Kota Kinabalu (Borneo) Malaysia - March 4th


Our shipped docked this morning about 6:00 AM in Kota Kinabalu, which is located on the northwest coast of Borneo, just a little north of Brunei.  It is the capital of the state of Sabah in Malaysia. We got up early and headed to breakfast around 5:45 AM as we were supposed to meet for our tour at 6:45 AM.  Unfortunately, the ship’s clearance by local officials took more than an hour so we got started late.  


Mount Kinabalu

We headed south along the coast and then inland to the Klias River.  In the distance we could see Mt Kinabalu which at 13,435 ft. is the 3rd largest mountain on an island in the world. The mountain is a world heritage site and considered to be one of the most important biological sites in the world due to its biodiversity. A place worth visiting in the future. It has the largest flower, the smallest flower and they have to date their trees using carbon dating due to the lack of rings as there are only wet and dry seasons.

 

We had a 2-hour drive to the Klias River where we embarked upon another river cruise in search of proboscis monkeys among the mangrove trees. 

During the drive, the guide provided us with some interesting facts. 1) The name Borneo is actually a corruption of the word Brunei due to the pronunciation by the British. 2) There were still headhunters in Borneo until the early 60s.  They would put tattoos on their knuckles for each head.

Before embarking upon the river in small boats, we were served some local snacks including banana fritters and sweet potato fritters. 


Our lunch venue

Luckily today, we saw several troops of monkeys along the river, many of the swinging from tree to tree.  I still couldn’t get a good photo, but we enjoyed watching them play.  We passed several local villagers fishing and enjoyed the lush vegetation lining the banks.
Local fisherman

 

After returning to the dock, we were served lunch and then we headed back to the ship.


Once onboard again, every passenger and every member of the crew had to meet face to face with a Philippine immigration official in preparation for the next 3 ports in the Philippines.


From Chris:

Unlike the Brunei folks who don’t even have to slow down as they drive across their border and into Malay Borneo, our Nautica passengers were unduly delayed this morning by sleepy “Malay Authorities” who finally allowed us to disembark in Sabah (Kota Kinabalu) for our various tours and excursions. But our speedy bus drivers made up the time by flying over their many Sabah potholes on their single coastal road to lead us back toward Brunei and into river boats to search for endangered golden proboscis monkeys, unique to Borneo. While we were successful in our search, I was actually wishing we could’ve headed further north to visit a few of the five different eco zones, ranging from tropical jungle to arctic habitat, along the flank of 13,455 ft high Mt. Kinabalu a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site majestically visible from the center of town.

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