2 May 2009

Out and about in Malaysia - Kota Kinabalu


Here are some photos from our recent short trip to Kota Kinabalu, in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.






As you can see, the beach - all 6kms of it- is absolutely beautiful. Pity it has sandflies - I got bitten all over :(





Beach treasures. Jan spotted the lovely shell on our beach walk - you hardly ever find such beautiful (empty) specimens intact! The sea urchin was alive and busy burying itself again in the sand at the edge of the shore.



This is a very large Water Monitor Lizard keeping a wary eye on me! Needless to say, I was careful to keep at a safe distance and not upset him!



I hid behind a tree to get a shot of this lovely bird waiting to catch a fish. I think it looks a lot like the wood carving from my recent Melaka post.


This little fellow is a Peaceful Dove - very appropriately named as it was quite happy to carry on feeding whilst I watched and took photos.





There were hundreds of these nests in the hotel gardens. They belong to Chestnut Munias, cute birds, but apparently pests in the rice paddies. They are quite camera shy so I didn't manage to get any decent shots of them, however, if you look closely into the nest, you'll see a baby bird in there! Click for a closer view.










Some close ups of plant life. Can anyone help to identify the above?




Gorgeous cascades of yellow blooms.




We visited a small sanctuary at Rasa Ria for young Orang Utans. This orphaned youngster is about 2- 3 years old and is being prepared for life on his own in the rainforest.


Some Malaysian delicacies at the Pasar Malam (night market) in Kota Kinabalu town.


Bunches of fresh Lemongrass.

Not so fresh Frog purses........



And finally, a couple of local kitties who enjoyed dinner with us one evening. I love the little black one in the background - he was definitely the big Tabby's sidekick! More photos on Flickr in due course.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Caroline,
    Thanks for sharing your beautiful experiences and encounters of Kota Kinabalu.
    I really love travelling but haven't visited the East Malaysia yet.
    Sabah is a beautiful place and it's more charming through your creative lens Caroline.
    I especially love the bird nest and beach treasure's photo.

    The lightly soft tone small dots over the shell is a real treasure & worth admiration:)
    I can almost hear the echo and waves of the Sabah beach thru it!

    Yeah, you can grab this opportunity to make some necklaces out of these cool seashells!

    And other photos are equally appealing, I definitely will pop by your flickr for more!

    Just splendid, you made my day Caroline. Good night!

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  2. Oh my! What a beautiful place. It would almost be paradise if not for the biting insects! Still it is pleasing to the eyes and comforting to the heart.

    Did you eat the food? Was this in an open market? I am always afraid of eating food in public markets and open places in Asia.

    Incidentally some of the words in our language are rooted in the Malay language.

    Thanks for sharing Caroline.The sky photo is breathtaking! WOw!!!

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  3. Breathtaking! Oh, I want to go! The plants and wildlife are stunning (though the monitor lizard would scare the bejeezus outta me). I loved the opportunity to stroll along the beach through your photos. And no sand fly bites to speak of.

    FROG PURSES!!! Ok, now I've seen it all.

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  4. i love this photos! thanks for sharing!

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  5. Thanks for dropping by and giving kind comment:)

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  6. I like the nests and the closeups very much - that orphan orangutan has a mournful look to my eye, something hesitant.

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  7. OOOOH MY...never a disappointment here...such exotic and gorgeous shots...You raise the adventure level in my life to a "10"! :)

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  8. WOW Caroline, such beautiful beaches and pics. I envy you! Wish I was there to see all these beautiful tihngs. Thanks for posting them..they are giving me some much needed painting inspiration...

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  9. Warm sunshine, a sandy beach...ah paradise, I'm Geneva jealous!!!

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Thank you for passing by. I love to read your comments!

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