Day 2 in Sandakan, and back to KK for an upgrade

Today I set off for the Rainforest Discovery Centre where I was hoping to stumble across some hornbills amongst other things. I did end up seeing one, but it was too far away to photograph. Instead, I saw what looked like a goanna (it was a monitor lizard), and some very interesting flora.

From Asia – Malays…

From Asia – Malays…

From Asia – Malays…

After lunch and a rest back at the lodge, where I continued to try to photograph these giant “bees” (can anyone tell me what they are?), it was off to the Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary.

What an interesting drive. We were transported in a small minivan over extremely bad roads for about an hour. To make it more precarious it started to rain steadily. Of course we got bogged, when the transmission bottomed out, and we had to get out to help push the van free. Other than that, no real dramas ensued on the way. The sanctuary itself was great. Plenty of monkeys around, four groups apparently, and they either had no fear of the rain or they were very hungry.

From Asia – Malays…

From Asia – Malays…

From Asia – Malays…

Four hornbills were around too, so I was thrilled to finally get a shot of one in the wild.

From Asia – Malays…

The rain stopped not long after we arrived, however the trip back would not prove to be so easy and I asked that we get the number of the sanctuary in case we had to send for a 4WD to bail us out. For one, the roads were now very muddy and slippery, and secondly we needed to be back at the airport in 2 hours. It took nearly that long, but our driver did a fantastic job of negotiating the almost impassable bogs. We got stuck once, but after moving me into position over the rear wheels my recent excess baggage helped regain grip and off we went.

Not helping was the grumpy water buffalo that seemed ready to gore the van to death whenever we got too close. The thing had been tethered by the horns to a tree, and was none too happy about it – tossing it’s head around and constantly crossing the road just as we were ready to rush past. After about 20 minutes debating what to do, I was about to get out and pull it back to it’s original tether location whilst the van got past, then all of a sudden he looked the other way for long enough that we floored it. In hindsight I am sure he was very gentle and just wanted to let us get on with our life so he could get on with his.

From Asia – Malays…

Arriving back to the Magellan Sutera Resort in KK (Kota Kinabalu, Sabah) I’m completely exhausted. However I’m told by reception that I’ve been upgraded to the Premium Suite (or whatever it’s called) as the room I was meant to be in has been in very high demand. This upgrade is sensational. It’s a suite nearly as big as my house, and it’s right on the ocean edge so I get to hear the waves crashing all night. Perfect – I might not go anywhere now.

From Asia – Malays…

From Asia – Malays…

Actually, I’m off to do 30kms of Grade 3-4 whitewater rafting tomorrow, so better get to bed.

KL – Bird Sanctuary and Royal Selangor Club

My final day in KL and I still had a list of things I wanted to do. I wanted to catch up with my Melbourne friend (and model) Natasha Shan

and I also wanted to see Lake Garden along with some of the parks within. Tash wanted me to try some more local food, so we combined both. She and her sister, Tania, picked me up at KLCC after I took the monorail to get there. Along the way you can see inside the old jail. I’m told that it was closed before the monorail was built, which is a good thing, as I can’t imagine how it would feel to actually be able to see the prisoners on your way to work each day.

First stop was a street corner offering with authentic Indian breads, curries and chicken pieces. I stuck with non-spicy stuff (surprising both girls at how sensitive my taste buds are), banana roti (I think) and fried chicken. Lovely. Later we stopped for “tea”, which is apparently an actual meal between lunch and dinner. KL-ians (sounds like something from Battlestar Galactica) eat six small meals a day!

Worrying about rain which eventually stayed away, we navigated to the Bird Park in Lake Garden. This kept me clicking away for quite some time, whilst Tania stalked peacocks with her new Nikon D60 until it decided it had taken enough photos and wouldn’t let her take any more. Of course I told her that a Canon would be far more receptive to her needs.

The day started well when this brat of a Lovebird decided to eat my finger. I had been watching another guy tempt it into sitting on his hand by offering his finger to nibble on. When it came my turn the bird decided my finger was far more tasty than the one he is sampling right now (stunt hand used for photograph) and took a chunk out instead. I hope he gets food poisoning.

I fell in love with Hornbills the moment I saw these two clumsily hopping and flapping their way around their cage. I’ve been looking for them in the wild ever since, and whilst they look awkward on the ground or whilst hopping between branches on trees, they look fantastic when gliding in flight.

I love this stork. I can tell it has a sense of humour by the look in it’s eyes, and I think it’s only putting on a typical stork pose because it knows we expect that and it likes to entertain.

I’ve never seen an orange Ibis and I must have taken about 20 shots of this one. You can see he really wants to scream, “Leave me alone you freak!”.

Dinner was with Tash and Tan’s family and friends at the Royal Selangor Club. This is a rather exclusive cricket club with spectacular night views.

I arrived early to find that I couldn’t enter via the public entrance because I was wearing jeans. I also had to wait in the foyer as I was not a member. Being yet another hot and humid day I was rather thirsty so asked if there was a nearby bar in which I could wait. The answer was no, but a good samaritan named “Henry” was on his way out as I asked the question. He came over to me and asked if I would like to join him in the “Cellar”, much to Tash’s later amusement as she wondered at my seeming ability to pick up anyone. Henry was great company, and it turned out he knew Tash’s Dad. I learnt all about his kids, where they were studying, and how much his 14yo daughter racks up in phone and internet bills (A combined $1000 a month!). I resisted the urge to tell him that it serves him right for having children, as I doubt much of the world feels the way I do about that topic. Henry was quite happy to keep buying me beers, but Tash eventuated to rescue me.

The food was, as expected, very very good, and the company even better. Sorry about me spoiling this one – I look like a well-fed deer caught in headlights. Do you now see why I am usually the photographer?

Ken, this is especially for you…

Leaving for home I noticed a building on which an entire side has become a digital advertising screen. Both video and stills run on this giant screen. I believe this is called City Hall. Blows Melbourne’s meagre efforts at looking modern out of the water.