Shangri La in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysian Borneo

For B's birthday we decided to visit somewhere we had been wanting to go for a long time: the Shangri La in Kota Kinabalu. The special thing about this resort is the onsite nature reserve, which houses animals like barking deer, 60 species of birds and most excitingly, two baby orangutans (raised here until they are old enough to be released in more wild conditions at affiliated national parks).

The resort houses tame macaws

and wild hornbills

Baby orangutans being fed by their keeper

They are so agile in the trees

The resort has a lot of other amenities as well (spa, kids' club, water activities, beautiful swimming pool, private beach, etc.) We played with R at the kids' club and greatly enjoyed the massive trampoline installed in the ocean for kids to bounce on (it even convinced R to play in the ocean, something she typically is timid of doing).

R with a roving mascot

Kids' club

Orangutans at the kids club: they are all over the resort

More kids' club toys

Onsite petting zoo

Swimming pool with water slide

Overall, the resort was incredibly child friendly, and especially for slightly older children was a kind of kid paradise (R was not big enough for many of the activities like pony riding, assisting the rangers with orangutan care, and river excursions).

We didn't leave the resort at all for our entire five-day stay (there was really no need to, plus as it is in the middle of the jungle, there is nowhere to go). I would like to go back to Borneo sometime to explore Kota Kinabalu (which sounds like an interesting city) and do some hiking of the rainforest: another trip to look forward to, perhaps once R is a bit bigger!

Sarawak, Borneo: Jong's Crocodile Farm

Crocodiles eying the chicken carcass

After seeing the orangutans, we went on one more outing from Kuching, more family oriented this time. Tramping through the jungle looking for wildlife may have been the highlight of the trip for me, but R was not a fan and in retrospect it was not a good activity with a toddler in tow.

I had taken the precaution of getting R all excited about seeing the "monkeys", talking up the experience and how much fun we were going to have for a few days previous. It worked in that she was VERY excited to go see them, too excited as it turned out. She kept calling "Monkeys! I want to see monkeys! Look Mommy, monkeys! Monkeys!", which both visibly bothered the orangutans and made all the other visitors want to kill us (I imagine, no one said anything).

We tried to hush her but it was hopeless--she would try to be quiet but then her excitement would get the better of her. So we had to physically remove her from the scene, much to her displeasure: she cried and cried out of disappointment. By the time we saw the second group of orangutans, R was mostly over "monkeys" and no longer particularly interested in them.

R with a glazed look after her tantrum: don't I look tired??

R is more interested in pulling her father's hair than looking for orangutans

The next outing was to Jong's Crocodile Farm, which is an incredibly hokey yet fun family-run animal park of sorts. They have a small zoo, with a very friendly monkey and highly vocal otters begging for treats (R's favorite), but the main attraction is the crocodiles. They breed crocodiles (over 1000 so far) and the highlight of a visit is watching the crocodile show, in which they leap out of the water to devour whole chickens.

Eying the prize

R likes the "crocos"

It is very child friendly (the crocodiles are all safely imprisoned, don't worry!), with a gift shop full of cheap plastic toys, ice cream and french fries at the snack bar, and even a play structure. B and I both enjoyed it for the kitsch value: we felt as if we'd stepped back in time to 1960s Americana or something similar.

Safety first!

Except when it comes to the staff: I was not confident in this structure's protection, especially because they had a whole barrel of chicken in there

The play structure is fun...

...and the ice cream is tasty.

Typical example of the zoo: chickens, peacocks, rare jungle birds and an egret, all hanging out together

We only scratched the surface of what the Kuching area has to offer this trip: Dayak longhouses, trips up the Sarawak river, and many national parks are still to be explored. I look forward to going back someday soon!

Sarawak, Borneo: Seeing Wild Orangutans

They are so at home in the trees, with hands and feet of apparent equal dexterity!

One of the main reasons for visiting Kuching was to see orangutans in the wild. This was actually one of my 101 in 1001 goals, and for good reason: they are the only species of great ape living outside of Africa, one of the world's most intelligent species (they create and use tools, for example), and endangered, meaning that in the not-so-distant future it may no longer be possible to see them.

