Sunday
Peter again suggested an outing, this time to the Tunku Abdel Rahman National Park, which consists of a group of small islands just off shore. So we started out early to get to the port of Jesselton, which was the old name of Kota Kinabalu. It was a major port of the former British North Borneo, that is now Sabah, and was destroyed at the end of the Second World War at the time of its liberation from the Japanese, before being rebuilt. We just missed the first boat, so took the next at 8h15, for which there were only ourselves and two other passengers. The weather was dry but threatening, with stormy winds. As the boatman only had two speeds, stop and full throttle, the ride was bumpy to say the least. Fortunately our lifejackets kept us a bit dry. In 20 minutes we reached the first of the three island we were to visit. The islands are protected, but still available for limited tourism. When we left some four hours later there were many local tourists enjoying the sea breeze and the beaches. Very few of them seemed to want to trek across the islands through the dense jungle, as we did. There were good prepared tracks so it was not much of a risk, although we would have hesitated to take any sidetracks off into the jungle. As it was, we saw four gigantic monitor lizards and a couple of suspicious-looking yellow snakes, in addition to various insects, including mosquitoes. Of course the plant life was plentiful, typical of the tropical rain forest, and the cicadas and birds made a fabulous noise, better than the rock stars of the previous night.
Peter again suggested an outing, this time to the Tunku Abdel Rahman National Park, which consists of a group of small islands just off shore. So we started out early to get to the port of Jesselton, which was the old name of Kota Kinabalu. It was a major port of the former British North Borneo, that is now Sabah, and was destroyed at the end of the Second World War at the time of its liberation from the Japanese, before being rebuilt. We just missed the first boat, so took the next at 8h15, for which there were only ourselves and two other passengers. The weather was dry but threatening, with stormy winds. As the boatman only had two speeds, stop and full throttle, the ride was bumpy to say the least. Fortunately our lifejackets kept us a bit dry. In 20 minutes we reached the first of the three island we were to visit. The islands are protected, but still available for limited tourism. When we left some four hours later there were many local tourists enjoying the sea breeze and the beaches. Very few of them seemed to want to trek across the islands through the dense jungle, as we did. There were good prepared tracks so it was not much of a risk, although we would have hesitated to take any sidetracks off into the jungle. As it was, we saw four gigantic monitor lizards and a couple of suspicious-looking yellow snakes, in addition to various insects, including mosquitoes. Of course the plant life was plentiful, typical of the tropical rain forest, and the cicadas and birds made a fabulous noise, better than the rock stars of the previous night.
So, back to the hotel and to check out our new rooms. The staff had moved our bags, but not the clothes from the cupboards, so that had to be sorted out. Meanwhile we enjoyed the fabulous view over the sea and the islands. But what was that strange noise? The main ventitilation fans for the air conditioning were right below our windows, although 5 floors lower, and that other, intermittent whirr turned out to be a service lift shaft that ran between our bedroom and sitting room! We did not dare complain any more, and in any case the rooms were great, nothing that earplugs at night would not solve. And what was more we had access to the club, a superb bar overlooking the sea where we could enjoy "happy hour", and well as breakfast and excellent suppers.
