So what has happened lately, you may be wondering? I also think the same while sitting in front of the laptop at Starbucks in Kuala Lumpur (no, we are not big influencers yet, so we are not paid for advertising 😉)…
We spent a total of 8 days in Borneo, 4 days in Kuching (in the state of Sarawak in the northwest) and another 4 days in Kota Kinabalu (in the state of Sabah in the northeast).
Is Borneo as we imagined it? No, not at all..
Well, Kuching used to be a big city with big malls, ...
...which are now run-down and largely empty! Unlike the fairly modern and clean malls, the streets and buildings are run-down and dirty. Not a place to linger...
On the other hand, Kota Kinabalu is completely the opposite: everything is modern, full of Chinese tourists, one new mall after another, and everywhere there are eager little black-haired people 😉 ... and it's contagious... Due to the weather (34°C +), people like to stay here and stroll through the shops... Having a look is also fun ;-) Unfortunately, we can't do more because our backpacks are already full...
Well, all in all, we are fine! Don't get me wrong, but it's not what we expected.. If you like watching nature documentaries as much as we do, you know what you associate with Borneo: GO INTO THE WILD...
That's what we did from the big cities - out of the hustle and bustle, into the national parks:
In Kuching, that meant that we first saw the wild orangutans at the Semenggoh Wildlife Center.
The entrance of the wildlife center and at the same time the first feeding station for the wild orangutans; however, no monkeys showed up that day.There was also a small but nicely designed information house on site.So we and the numerous other spectators went to the second feeding station, which was further in the forest. It should be mentioned that the monkeys live freely in a 500-hectare protected area and only come to the feeding stations when they feel like it or when they cannot find enough food in the jungle.Suddenly we heard rustling leaves and ...... shortly afterwards we could see our first orangutan high up in the trees =) A younger male!A short time later, a second monkey came down from the trees... and who can count? 4 arms on a leash and one hanging down?!No, the mother brought a baby and so the 3 monkeys (a young male, the mother, and the baby) shared the platform and the fruit. Until ...... the BIG BOSS Ritchie (32 years old and about 140 kg) came onto the stage. When he arrived at the feeding station, the others preferred to leave.By the way, this was the actual distance ;-) The many SLR cameras around us probably took better close-ups, but we only had our cell phones.That's why we are very satisfied with this snapshot when Ritchie posed again before we had to leave the park at 10 a.m. (opening hours 8-10 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.; you can only visit the feeding stations from 9-10 a.m. and 3-4 p.m. so that the monkeys have their peace and quiet) The next day we went ...... by boat to Bako National Park to search for the proboscis monkeys!But first we had to walk over the seemingly endless beach because it was low tide!Upon arrival at the main building of the national park, we had to wash our feet and put on shoes. And take cover from the first food-stealing monkeys ;-)We also had the opportunity to see the first snake of our trip (and that after almost 3 months).... into the rainforest!After a few meters, the first little monkeys greeted us curiously, but we didn't come here because of them.We walked through the humid and hot jungle for about 1 1/2 hours, crossing over rocks and logs...Until we reached another beautiful beach where the tide started to rise again and there were many cracked giant horseshoe crabs. However, we forgot to take pictures of them because, according to the rangers, we should not spend too much time near the water, because...... in Bako National Park there are also up to 6-meter-long and dangerous saltwater crocodiles. Luckily, we didn't encounter them =) On the way back, we suddenly heard the rustling in the treetops that we recognized from the orangutans, and an unfamiliar calling...The proboscis monkeys were jumping around high up in the trees, and here and there one of the big-nosed monkeys was watching us. However, our cell phones have too poor a zoom to take a better photo than this one.) And that's exactly why we came here! Proboscis monkeys in the wild =)On the way back to the main building, Thea inspected some huge trees...... and we spotted a flying lemur with its offspring.At the main building with the canteen, some bearded wild boars were already waiting for us, and Clem hoped they had left us some food after the exhausting march. Suddenly there was some movement among the other visitors, and quickly we also realized why... ... this male proboscis monkey had come down to the beach and climbed into a tree. On the way back to the boat jetty for the return journey, we saw these animals:...a fluffy caterpillar......a blossom-eating monkey......prehistoric crabs (this time not eaten by the crocodiles)......and a guinea pig ;-) Sorry, the bad joke had to be made :-)
After arriving in Kota Kinabalu, we spent the first few days sightseeing and mall hopping... It was nice and peaceful... We had to realize that we have to go back to work in less than 2 weeks ☹
On the first evening in KK, we had spicy Indian food.. and unfortunately, medium spicy here is super spicy in Germany.. So we dressed up for a visit to the most famous mosque in KK...Well, it's a matter of taste... This is what it looked like inside: Not so spectacular anymore and with corrugated roof... at least in the part accessible to visitors.One of the huge malls - always nicely air-conditioned - as always at a refreshing 19 degrees Celsius ;-)The waterfront of Kota Kinabalu - and a short stroll ... ...across the adjacent fish market and appetizing... ... but at the sight of the rays, our appetite quickly disappeared...
From Kota Kinabalu, we drove by car to the interior of the country to Kinabalu National Park... Unfortunately, I couldn't motivate Clem to climb the 4,000-meter mountain, and our budget was getting tighter... The ascent and descent take 3 days and cost more than 500€ per person... So we only did the short tour with a visit to the Botanical Garden..
Can't see Kinabalu... The 4,000-meter mountain is covered in clouds... Should we be unlucky that day??? Well, the Botanical Garden is also supposed to be beautiful... ... armed with a flyer, we set out to identify the species... The beautiful pitcher plants were also there again :-)...and many different beautiful orchids
We then drove to the Poring Hot Springs, where we wanted to take a bath..
Unfortunately, 10km before reaching the destination, the floodgates of the rainforest opened, and just as seen on TV, huge amounts of water poured down from the sky.. The streets were flooded, and newly created rivers washed mud over the roads... We continued anyway, hoping that it would stop soon.. After half an hour of waiting at the hot springs, it only got darker, so we slowly started the return journey..
And on the way back, we couldn't believe our eyes all of a sudden.. The Mount Kinabalu showed itself briefly. It probably couldn't let us go like that... Beautiful.. :-)
When we arrived at the hotel, we were glad to have experienced Borneo's wilderness one more time.. 😉
In the evening, we had 'a bit' of fish and big tiger prawns for a great finale... Yummie! Cooked in buttermilk! On the way back to the hotel, we realized once again that we are in Asia and Asians are just different... Yes, those are transformers...
We have been in Kuala Lumpur for two days now, where we will stay for another 2 days before leaving for home after 3 months! The next blog entry about KL will probably be written from Doha or Frankfurt...
We wish you all a great start to the week and enjoy the summer weather!!! We are looking forward to seeing all of you!
Endlich wieder zurück in die Heimat :D die Orang utans sind so toll 😍 auch wenn Borneo nicht ganz so ist wie ihr es euch vorgestellt habt, interessant zu lesen was so eure eindrücke waren! Und der 4000er wäre ja mega krass gewesen bei den Temperaturen 😅 und fast doppelt so hoch wie der Pico 😱
Und das Essen! Yummyyyy😍
Naja hoffe ihr habt eine gute Rückreise gehabt 😊
