Man of the Forrest

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Kota Kinabalu is a pleasant and attractive city, which in total I spent about three days in, and enjoyed every bit of it. The first time however I was in from the Phillipines in the evening and gone by mid day the next day, still that was long enough to acquire a hang over, from two many beers with an English and a Hungarian lad I met at the hostel, still it was nice to be around other travellers again after 3 weeks with only myself to talk too.

The hostel was ok I tend to avoid hostels unless I am looking for company or information, in this case it was both, I was pretty much on the way to the airport by 10 and on the plane at 12.

Although Sarawak and Sabah are Malaysian states they have their own immigration which is strange and a little annoying as you have to keep filling out entry cards all the time, anyway when I got to the terminal I was just sitting there minding my own business waiting to check in when this woman sits down next to me and starts to spill her guts about her boyfriend not wanting her anymore and how much she loved him, and how she would wait for him to change his mind etc, after about 20 minutes of this I told her she was crazy and that he was using her and that she should get on with her life. The check in counter opened then and I made my escape.

The flight to Sandakan took about an hour, when I arrived I told the taxi driver to take me to the bus stop in Sandakan for Sepiloc, however he didnt understand me and took me straight to Sepiloc which was fine with me. I chose to stay at the Sepiloc Jungle Resort which was rather nice, the grounds were quite beautiful, it was 2pm when I arrived so I headed off straight down the road to the Sanctuary for 3pm feeding.

First I watched a film about the place then set off on the wooden pathway to the feeding area, the next 45 minutes were just incredible, I regret getting the shits up the last time I was at one of these places (Sumatra) refusing to pay the fee and subsequently missing out.

They are fantastic animals to watch, I think there were perhaps 10 all together anyway it culminated nicely when the biggest one dropped out of the tree above my head, I didnt realise he was so close as I was watching him through the camera lense, when he dropped down he kind of pushed past me and scattered tourist everywhere it was hilarious.

Anyway after that I went to the gift shop and bought some bits and pieces before heading back for some dinner.

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Photos

Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary
Sign on the walkway to the feeding area

Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary
This is the fellow that nearly landed on me

Bridge between my room and the restaurant
Jungle resort - Sepilok

My hotels lake
Sepilok

State Mosque
Kota Kinabalu

State Museum
Kota Kinabalu