Meow, boy…

We’re back in Malaysia for a few days to explore the jungles of Borneo from our base in Kuching, which literally means “cat city.” Before we made our way to Bako National Park we decided to stroll around the city to see the large cat statues placed throughout the city. Jason made his best cat imitation, which still needs a bit of work.

The weekend market was going on and although we’ve been to several markets we decided to see what interesting things we might find. After strolling past the fish market where stingrays, baby sharks, and all sorts of fish were on display we found the chicken section with head and feet attached. Right next to the food section was the pet area, which seems to blur at times. Regardless, they had two large turtles about 2ft in length chilling in a small baby pool, not sure what you would do with a large turtle as a pet, maybe they classify as food?

The next day we decided to spend the night in Bako National Park. It was a pleasant journey by boat as we traveled to the more remote sections of Sarawak (Malaysian state in Borneo). We found all sorts of creatures ranging from pit vipers, Proboscis monkeys, and some odd looking spiders. We also found some carnivorous Pitcher plants.

On our way back from our last walk we ran into a pack of Macaque monkeys. Our initial thoughts went to the warning sign at the trail head: “Naughty Monkeys Around. Watch Out;” but without another way back we made our way through them. They were interesting to watch as they moved out of our way always keeping a watchful eye on us. One even decided to try and groom Jason’s leg.


There are so many wonderful creatures in Borneo and that we could easily spent more time exploring all of the national parks. Timing is important as we were two weeks off from potentially seeing the Rafflesia or “corpse flower” bloom. Meow that nick name may sound unappealing but it is the second-largest flower in the world, over a meter in diameter. It will have to be next time because we’re off to Sipadan/Mabul for some more scuba diving!