Kota Kinabalu and Sepilok, Borneo

On arriving in Kota Kinabalu we could instantly see how poor it was compared to Singapore and mainland Malaysia as we’d heard.  Kota Kinabalu was a strange city, there seemed to be no real centre to it.  There was a new development with more westernized bars on the waterfront and then a few stange shopping malls.  However we enjoyed our time ambling around and soaking up the atmosphere.  Everyone seemed to be so friendly and always said hello and asked us where we were from.  It made a change to other places we’d visited where people would only talk to you to try and sell you something.

We walked down to Jetteson’s Pier which is where you get the boats from to the outlying islands.  After reading up, it seemed that Mamutik catered best for what we were after.  We hired our snorkeling gear and jumped on the boat.  The boat ride was only 20 minutes but was great fun as we skimmed over the shallow, clear blue waters in the shining sun.  Mamutik had one small restaurant, a small shop, toilet and shower block and a small campsite.  It wasn’t big at all. There weren’t many people there either so it was really nice to spend time there.  We sunbathed and snorkeled the day away.  There was a really good reef just off the island with some great fish.  I got a bit scared and swam back sharpish though when I saw a rather large one heading for me.  Most people left the island at 4pm which left about 6 of us hanging around watching the sunset – it was amazing.

From Kota Kinabalu we took the 6 hour bus to Sepilok to visit the Orangutan Rescue Sanctuary which is where they rescue captive orangutans, mostly from a young age and then train them to be able to fend for themselves in the wild and then eventually let them go in another reserve about 40 miles away.   The bus went through some remarkable scenery and we drove past Mt Kinabalu and the national park which looked miraculous.  On that journey I saw what I expected Borneo to be like, with rows and rows of the big bushy palm oil trees as far as the eye could see.

We stayed just by the sanctuary in a rainforest retreat.  It was an incredible place.  It held about 60 people with 3 long houses with 6 bunks in each and then several double cabins to stay in. There was a small bar and restaurant and the whole place was surrounded by rainforest.  The guy that owned it had studied design in England and his retreat had those extra few touches that made it really special, like the swinging bamboo chairs to hang out in and the slotted walls in the long houses so that even from bed you could see the rainforest and the sunrise which gave you a sense of being outside.  Most evenings there were spent on the sunloungers with a beer watching the sunset over the rainforest.  The owner was very helpful too and drove us anywhere we wanted to go.  He took us one morning to the Sancutary as there are 2 feeding times, 10am and 3pm.  This is when you get to see the Orangutan’s most.  We watched them feed for an hour or so and also saw lots of smaller cheeky monkeys who kept stealing the bananas when the Orangutans turned their backs.  It was an amusing sight.  Most comical was when one of the orangutans started shaking a rope that 4 or 5 monkeys were hanging from so that they would fall off.  After dinner one of them laid in a tree with his arms folded up behind his head for a snooze.  It made you realize how like us they actually are.

In between feedings we walked down to the Rainforest Discovery centre where there was lots of towers overlooking the forests and some canopy trails and tracks to walk along.  Also the botanical gardens and collection of exotic orchids were beautiful.

Since it was bank holiday in Singapore that weekend my friend Jason and his friend Jay came over to Kota Kinabalu for a couple of days.  We had a great evening with them visiting the night market.  There was so much fresh food there - fish, vegetables, chicken and it was so bustling and vibrant.  There were rows of stalls selling chicken satay, of the chicken pieces variety or the chicken buttocks!  Also there was a stall selling penis’ or is that peni – not sure!  They were sold in 3 sizes and whilst we weren’t sure from what animal they came, the aroma around that stall wasn’t so nice!  We settled for dinner in the Filipino part of the market and picked a large red snapper, 4 of the biggest prawns I’ve seen in all my life and 5 baby squid.  With rice and drinks this came to about three pounds fifty each.  From there we went to Kota Kinabalu’s hottest nightspot –Bar Su!  We danced the night away to a load of 80’s dance tracks and had a great night out!