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The Jewel of Sabah – Kota Kinabalu

On my quest to see wild Orangutans, I had to stay in a couple of different cities in Borneo before setting off for my wildlife adventure. We took an hour and a half long flight from Kuala Lumpur to the city of Kota Kinabalu, or KK. This was not like any other city in Malaysia that we had previously visited. We had gotten mixed reviews about it, but found it to be a delightful place to visit. Originally a fishing village dating back to the 1500s, this slow growing port city did not even receive “city” status until the year 2000. Now, with its two sea ports, it is the commercial and industrial capital of Borneo and the fastest growing city in all of Malaysia. KK has also become Borneo’s tourism capital and gateway to Borneo with pristine waters for diving and snorkeling, beautiful beaches, rainforests, Mount Kinabalu, and diverse wildlife, including Orangutans. They are the main reason I came here. 

We had a nice room just a few blocks from the waterfront promenade, and we definitely took advantage of that. On our first night there we had fish and chips at an Irish Pub overlooking the water. The ocean front promenade here has a nice selection of local and international restaurants, bars, coffee shops, cafes, and nightclubs. We enjoyed ourselves here on several occasions, one being my birthday. We celebrated my birthday dinner on the waterfront at a nice little Italian restaurant called Gusto Food & Wine Cucina Italiana. They had a nice wine room where the owner recommended different bottles of wine to go with the food. It was a great birthday dinner sitting over the water and watching a glorious sunset.

Another place we liked to eat is the famous Waterfront Seafood Night Market. Open from 5:00 pm to midnight every night, you can find almost any type of seafood you’ve ever dreamed about here. Each vendors stall offers a wide variety of fresh seafood and hawkers actively try to get you to come to their stall. Displayed on ice, you choose the type of fresh raw seafood you want. The array of seafood offered was amazing, and it was caught that day. If it’s not still alive, they show you the signs for freshness like clear eyes, red inside the gills, firm flesh, no smell. Then they bring you their menu so you can choose side dishes to go with it and they also recommend the best way to cook the seafood you’ve chosen.

SEAFOOD NIGHT MARKET

We were then seated at a table to await our seafood feast! I chose a good sized white snapper, some of the biggest prawns I had ever seen, and some squid for a starter. For the sides I kept it simple choosing rice and sautéed morning glory, which is a lot like spinach. You are expected to haggle with them on the prices, but none of the seafood seemed overpriced to me. I always compare prices to what it would cost me back home in the U.S. This place is packed every night, so we had to wait a little bit for our order, which was fine, since we were seated at a table overlooking the water. We sipped our fresh coconuts while watching a beautiful sunset. The first to arrive was the squid, which was tender, tasty, done to perfection and soon gone. Then came the prawns and the white snapper. The prawns were like eating lobster, firm, sweet, and juicy! The grilled white snapper was exceptionally delicious. The morning glory was sautéed with garlic and chilis and delicious. We never got the rice, but that’s okay, I would not have been able to fit it in. An excellent seafood feast in a great location.

As usual, we look for good, cheap, local places to eat and we found a great place we liked for breakfast called Sri Latha Curry House. Our usual became the Roti Telur which is a roti bread with an egg cooked inside, with a side of curry sauce and black coffee. We even found a decent burger here at a place called Damn Good Burger. Another fav was the Aachi Curry House where we had dinner on several occasions. Their Fish Curry on banana leaf and Nasi Goreng were delicious. We both love the food in Malaysia and it seems that no matter where we go, we have a good meal. Malaysia is not a good place to start a diet, there are just to many tasty dishes!

SRI LATHA CURRY HOUSE

One of the most popular gathering spots here is Tanjung Aru Beach. Known for being the best place to watch the sunset here in Kota Kinabalu, we had to check it out. We had been told that people start gathering for sunset at around 5:00 pm and if we wanted to avoid the traffic jam we should go a little earlier. Were they ever right, I could not believe the traffic! Luckily our Grab (like Uber) driver knew a short cut, through the airport parking lot no less, and we arrived with time to spare. I was expecting a very small and crowded beach, but I could not have been more wrong. There definitely were a lot of people here, but the beach was huge, both wide and long. The setting sun silhouetted the para-sails, jet skis, and hydrofoil surfers.

