The Cat City & Climbing Dutchmen

Where are the wooden shoes? - March 2010

I never thought I'd see anything more graceful in the natural world than giraffes breaking into an open run on the savannah.

That changed -or at least was equaled- when, in response to the sound of rustling foliage behind me and a lot of other camera-toting tourists doing the same, I turned around and saw a young orang utan moving slowly through the tree tops in the Semenggoh Nature Reserve. Swaying back and forth on top of a tree, the orang utan would build up momentum before reaching a long arm out to grab the next tree in a slow-motion dance across the canopy. It was incredible to watch.

The visit to Semenggoh was the final stop in a four day visit with Minnesotan friends to the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Separated from the Malay peninsula by the South China Sea, Sarawak and its neighboring state Sabah are culturally quite distinct from the rest of the country. For what it is worth, in many ways it felt more like I was in Indonesia (with whom the island of Borneo is shared) than Malaysia and that their primary point of association with the mainland was/is a shared colonial history.

Arriving on a Wednesday, we spent the first night exploring the capital city of Kuching whose name (inexplicably) means cat in Malaysian. Thursday and Friday were spent on the South China Sea with proboscis monkeys and their comically large noses at Bako National Park. Saturday capped the trip off with the visit to Semenggoh and a brief stop at the Sarawak museum.

As with the rest of Malaysia, there was just so much to see, so much to discover, so much to experience (Zoom!) that four days was hardly enough. Still, it was great just to get a taste of it.

Stray thoughts:

+ There is a reason why the city of Kuching is named 'Cat.' However, it is shrouded in mystery. When I asked our cab driver why it is called what it is called he said, with a look of utter annoyance, 'My friend, you should have asked me when you first got in the car. I haven't enough time to explain it now.'

+ Orang Utan is a Malay word and means, roughly, 'Forest Person.' The Malay name for the Proboscis Monkey is Orang Belanda or 'Dutch Person.' Once again I'm grateful to be largely Danish/German.

+ For more pictures from Sarawak, Kuching, and Bako, go to the East Malaysia photo album on the right or click here.