Kinabalu Park and a Wild Boar Sidetrip

Kinabalu Park is Malaysia's first world heritage site by UNESCO for its outstanding biological attributes. With a huge area of 75,400 hectares, it is actually larger than Singapore. This is also the first State Park in Sabah (1964).

The region was designated as a national park in 1964. British colonial administrator and naturalist Hugh Low led an expedition from Tuaran to the region in 1895. He also became the first recorded man to reach the peak of Mount Kinabalu The highest peak of the mountain was later named after him—Low's Peak.

The main attraction of the park is the awe-inspiring Mount Kinabalu. It stands at 4,095 meters and is the highest mountain in South East Asia. Other attractions around the area that I've been to are Poring Hot Springs and Gerai Pekan Nabalu.

I'm sure that when you're planning your Kota Kinabalu trip, this park is part of your agenda. Just allocate a maximum of 1 day (half-day is already good) for this to go around the park area or if you're climbing, allocate 2 to 3 days.

Somewhere around the Visitor's Center @ Kinabalu Park

When we stopped by Kinabalu park, I was only amazed by the view of Mount Kinabalu. That's the highlight for me. Next in line would be the Canopy Walk at the Poring Hot Springs area. The visitors center is where you register if you want to climb up mount Kinabalu.

Our guide brought us to the Sabah Parks Exhibition Hall. Don't set your expectations high here. It's just an exhibit that presents information about the park and the surroundings like the plants and animals in that area, other parks nearby and something about Mount Kinabalu. Not a must-go but if you have nothing to do, just drop by.

See the white house near my watermark? That's where we are.

Annual Mt. Kinabalu Intl Climbathon - Score Board

Before leaving, our guide asked us if we want to try out wild boar. I think we have a lot of those in the Philippines but never have I tried it. According to him, pork is expensive in Kota Kinabalu because it is a Muslim country and most sell pork only in the mountainsides.

This is where we dined with the locals.

It was raining and cool and we ate wild boar, off-the-griller.

We stopped by this store selling barbecued wild boars on the way home situated right by the mountain side. At first I was hesitant to eat but then, we wanted to try it out for the experience. I just said that I'll take a piece or two.

Pretty straightforward menu board

We were told that our driver is Muslim and we can't eat it in the car. Also, the hotel won't allow us to bring in pork. We decided to eat it on the spot! It was raining hard and we were inside this small house (kubo). All of us, including our guide feasted on a kilo of freshly grilled wild boar, thigh part. Good times.

Wild Boar Feast FTW!

It was served in a styro. I'm not so sure about the hygiene but I'm in no mood to be KJ. Got a toothpick and tried a piece. Wow! Not bad! It tasted like liempo.. But tastier! It was also soft and chewy. Had a few pieces more than the originally planned one piece or two :)

The food was okay but the experience of eating it in a place with an ambiance like that, around the locals who cooked it for us was a great memorable experience! I felt like I was in Discovery Channel's Travel and Living show.


We returned to our hotel around 6pm. After freshening up, we walked around the block to find a place to eat. Not feeling adventurous, we decided to try out the usual fast food fares-- It was between KFC or Burger King. after our votation, KFC won. Since they didn't have rice available, we decided to go next door -- Burger King.

I didn't like the taste of their burgers and the bun here isn't good also. The bread easily breaks and the burger pattie has almost no taste. One thing surprised me though... Their Burger King here has unlimited drinks! It's been a while since I tried out a burger king with unlimited drinks.


How to go to Kinabalu Park: http://mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/blog/how-to-get-to-kinabalu-park-hq-from-kota-kinabalu-using-google-maps.html

Kinabalu Park Trip Advisor Review (#3 out of 31 attractions in Kota Kinabalu)
Kinabalu Park Information Website

We paid the travel agency RM 130.00 (Approx 1,800 pesos) per pax for this tour. Includes a tour of the Kinabalu Park and Poring Hot Springs, lunch plus hotel-destination-hotel transfers.
All about Kota Kinabalu:
Shangri-La Rasa Ria Nature Reserve
Proboscis Monkey and Firefly tour
Island Hopping: Manukan Island and Mamutik Island
Little Italy Restaurant - Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu Shopping Malls and Market
Kinabalu Park and Wild Boar Experience
Poring Hot Springs
Best Western Kinabalu Daya Hotel
Pekan Nabalu Lookout Point

Cheftonio
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