TANJUNG ARU

There was beach volleyball and soccer games going on, and families building sand castles and just a lot of fun in general. Besides the beautiful beach, activities, and sunset, the Tanjung Aru Beach Night Market is here as well. There was live music and many people dressed as cartoon characters wandering around. These characters seem to be popular every where we visit. The market is open nightly from 5:00 pm to midnight and you can find a wide  variety of foods, crafts, and souvenirs here. Unfortunately, most of it was what I would classify as junk food, not really dinner fare. Although we did sample a few things that were tasty. This place is so popular that when we booked a Grab to go back to our room, they had a designated pick-up spot, and a waiting line. It was a fun evening and I have to agree, it is a great place to see a breathtaking sunset.

DINAWAN ISLAND

Above, I mentioned my birthday dinner. For the day of my birthday, Aaron booked a boat tour to a private island called Dinawan Island. It was fantastic. We went down to a dock on the river and caught a boat that took us out to sea. It was a beautiful day for boating, snorkeling, and chilling on a tropical island. After boarding the boat, they took us to a snorkeling spot that was rich with corals and tropical fish. The temperature of the water was perfect. I hadn’t snorkeled for a couple of years and I was very excited to get into the water. The tour guide told us what types of fish lived here and to be looking for them. I spotted all but one, the Black Tipped Reef Shark. They are very shy, non-aggressive, and not dangerous, but I would have liked to see one. After snorkeling, we set off for Dinawan Island. You can do tours that will take you to multiple islands in a day, but we chose the tour with just one island so we could take advantage of more snorkeling and additional activities. Dinawan Island is a small, private island and limits visitors to 20 a day. There are a few rooms to rent if you want to stay a night or two, but you can’t see them and they can’t see the day visitors section.

The island itself is absolutely stunning. The varying shades of turquoise water, fine white sandy beach, lush green tropical plant life. There was a huge school of fish surrounding the dock as we were crossing the bridge to the island. After being greeted with a cold juice, we did more snorkeling from the shore, some beach combing, and just relaxed. They served up a great lunch here that was included with the tour. After lunch we relaxed in the shade a bit and then did a little trip around the lagoon in a double kayak. After that we tried out our paddle boarding skills. I have done SUP in Mexico and Hawaii and I really like it, and I’m not bad at it either. When you get tired you can just sit down and paddle, which is really nice. Next, we went hiking around the island a little ways so Aaron could fly the drone. He got some really nice footage of the island, but when bringing the drone in to land, he got to close to the overhanging branch of a tree and the drone hit it and crashed into the ocean. I saw it happen and went into the water to retrieve the drone. Aaron was able to save the footage from the SD card, but a few minutes after being pulled out of the water, the drone began to smoke. Accidents happen, sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Another example of this is we wanted to take our own snorkels and masks on our snorkeling trip so we walked down to the Bazaar on the waterfront. Filled with all sorts of shops and stalls, we found two snorkeling sets and bought them. That night we went to take them out of the package and discovered they were “youth” sized. I don’t know why neither of us noticed that when we were looking at them. We kept the snorkels, but the masks were way to tight. The boat tour furnished us with masks so it was all good in the end, but we were a little disappointed as we had intended to keep these for upcoming trips.

On Sunday morning we walked over to the Gaya Street Sunday Market. We have visited many street markets and fairs in different countries, some of them are way to big and crowded, but this one was just the right size. Starting at 6:00 am and going until noon, two streets are closed to traffic in the Gaya neighborhood for the vendors. Set up like a farmers market, one street was all beautiful fresh flowers, potted plants, and locally grown produce. The colors and variety of fresh vegetables were amazing, I would be shopping here every Sunday if I lived here. The second street was clothing, handicrafts, antiques, souvenirs, and tasty treats. We did have to stop and take shelter at one point because a fast moving storm came through and dropped some rain. It was over quickly and we went on browsing. While we were in this area we found a great little Chinese restaurant and had some lunch. After finishing up at the street market and having lunch we checked out a few shops in the area and then headed back as the dark rain clouds were building up again.

KK has a great museum that we spent several hours in. We always check out the museum where ever we happen to be. It is one of the best ways to learn about a places social and natural history and culture. The Sabah State Museum complex was huge. It not only contained the museum proper, it also had an ethnobotanic garden, zoo, heritage village, and the Sabah Art Gallery. The museum was impressive as it takes you through archeological collections from native tribes, even headhunters, up through contact and trade with other countries, through colonization to independence. They also have a great collection of traditional dress and musical instruments displayed. They had a very interesting display of an old Chinese ship wreck that had been found off the coast in the area. They had set it up under glass exactly as it had been found with all the Chinese porcelain and pottery ware sitting in sand as if were still on the bottom of the ocean. It was fascinating. The museum was hosting an exhibition of ancient painted Chinese screens that were absolutely stunning. The ethnobotanic garden and heritage village showing how their original stilt houses in the jungle had been built were also interesting. I can wander around a good museum for hours!

