{"id":4907,"date":"2024-08-03T06:55:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-03T06:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2024\/?p=4907"},"modified":"2024-08-06T13:52:30","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T13:52:30","slug":"dragons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoa.com\/2024\/travel\/dragons\/","title":{"rendered":"Jungles, Dragons, Volcanoes & Sharks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last night at dinner, Stella and I reminisced about the amazing places we’ve been the past month. Our reminiscing took an hour! Please join us for a short summary of our travels through Sabah and Komodo, whose flags are shown above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From the Philippines, we flew to the northeast corner of Borneo. This is the Malaysian state of Sabah, known for Mount Kinabalu and several endemic species whose habitats have been preserved in some of the wildest jungles left on our planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our first stop in Sabah was the city of Kota Kinabalu<\/a>. Although this city doesn’t see a lot of foreign tourists, it’s one of my favorite cities. It’s a clean and compact seaport, populated by a variety of Asian cultures that have washed ashore over the centuries. The city is pedestrian friendly with tree-lined streets and wide sidewalks. The prices for food and housing are modest. And it has one my favorite restaurants in the world. Actually, it’s more of a night market than a restaurant. Rain or shine, you can get a fabulous seafood dinner under a big tent by the fishing boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To get from Kota Kinabalu to the land of the orangutans, you’ll pass Mount Kinabalu (elev. 4095m). This is the highest peak in southeastern Asia. I climbed this peak back in 2016, during the “dry” season — on one of the muddiest trails I’ve ever hiked. July is the height of the rainy season. We met other climbers who were turned back by severe weather, so we opted not<\/span><\/em> to attempt this climb. The fact that we were able to view<\/em> the peak for a few minutes was a welcome surprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In eastern Sabah, we came to the forest preserves of Sepilok where Orangutans, Proboscis monkeys, Sun Bears and Crocodiles can be found. Tracking and finding wild animals in nature is always exciting — and far better than seeing them in zoos. Although the expansion of palm oil plantations has destroyed almost half of Sabah’s jungles, there are still a few habitats where these beautiful animals can live natural lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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