The Semenggoh Nature Reserve is just 12 miles away from Kuching, and offers the chance to see wild orangutans in their native habitat. The reserve also includes a rehabilitation center, where animals are reintroduced to the wild.

B and R in the jungle (I wanted her off the ground, as the rainforest is not very toddler friendly)

Here's one reason why: huge numbers of insects! Leeches present but not pictured.

We arrived at "feeding time", when food is put out for those orangutans interested in coming to get it. We were lucky enough to see both an adult male and a young female orangutan. The male actually descended from the trees and walked along the path that we were standing on (much to the concern of the park rangers, who quickly herded everyone out of the way with alarm: you can see why below).

The "feeding station"

The man is a park ranger: visitors are kept at quite a distance

We had planned to spend the day hiking in the Nature Reserve but upon arrival found that most of the paths had been closed to visitors thanks to a recent orangutan attack on a man. Like chimpanzees, they are much stronger than humans and while not typically aggressive to humans, this is not always the case.  I was rather disappointed, because while seeing the orangutans at the feeding site was great I had hoped to see some under less-staged conditions.

Photos of one of the attackee's wounds

What the orangutan did to his jeans: they are very strong!

However, on our way back to the parking area we struck it lucky and saw a mother and her young offspring hanging out in the treetops, for quite some time. At certain points they were almost directly overhead so we had a very good view. The young orangutan was quite agile and playful, the mother more sedate.

They eat mostly fruit

Mom hanging out

The whole thing was really incredible and I feel so lucky to have been able to experience it.

Visiting Sarawak, Borneo: Kuching

Its nickname is "Cat City" so there are numerous cat sculptures about. R was a fan.

Back in September of last year, we took a trip to Kuching, Malaysia.This is probably not a place most people have heard of, but I was very excited to go for two reasons: 1. Kuching is actually in Sarawak, Borneo (where Sarawak white pepper originates: it's still a local product!), which seems almost impossibly exotic to me and 2. it is possible to see wild or semi wild orangutans in their native habitat not far from the city.

Former residence of the Brookes, today the governor's residence (and not open to the public)

Kuching has a fascinating history. It was founded by a British adventurer, who received the area as a personal fiefdom in the 19th century as a reward for his pirate-killing abilities. He and his descendants proceeded to rule it for the next 100+ years as the "White Rajahs": they seem to have been dictators/kings of the benevolent kind, however, and despite their foreign origin were popular. Their rule continued until the Japanese invaded Malaysia during WWII: after the war, the last Rajah ceded Kuching to the British government and it lost its independent state status (this was apparently a rather unpopular move locally).

All the resulting British influence is reflected in the architecture and makes Kuching a very charming place to wander around in.

Public park

Shophouses, traditional architecture in British SE Asia (Singapore had them too, at least until most of them were torn down in urban renewal projects)

Old colonial building where we ate lunch

The legislative building dominates the skyline: Kuching is not a high rise kind of place

My favorite activity, besides wandering the streets, was taking a boat ride along the Sarawak River. It was a great way to see the city and a little bit of local life, and inspired me with thoughts of week-long cruises up the river into the deep jungle...Maybe someday!

Inside of our sampan

The outside (not ours): the only other high rise in town currently is the hotel where we stayed, on the right

Local fisherman

I loved the brightly painted boats

Houses on stilts, so practical

Kuching is a heavily Chinese city, rather to my surprise (the population is at least half ethnically Chinese). Most of the urban Chinese originate from Fujian (as do the Chinese in Taiwan), so the temples looked rather familiar to me, in a pleasing way.

Red is the lucky color so it predominates

Typical Fujianese style roof (dragons chasing the pearl of immortality)

Chinese opera stage and snacking area, though the opera wasn't currently on. Note the very short shorts: Malaysia is Muslim, but the Chinese have their own style of dressing

There's a very well done museum (the Chinese History Museum) about the different groups of overseas Chinese represented in Borneo and Kuching in particular. While they came from only a few provinces in China, those provinces happened to have a huge variety of ethnicities and language groups. I highly recommend a visit.

Two of the major ones: Hakka and Cantonese (this group dominates Hong Kong, for example)

Overall, Kuching is quite a charming city, with a very relaxed vibe. We definitely plan on going back!