When visiting a Muslim country, or any country, I dress appropriately and am respectful of local social and religious observances. KK is a beach destination and definitely feels more laid back than some other Malaysian cities but, if you’re not at the beach you should be fully dressed to walk around town. That can be shorts and a tank top, but not your bathing suit.  Kota Kinabalu was a place I had not expected to be going to, but I’m glad we did. It is so much more than just the jumping off place for a wildlife, diving, or snorkeling adventure. With friendly and welcoming people, it is a great little city to visit and spend a few days in.

OUR KOTA KINABALU VIDEO

Our adventure with wild orangutans.

Unbelievable Wild Orangutan Adventure in Borneo

Even though we have been traveling for well over two years now, I still find myself in unbelievable situations about to do something that I had previously only dreamed of. This trip to Borneo was definitely one of those situations. I have always had a love and fascination for the great apes. Growing up, and even as an adult, I read every library book I could get my hands on and watched numerous documentaries to learn more about the great apes. Jane Goodall is my hero! I was fortunate enough to get to do a Mountain Gorilla trek in Uganda a few years ago, which remains one of the most amazing wildlife experiences I have ever had. Now, here I was in Borneo about to go into the rainforest jungle in search of wild Orangutans.   

Even though I had been in Borneo over ten days, I still couldn’t believe that I was actually being presented with the opportunity to see Orangutans in the wild. I don’t have the words to describe my excitement as I found myself on the Kinabatangan River in the tropical rainforest of Borneo on a wildlife adventure. The two cities we had visited first, Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan, quickly faded from my mind as we boarded the boat to head upriver where we would stay at a jungle lodge. Accessible only by boat, the Sukau Rainforest Lodge is for people that want to go into the jungle and see the wildlife of Borneo.

Palm Sugar Plantations

Before setting off for the lodge, our first stop was at the Pusat Pemuliharaan Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary. This 10,000 acre sanctuary opened in 1964 as the logging and palm oil industries were causing drastic decreases in Orangutan and other animal populations then, over sixty years ago. There are three Orang Utan sanctuaries in Borneo all focusing on the preservation of the type of Orang Utan found in Borneo, the Pongo Pygmaeus, which there are less than 30,000 left. There is also the Sumatran Orang Utan found in Sumatra, with only 13,000 left. And the Tapanuli Orang Utan found only in the Tapanuli district of Sumatra with only 800 left.

Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Center

Orangutan is actually two Malay words. Orang meaning person, and Utan meaning forest. So Orangutan literally means person of the forest. In the wild, Orangutans are naturally solitary creatures, only coming together to mate or establish territory. They also would rarely, if ever, come down to the ground. But now, through loss of habitat, or having to be raised in a sanctuary with many others, their natural patterns are changing. Where a solitary mother would raise and teach her baby for around seven or eight years, and if she was lucky, still only have two or three babies in her lifetime. Now orphaned babies are raised together and stay together in the forest after leaving the sanctuary.

We did not get to see the babies in the nursery as they are very susceptible to human disease. We were able to see the adolescents playing and learning how to do things for themselves. We also got to observe one of the two daily feeding times. During these periods, Macaque monkeys come in from the jungle to try and get in on the action, and also some Orangutans that have been returned to the wild. They are allowed to wander in and get a meal if needed.  We were told that these animals are fed the exact same thing every day to try to encourage them to go into the forest and look for a larger variety of food on their own. On this particular morning, a young mother Orangutan with a tiny baby, came in to supplement her diet. Then, much to everyone’s surprise, a big 21 year old male came in.

Male Orangutan

He had been raised at the sanctuary but had been returned to the wild many years ago. They said he shows up every now and again to get his fill of bananas and green beans. He was so interesting and handsome with his big facial flanges, I could have watched him all day. He was so big! But he could definitely swing his big body through the trees at top speed with those long muscular arms.

After touring the sanctuary, it was time to set off for the Sukau Rainforest Lodge. Like a kid on Christmas morning, I was almost dizzy with anticipation as I boarded the boat to head up the Kinabatangan River. Even after all the exciting travels I have experienced, I still could not quite believe that I was heading into the rainforest to look for wild Orangutans!

