It was a wonderful morning - blue skies, in the 80s with an ocean breeze. We slept in, but woke up in time for the Chinese New Year parade through the hotel. There were lion dancers - pretty cool! So xi nian kuai le to all lunar-calendar-followers out there in blog land!
As I said in the previous post, we are staying in Kota Kinabalu (KK) for a few days to begin our vacation. Our hotel is on the beach - which, honestly, we haven't spent too much time at, but it's still nice to see the water and hear the surf.
We travelled to Mount Kinabalu National Park, which is one of the World Heritage Sites for its array of unique animal and plant life. It is also home to Mount Kinabalu, the "tallest mountain in southeast Asia." I didn't double check their claim, but it is tall so I will believe them.
We made a pit stop to see the world's biggest flower - rafflesia - in bloom. It's rare and elusive, and blooms at most once a year. And it's in my students' 7th grade science book, so I figured I should have a look. In this picture though, it looks kinda ugly! It also smells, to attract black flies as pollinators. To give you an idea of size, this one was about 2 feet in diameter.
The highlight of the trip was to the Poring Hot Springs, even deeper into the forest and up the mountains. We saw some huge bamboo - as big as small trees!
And took a walk through the forest canopy, forcing me to abandon any latent fears of heights as I walked across the little planks.
But the view was definitely worth the 2+ hours drive and climb up into the mountains.
Up next: Singapore!
-alan
We travelled to Mount Kinabalu National Park, which is one of the World Heritage Sites for its array of unique animal and plant life. It is also home to Mount Kinabalu, the "tallest mountain in southeast Asia." I didn't double check their claim, but it is tall so I will believe them.
We made a pit stop to see the world's biggest flower - rafflesia - in bloom. It's rare and elusive, and blooms at most once a year. And it's in my students' 7th grade science book, so I figured I should have a look. In this picture though, it looks kinda ugly! It also smells, to attract black flies as pollinators. To give you an idea of size, this one was about 2 feet in diameter.
The highlight of the trip was to the Poring Hot Springs, even deeper into the forest and up the mountains. We saw some huge bamboo - as big as small trees!
And took a walk through the forest canopy, forcing me to abandon any latent fears of heights as I walked across the little planks.
But the view was definitely worth the 2+ hours drive and climb up into the mountains.
Up next: Singapore!-alan
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2 comments:
YAY! Thanks for the pics-and the video! That is so cool, and I'm sure it takes lots of practice. It's also good to see you guys with short sleeved shirts on! Wahoo!
got word of this site from Mike Miller. what a great read! angeline and i are wondering when yall are gonna start a family of your own? i bet mike cant wait to be a grandfather. ;)
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