience in daily life.