Short Trip to Kota Kinabalu - The Next Day

Kota Kinabalu, capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah

Saturday 27th -Tuesday 30th September, 2014

It's not essential, but why not read the account of Saturday and Sunday in KK before reading this section.

After Sunday's long outing I was in no hurry to get up too early.  Outside the day was already hot and humid as I checked local options for breakfast.  After a light meal of noodles I set off on a lap of the large block fronting the wharf, and then headed up the hill to the lookout.

View northwards from the pedestrian
overpass into part of the dispersed CBD
(the not-so-Central Business District?)

A small part of the large fishing fleet operating from KK

Not far from the moorings is this "'the one that got away"?
The Big Marlin (Swordfish)

The impressive street frontage of a mall and restaurant complex.

I walked up the steps running through the forest to the roadway leading to Signal Hill Lookout.  Beneath the trees it was even more humid than out in the open.  Despite the heat haze and a little smoke haze there was a reasonable view along the coast and out to the islands.  You can see that KK has a modern appearance.  Although the city was founded as a trading colony in 1882 very little remains of the early days.  Intensive bombing in 1945 destroyed all but 3 of the significant pre-war buildings, so the city is really from the late 20th century, with building works continuing.  The CBD is not really a "central" location as many building normally found there are located outside of that zone because of the limited space between the Signal Hill and the sea.  The city population is about 650,000 and another 150,000 live in surrounding areas.

Looking south.  The vertical white object on the left (in line
with the crane) is the Atkinson Clock Tower.

View to the north-west

From Signal Hill I walked several hundred metres down the roadway to the Atkinson Clock Tower.  This small white structure with two clock faces was built in 1902 to commemorate Francis George Atkinson, the first district officer of Jesselton (the original colonial name). He died aged 28 from a tropical disease.

Looking uphill to the Atkinson Clock Tower
which still chimes away each hour.

I don't know the name of this building.
Suffice to say it has an "unusual shape and design".

The present-day Tourism and Visitor Centre
is one of the few buildings from old Jesselton.

Old pedal operated sewing machines are still being
sold here in KK and also in Denpasar, Bali.

After my walk of a couple of kilometres it was time for another shower (this was to be a 3 shower and  3 shirt day) before travelling north to the Shangri-La luxury beach resort.  On the edge of the resort is the Rasa Ria Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, operated by the Sabah conservation and wildlife protection agency, with sponsorship of the resort.  Young abandoned or orphaned apes are brought here for the first stage of a lengthy process which will see them restored to health and develop "life skills" before they are taken to a larger centre on the east of Borneo where they will be prepared for completely independent life and re-introduction into the forest.  So far over 30 orang utan have been returned to the forest. The name "orang utan" means "forest people".

One of many attractive buildings along the highway running north from KK

Shangri-La Beach Resort - I suspect the rates are a bit high for my budget

After a short talk by a Wildlife Ranger and a video describing the recovery of an ill young orang utan, and her subsequent, rehabilitation and release we set off up a fairly steep path to a viewing area. 

Although there were 3 apes in the area we only saw 2, and it was a real treat to see them playing in the trees, sometimes just above our heads.  Zoologists say they are the animal most closely related to humans, and leaving aside the antics possible due to their build and flexibility, it was easy to see many instances of human-like play as the 2 young males swung about and wrestled with each other.

Young orang utan at Ria Rasa Sanctuary

A game of "catch me if you can"

Young ape looking down at me - perhaps checking if I got the picture?

Swinging quickly and effortlessly through the canopy

Red fur back-lit by sunlight shining into the forest

They were quite amazing and fascinating.  It was a pleasure and privilege to observe them, even just for a short time.  On the return journey to KK there was time for a couple of slight detours to see a couple of mosques I'd spotted on the trip north.  As we swung off the main road towards the big KK City Mosque (Masjid Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu)  I saw the attractive pink dome of another mosque nestled amongst the trees.

Pink dome and minaret of a mosque to the north of KK

A small section of the "Borneo1 Hypermall"

KK City Mosque, beside Likas Bay

The dome and one of the 4 minarets, KK City Mosque.

The spectacular front entrance (from Wikipedia).  
I only saw the building from the southern side.  I could not
enter the surrounds as I was still wearing shorts after my
excursion into the forest and was thus  "immodestly dressed".

After returning from the trip it was time for my third shower of the day before heading down to the seafront fish restaurants.  Although KK is "renowned" for its colourful sunsets, tonight's showing was rather disappointing as a weak sun slipped from one section of cloudy sky to another until it finally disappeared from view with hardly a trace of colour in the sky.

This is hardly a good example of the
"spectacular sunsets" of the tourist brochures.

Hotels and commercial buildings along the
waterfront are bathed in the soft light of sunset

At the fishermen's wharf there were 3 rows of
shops offering many kinds of freshly cooked seafood.

Prawns, crabs, something like the "Moreton Bay Bug", and more...

Large prawns on skewers are slowly cooked above coals

Fresh fish, many still flapping.

There were many places offering much the same sort of seafood, so there was no need to agonise over where to go.  Just pick one.  I did, and my meal of large prawns in a pepper sauce was delicious.

And so ended day 3 in KK.

Paul in Bali

5/10/14