We arrived at the lodge after going about an hour and a half upriver. The boat ride was awesome. I saw a couple of tiny villages right after we started up the river, but soon there were no other villages and very few other boats. There were two other lodges before we reached Sukau. The lodge was more upscale than I was expecting. Built in a beautiful log cabin design, the lodge had great food and two swimming pools. Still, it is not a resort style vacation destination or for the feint of heart. It is for wildlife viewing expeditions that keep you on a pretty strict schedule. There was also a National Geographic birding expedition staying there.  The bird life there is tremendous and just added to the experience.

After arriving at the lodge and putting our things in our room, we set off on a four hour river expedition. There were only six of us the boat plus our guide, Farhan. We had the same guide from our pick-up point all the way through to our drop off point at the end. He was great. He could spot things in the jungle that amazed us. Talk about eagle eyes, this young man has them! He didn’t just stick to the main river either.

He took our boat down tributaries and small waterways overgrown with jungle. The scenery was like something out of a movie. The green river, the thick rainforest jungle, the heavy smell of greenery and blooming flowers, and especially all the sounds. The noise of the insects, the calls of many different birds, the chattering of monkeys, and an occasional splash as something big churns in the water, all the sounds of adventure! It was magical.

Kinabatangan River

We were at the lodge for three nights. Every day started off with a three hour river expedition at 6:00 am. We would have another one that started at 2:00 pm and lasted until sunset. We were free to do whatever we wanted between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Sunset on River

There were also night time expeditions that took place from 8:00 to 10:30 pm. We did one the first night and spotted a lot of wildlife! But it seemed so rude, all these poor creatures being woken up by a glaring spotlight. We turned off down a small river tributary and that’s where we encountered the jumping snake. He jumps from bush to bush, luckily he didn’t jump from his bush into our boat.  Then some type of fierce Hornet started buzzing around the boat driver and he was afraid of them. He said they were attracted to his light, so he turned it off. When the spotlight went off, it was pitch black. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, or any of the other people in the boat.

The overhanging trees blocked any light from the moon and stars. But the driver just kept the light off and started the boat back up. I have to say I was more than a little apprehensive.  How did he know where he was going? The river has random rocks sticking up and floating logs and things that are easy to see in the daylight, including large crocodiles. He would occasionally turn the light back on just long enough to check out the water, then snap it back off. I like a good adventure, but did not want to find myself floating in a pitch black jungle river waiting to be rescued. I’ve been on several night safaris in Africa, but doing one on the river added a whole different element of excitement!

River Cruise

I saw so much wildlife on our daily expeditions. Found only in Borneo the Proboscis Monkeys were wild to look at. The males are much bigger than the females and have the big droopy nose that covers much of their lower face, and big pot bellies. The females had long pointy noses. There are several species of monkeys that swim, but the Proboscis is adapted for swimming. Living along the riverbanks, they have webbed hands and feet that allow them to out swim Crocodiles, which is their main threat, after man. 

Proboscis Monkey

Even though we saw quite a few troops of them, in actuality there are only a few thousand left. I also saw the pretty Silver Leaf Monkey, or Silver Langur along with the Maroon Langur, both found only in Borneo. They have sweet little faces and their coloring ranges from a light orange to a deep maroon, so pretty.  They almost look like a stuffed animal. There were two types of Macaques, the long tail and the short tail. Squirrels of all sizes, and a particularly pretty jet black squirrel.  

Kinabatangan River

The bird life here is amazing. I was first introduced to the Hornbill in Africa and found them amazing and delightful. They have eight types of Giant Hornbills here, and I got to see all of them but one. The most majestic is the Rhinoceros Hornbill. These giant birds are found only in parts of Southeast Asia. In addition to being huge and beautiful, they have a large colorful horn, called a casque, on top of their big bills. They are very intelligent, mate for life, and live up to 35 years. They live in hollow trees where the male will seal the female up while she incubates and hatches their eggs. Once the chicks start getting feathers, the male and female work to chip away the dried mud that held them in. The male feeds her and the chicks through a small opening the entire time, so they definitely have a relationship built on trust. If something happens to the male during this time, the female and chicks will die. Because of loss of habitat, they are on the threatened list. Since they only have one or two chicks every few years, this makes it even harder for them to maintain their numbers.

I also saw the Oriental Pied Hornbill, the Asian Black Hornbill, the Bushy Crested Hornbill, the Wrinkled Hornbill, the White Crowned Hornbill, and the Wreathed Hornbill. All are spectacular to look at. The one I didn’t get to see was the Helmeted Hornbill. Their numbers have plummeted to the brink of extinction. All of these animals were amazing to see, and I feel so lucky that I got to see them. But the one I specifically came here to see had yet to turn up, a wild Orangutan.

