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.
