Kota Kinabalu Part 6- FINALLY!!

This is what we did on the last couple of days. We went to a market place and this performance started kinda out of the blue. It was really good and we kinda felt lucky to have gotten there just as it started. We have no idea what it was in aid of (maybe christmas?) but it was good fun.

In the evening we decided to go to the night market for some food. Here's some squid which was delicious:

Crabs- which we never got cus its such a messy job to get the meat out:

We bought this massive prawn. It was probably the best buy as it had so much meat in it:

The night market- i love the atmosphere and the smell of all the different food being cooked. It really is an experience:

Leaving the messy job to Zaheer:

This was the morning after before we had to get to the airport. Yusuf was showing off his Christmas present- a Ben10 watch (its huge here even though Yusuf hasn't seen a single episode of it)

Yusuf has started writing and can write from dictation. This is what he did whilst we were at the airport. Very impressed- genius in the making!

And thats it! Our KK trip has finally come to an end. It was such a good holiday. I think the next you will read about it is when we attempt to climb Mount Kinabalu- I dont know exactly when that will be but it will happen! I'll leave you with this picture of Yusuf being a baddy from Ben10- Just too cute!

Kota Kinabalu Part 5

This was the trip to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.

What I loved about this zoo was that it was quite small but that meant you were very close to the animals. As soon as we walked in we saw this elephant and just had to have a ride. We were concerned about all of us being on it at the same time but it didnt bother the elephant at all. It was amazing to be able to feel the elephant and touch it and be that close to it.

After the ride it was feeding time for the elephants. Again this was an experience because the elephants came right up to you and took the fruit.

Baby elephant- reminded me of Dumbo!

There was an animal show on involving an orangutan and 2 parrots. We missed the orangutan but the parrots one was really cute. Very clever birds. Here's Zaheer taking part in one of the tricks.

The famous proboscis monkey:

I love this shot of the orangutan- it actually posed that way. Really unnerved me how human the eyes looked.

The family portrait (and yes Yusuf was terrified- i think his face says it all)

The botanical gardens

Yes it was THAT hot!! (the cardy kept me from being bitten to death)

I got really excited seeing the tigers for 2 reasons- 1) in Chester Zoo I NEVER saw the tigers cus they were always hiding and 2) we saw them being fed! It was really good!

Finally the bird sanctuary. Beautiful eagle.

You will also be pleased to know (I know I am!) the next post will be the final post on this holiday. I'd kinda forgotten how much we'd done!

Kota Kinabalu Part 4

This was the best part of the entire holiday. We went to the Abdul Rahman National Park which consists of 5 islands that are beautiful and perfect for snorkelling or just relaxing on the beach. We walked to Jesselton Point where we bought our tickets for the water taxis that took us across. It takes about 15 minutes from KK to get to the islands. We decided to visit two of the islands- Mamutik and Mamukan. These were the ones we had read about (in the Lonely Planets book my friend Tooba got for me as my leaving present- the best leaving present ever!) as being the best for snorkelling.

(On the boat)

(Three of the islands visible here)

This is what we were greeted by when we got to Mamukan. It took my breath away! I had never seen so many fish so close to the surface of the water. They were beautiful.

And this was what the Island looked like- this photo is not enhanced in any way. It really was like this! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. The sand was white and the water crystal clear. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

Zaheer had hired snorkelling masks for both of us as I had wanted to try it. At first it was really good. I saw coral and loads of tiny fish and it was surreal seeing this whole other world. But my fear of the sea kicked in as we got deeper and I panicked and had to get out. Zaheer said had I turned around I would have seen 4 huge fish just meters away! I think I would have drowned for sure! Zaheer stayed in there for hours while I relaxed on the beach. Even Yusuf got into the water and tried snorkelling. (Though he didn't go that far so didn't actually see anything!)

We stayed at the islands for about 5 hours and then headed back as the last boats leave at 5. As we were leaving we saw a baby shark in the water! It was smallish and quite cute actually. Its tiny fin was just sticking up out of the water. Kinda looked like the one we ate.....

It was a really nice, relaxing day and we were even thinking about going there again before we left as its so easy to get to but unfortunately we didn't have enough time. We got back to KK just in time to watch the sunset. A beautiful end to a perfect day.

Kota Kinabalu Part 3

There are just sooooooooo many pictures to go through so not many words on this one..........

Day 4 consisting of going to the Sabah Museum. We weren't really expecting that great a museum experience as Brunei and nearby areas aren't known for their amazing museums but we were pleasantly surprised. It was located in a beautiful part of KK and it was a really nice day out. They had a huuuuuuuuuuge skeleton of a whale at the entrance which won Yusuf over instantly. So all in all it was worth going to.

We started off the day walking to the Viewpoint. This is where you can see most off KK. The walk there was really pretty. Very different to Brunei in that there wasn't rainforest everywhere!

(Apart from here- on the way to the viewpoint)

(KK)

After that we took a taxi to the museum.

We couldn't take any pictures inside the museum so after we had seen it we went on a walk.

(I think this was bamboo although im not sure- it was such a vivid shade of red. Very striking)

(Rickety bridge- had a lot of fun swinging it when Zaheer was trying to walk across it!)

They had lots of trails and a garden centre and also a Heritage Village area where the actual houses that the natives live in were reconstructed for the public. They even had longhouses. It was a really unique experience in that we could climb inside and have a look around everywhere to see how they lived. It was brilliant.

It was quite a long day. In the evening we met up with the Australian couple from yesterday (Troy and Bronwyn) for dinner and then went to a restaurant/bar nearby where they had live music. The band was amazing! they did every song possible (even Muse Sarah!! and it was quite good!) It was a nice end to the day.

And now we have a CAPTION COMPETITION!!! I took the following picture at a police station in KK. We found it hilarious!

Zaheers caption is DANCERS WLL BE SHOT.

What's yours?