During our free time on the second full day at Sukau, we decided to go exploring the jungle paths that lead out from behind the lodge. There are several long wooden walkways that extend out into the rainforest. If you want to go exploring off the walkway, you need to be prepared with long pants, boots, and gaiters to keep the leeches off. We decided to stick to the wooden walkway. Not having much hope of seeing any big animals in the heat of the day, we had settled in to watching all the tiny life going on around our feet. The jungle insects are also amazing! 

Then, a troop of long-tailed Macaques started to move in. Our guide had told us that often times a troop of Macaques travel nearby Orangutans. He also told us that if we were not in a big group, we should not hang around long when the Macaques moved in. They can be very aggressive and are known as “The Jungle Mafia”. But we weren’t very hopeful about seeing an Orangutan because we had seen quite a few Macaques coming and going close to the lodge since our arrival. A small male Macaque moved in, and then some mothers with tiny babies, and some playful adolescents. We were watching them play and eat fruit when we heard a big branch break.

Wild Orangutan

We started looking up into the tall trees and I found my heart beating faster and I was holding my breath. Then there they were, three Orangutans! We could only catch glimpses of their red orange hair at first. Then two of them settled in one high up spot and the third, an adolescent was having his playtime. We watched him swinging from tree to tree, back and forth, barely stopping long enough for us to get a good look.

Then he grabbed a vine and started swinging on it. He grabbed it with his feet, let go with his hands, and slid down to about 20 feet above the ground. He really put on a show with his play and he was only about 30 feet away from us.  Then he came down to where he was only 10 feet off the ground. He hung upside down, and performed all kinds of antics. He was watching us watch him, and he did not seem bothered by us. We were told that if we came close to an Orangutan, to just act normal, and don’t start whispering as they would take the change in your voice as a threat and move away.

We were able to observe him for a good half hour. Then Aaron said we need to move out. I turned around and we were being surrounded by the Macaques. There were now several large males and they were showing their long canine teeth and hissing. The younger ones started mock charging us. I know Macaque monkeys may not sound scary, but when there are about 60 of them surrounding you and closing in, it does feel threatening as their teeth are much longer and sharper than a dogs.

I hated to stop watching the Orangutans, but I also know how lucky I was to get to spend this much time so close to a wild one. So I counted this as a wonderful blessing and we slowly backed down the walkway. Needless to say this was the highlight of the Borneo jungle adventure for me!

On our last afternoon expedition, Farhan told us that some of the rare Pygmy Elephants had been spotted earlier, but they were pretty far up the river and if we wanted to see them we would have to go at top speed to see if we could spot them. There are only 300 of these small elephants left in the wild so we said “Yes, let’s go”. It was an amazing boat ride and Farhan went down many tributaries near where the elephants had been sighted, but we did not find them. We had gone so far up the river that it was well after dark by the time we made it back to the lodge. Even though we did not find the elephants, it was still amazing as we did spot so many birds coming in to roost and bats going out. Not to mention all the other wildlife settling in for the evening. To make it even better, it was only Aaron and I in the boat with Farhan. The others in our group had not stayed as many nights as us so we had the boat and guide all to ourselves.

The next morning we boarded a larger boat to head back to Sandakan. The Captain took us back down the river to the ocean, and we headed towards Sandakan. We had one last stop at the Sepilok Rainforest Discovery Center. Originally built as a research center for scientists to observe the rainforest canopy, this series of towers with suspension bridges give you a breathtaking view of the jungle forest. We saw a lot of species of monkeys and birds here, and where Orangutans had built some nests for sleeping. In addition to tourists coming, it is also used to educate school children on how wonderful and fragile the biodiversity of their country is, and how to take care of it so it doesn’t disappear.

Our Borneo adventure turned out to be way more than I ever dreamed it would be. I still am in awe of the wonderful adventure I had every time I think about it. I feel so lucky and blessed to have seen so much wildlife. But the icing on the cake was seeing wild Orangutans! It’s an experience I will never forget. Now I have seen wild Mountain Gorillas and wild Orangutans.  Next on the list is wild Chimpanzees, wild Bonobos, and wild Lowland Gorillas.

Check Out Our Wild Orangutan Adventure Video

Malaysia’s Biggest Surprise: Stunning Kota Kinabalu