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Published: January 7th 2007
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Via AirAsia (Aisa's version of EasyJet), Ally and I flew from Kuta to Kualur Lumpur, which is the capital city in Peninsular Malaysia. We had arrived at the height of the monsoon season, and it was safe to say that most passengers where apprehensive when a violent lightning storm surrounded the plane as we approuched 'KL'. The clouds surrounding the plane where amazing, eg, huge white fluffy clouds reaching up in to the atmosphere, surrounded by dark thunder clouds. It were proper nice, but proper scary too!...Anyway, we landed safely, then made our way into KL city, which conveniently was 70km away!
I'm not going to blabber on about KL, as it was a hot, dirty, sweaty dive! We walked to the Petronas Towers - which used to be the tallest towers in the world...but apart from that we hung around the cruddy hostel awaiting our AirAsia flight to Kota Kinabalu ('KK'), Borneo...
The Wonders of Borneo
It was only a 3hr flight from KL to Kota Kinabalu (KK), which is the capital of Sabah, which is one of four countries that make up the Island of Borneo, which is divided between Indonesia (Kalimantan), Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah),
and finally, Brunei. Got it!
KK sits on the edge of the South China Sea overlooking a cluster of coral fringed Islands. With the Crocker range as a backdrop, and the cloudy peaks of Mount Kinabalu (the highest mountain in S.E.Asia), Kota Kinabalu is an attractive, clean and modern city. It was a relief to be in a pleasent place after enduring the dirty streets of KL.
We stayed at the clean and modern 'North Borneo lodge', from here we planned a rough travel itinerery for Sabah. During our stay we visited the Island of Pulua Manukan for some quiet attractive beaches, and good snorkelling around its reefs - whilst watching out for rougue Box Jellyfish - as an eight yr old Korean girl died three days prior to our arrival! eek!
Borneo was looking great so far...
Mount Kinabalu
About an hours drive from KK is Mount Kinabalu. It is the biggest tourist attraction in Sabah, and the centre of the vast 754-sq-km National Park. At 4095m, it is the tallest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. We didn't climb the mountain as it was incredibly expensive for guide fees, mountain fees, accomodation
fees, etc, etc..besides, only three weeks prior we climbed Bromo, in Java. However, Ally and I did several treks by ourselves around the National park, through the amazing tropical rainforests that surround the mountain.
Kinabalu park is one of Borneos spectacular botanical paradises. It is home to about 1,200 species of orchid, 9 species of carniverous Pitcher plant, 80 species of fig tree, 60 species, of oak and chestnut, 100 species of mammal, 326 species of bird, the list goes on... The treks were pretty difficult as the forest was extemely dense. But it was good to do them alone without paying a bloke who can't speak English to accompany you. We saw plenty of bugs, spiders, beatles, etc.. But, no mammals. With a park at 754-sq-km you have to be lucky to see wild deer, Orang utangs, etc..
We had a great few days staying around the mountain, the weather was considerably cooler than everywhere else in Borneo...so needless to say it was a healthy, refreshing, and rehabilitating stop for us, with plenty of walking, lots of fruit and vegetables, and strictly no bars, drinking, etc...
After the mountain we cought a public bus to Sepilok,
A Trilobite Beetle
What a dude!!! This beetle dates back to the Dinosaur age!! where the world famous Orang Utan centre resides. Again we were impressed with the relative sanity of Borean drivers, and road systems (in comparison to Indonesia).
The Wild Man of Borneo
Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre ...is one of only four Orang Utan rehabilitation centres in the world, ie, three in Borneo, and one in Sumatra. Sepilok is about 25km north of Sandakan, it covers 40-sq-km of thick humid low-land jungle in which the Orang Utans live. The Orang Utan (which translates as 'jungle person') is the only species of great ape found outside Africa. A mature male is pretty darn impressive with an arm span up to 2.2 metres, and can weight up to 150kgs!!!!
The idea behind the Sepilok is that orphaned and injured Orang Utans are brought to the centre to be rehabilitated to return to forest life. But the centre has suffered from its own success, ie, huge amounts of camera clicking at feeding times seem more like a circus than a sanctuary. Also, constant contact with humans has exposed the apes to diseases - which can make rehabilitation impossible.
Ally and i stayed at Sepilok B &
Ally wearing...
jazzy Gandi robe in Manukan Island B, which was just around the corner from the centre. We cycled to the centre for 11am, which is the fist feeding time in the day. Only one baby male showed up, but we were still impressed by the size, and how 'human' they appeared both in looks and mannerisms, etc. We spent the time between 'feeding' walking arouind the park trails! This was an impossible task: Low land jungle is the most humid, hot, dense, Jungle, Jungle that you can get. Ally was not impressed! We tried to walk 1.4km to a viewing platform in the jungle! After 30 mins we probably covered 500 meters, I was getting constantly yelled at by Ally about another 'invisable' leech, copious amounts of sweat, dirt, mud, bugs, Ants, Spiders, bugs, mosquitos, flies, and leeches! So we turned around, and went for a curry!
Later on we cycled to the 4pm feeding time, and were luckily rewarded in seeing about 12 Orang Utans - which is a really good amount to see at any one feeding time - they are a really amazing animal, we were alot more impressed than we thought we would be!
Although it was great to see
Orang Utans at Sepilok, it was now time to find them in the wild. We now planned to do a three day river cruise/Jungle expedition on the Kinabantagan river - which is highly regarded as being THE BEST place in all South East Asia to observe wildlife in absolute abundance. It is apparebtly the highlight of any nature lovers trip!
We took a mini bus to Sandakan, where we booked the Kinabantagan river trip. We had to travel to a remote place called Sukau, where we would meet with our hosts, and tarzan through the jungle: Ooooooooooooooiiiiiiioooiiiiiioooooooooooooooiiioooooiiiiiiooooooooo
Love to all, hope everyone had a great festive season?
nick & ally
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Cheryl
non-member comment
Are we there yet?
Hey you guys, hope you had a good xmas and new year. Where in the dickens are u? This blog is November 2006 - tis now January 2007. Heard on the news here in Oz that a boat sunk up in Asia somewhere - only survivors were 5 Aussies and 2 Brits. Hope you two weren't in that situation! Anyways if you decide to head back here for a couple of months and recash (fruit picking is on!!) then head back home you are welcome to stay at Chez Cheryl's anytime. Love to you both.