Marilyn's Odyssey: Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Our first two stops in Malaysia though they did include short city tours were truly about the wildlife. For us this was the first country that was so visibly Muslim with the majority of women in traditional dress and mosques being the norm instead of churches. The people were all warm and welcoming and anxious to show what their country had to offer. Both of these cities are on the coast and have quite large water villages where apparently even woven the opportunity people refuse to leave as many here believe that the water is for the living and the land is for the departed.

In Sandakan we went on a five hour boat tour up the Kinabatangan River in search of wildlife. The river is dotted with several small villages which are only accessible by boat and were interesting to see in their isolation. The highlight of the day was the many groups of Proboscis monkeys that we observed. These monkeys are only found in Malaysia and they are quite large with the males adorned with huge dangling noses and round noses. We were lucky to have some close encounters so was quite an experience to see these animals in their own environment.

Kota Kinabalu is a fairly new town as it was occupied by the Japanese during WW II and was destroyed. It became a British colony after the war but gained independence in 1963. Though a lot of the forest land has been taken over by rubber and palm oil plantations the people of Malaysia have come to realize haw important their natural forests are and are now working hard to proserve them and their wildlife. Here we did a boat tour of the Klias wetlands where along with the Proboscis monkeys we observed other varieties of monkeys and birds as well and were then served traditional Malaysian food for dinner. Enjoyed food that was truly authentic.