As one of our last activities before we had to leave, Floyd and I visited a fun zoo called Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. We really enjoyed it, and I’d recommend it to anyone who has the opportunity to visit Sabah (this state in Malaysia).
One of our favorite parts was definitely the elephants. With only a fence and a little ditch separating us, we got to toss them sweet potatoes for lunch. The way they begged would put any dog to shame!
One of the elephants (and only one) apparently loved the water. She was the only one who would wade in and swim for the sweet potatoes that people tossed into the little pond in the enclosure. It was fun watching her fish them up from the bottom with her trunk.
This elephant wasn’t content to wait on the other side of the fence!
At one point, some keepers brought around a cute little baby elephant that we got to pet. They gave us crackers to feed him right out of our hands, but he liked the sweet potatoes better.
This is Mowgli, a chimpanzee who we watched perform in a little show. At one point they asked for audience volunteers to compete against her, and Floyd was chosen. He had to try to break open a coconut with his bare hands before she could – needless to say, Mowgli left him in the dust!
Later, Mowgli and friends rode away in this golf cart.
Floyd got to keep the coconut he had been unable to open in the contest. He asked one of the keepers if he could give it to Mowgli afterward (she had drunk the milk from her own coconut with relish), but the keeper suggested that instead he toss it into the Malaysian sun bears’ enclosure.
The bears loved it! It took them a lot longer to break it open than Mowgli, but they sure had fun banging it against walls and the ground and wrestling over it.
Afterward they enjoyed slurping up the coconut milk and also chewing on the flesh inside.
The tiger was fun to watch, too. At a certain time the keepers put a slab of meat on this little conveyance on the cable, and the tiger bounded up the tree trunk to snatch it off. Apparently that’s his primary exercise for the day.
I couldn’t stop laughing at the proboscis monkeys. Just look at their faces!
Can you believe those noses?!
Another funny-looking fellow.
One section of the zoo was set aside as a nature walk through the tropical jungle.
We enjoyed the hiking trails, even though they were paved. The steep sections had stairs and handrails.
There was no “loose” wildlife here except for insects and birds, but we enjoyed a variety of tropical plants, such as the unusually colored bamboo below.
There were a few scenic little natural streams in the area.
Our day at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park was the perfect end to a wonderful (though far too short) visit to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. I hope I can go back again someday!
Want to see more of our adventures in Borneo? Click on the links below to read my other blog posts from the trip:
I’m here in Malaysian Borneo for a few days attending a teaching conference, and I’m loving it! (To see my first Bornean blog post, click here.)
Today after the conference sessions were over, Floyd and I took a taxi to visit the Tun Mustapha Tower. It’s the second tallest building on the island of Borneo, and apparently is one of only four hanging structures in the world with a glass facade, and the only building in Asia in the shape of a 72-sided polygon built without columns. We didn’t get to go inside, but it did look pretty impressive from the outside. Here are a few pictures I took:
Afterward we visited The Sabah Museum, which featured various traditional local cultures. Unfortunately, a large section of it was closed for renovation, but we did enjoy what we were able to see.
Behind the museum was a traditional (uninhabited) village preserved in its original form. We got to stroll around it and even go in some of the buildings.
I’m really enjoying our time here and everything we’ve been able to see. What a pity we can’t stay longer!
To read more about our time in Malaysian Borneo, take a look at my other blog posts here:
Borneo: Lok Kawi Wildlife Park
Yesterday afternoon after the conference was over for the day, Floyd and I decided to visit an aquarium called the Green Connection here in Kota Kinabalu. It wasn’t especially large or fancy, but we got to pet sharks and see lots of interesting critters. I recommend it for those who enjoyed such things. Here are a few glimpses of the creatures we saw there:
We followed our visit to the Green Connection with a scenic dinner by the beach – it was the tastiest meal we’ve had since we’ve been here! There was sort of an open food court area with lots of little stalls under one large roof – here’s what it looked like right outside.
This little stall offered all sorts of wonderful-looking smoothies and fancy drinks. It was hard to choose one!
This is the drink I ended up ordering. It was a mango smoothie float – delicious!
When I had lived in Indonesia, I really enjoyed a dish called “ikan bakar” (literally, baked fish). I saw a sign above one of the stalls advertising ikan bakar (the language in Malaysia is very similar to Indonesian), but what they brought me was quite different than what I remembered!
Want to see more of our adventures in Borneo? Click on the links below to read my other blog posts from the trip:
I love Malaysia! I’m here for a few days for a conference, which is being held in the beautiful, touristy town of Kota Kinabalu in the state of Sabah. This part of Malaysia is located on the island of Borneo, along with a piece of Indonesia and the whole country of Brunei. (The rest of Malaysia is a peninsula attached to the mainland in Southeast Asia.) See the map below. It’s very different here from Kuala Lumpur, which I visited back in 2008. You can click here to read my blog post about that experience.
http://www.angelfire.com/
Floyd was able to accompany me; he works on his classwork on the computer in our hotel room while I attend the conference workshops, and then we go sightseeing together in the late afternoons and evenings. This is the front of the beautiful Sutera Harbor Resort, where the conference is being held. We’re staying at a different (less fancy but quite a bit cheaper) hotel. I usually walk to and from the conference each day; I haven’t been timing it, but I think it’s about 40 minutes each way.
Once when I walked through the loby of the Sutera, I came across a musician in traditional dress playing the musical instrument below, called a kulintangan. The sound was beautiful and almost haunting, and I lingered quite awhile to listen. Here’s a link to a video (not one I took) where you can see how it’s played and hear how it sounds. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKKqFm79rxQ
Among other noteworthy sites, Kota Kinabalu boasts two especially large and beautiful mosques. Below, with the even more beautiful flower in the foreground, is the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque.
We also visited the
Atkinson Clock Tower up on a hill by the city. This interesting structure was built in 1903 entirely out of wood. No nails were used in its construction!
Want to see more of our adventures in Borneo? Click on the links below to read my other blog posts from the trip:
Borneo: The Green Connection and Dinner on the Beach
