Here we are in Kuching, the City of Cats! This should be a great day!
Kuching means ‘cat’ in Malay. Spurning my tour that included cat monuments, Mark chose to go on the excursion to the Semenggoh Wildlife Park, where orphaned and injured orangutans are cared for.
He had a great group with him – Donna & John, Pat & Priscilla, Jim & Donna…the whole group!
They drove to the park and were taken to a viewing platform in the jungle.
It was feeding time and bunches of bananas were placed out – first there was nothing going on, then slowly they saw the trees start to sway as the orangutans swung through them towards the fruit.
About 10 showed up, eating the bananas, posing on the trees and swinging around – Mark had a great time watching them and got some wonderful pictures during the hour on the platform.
Following the park, the group visited a pottery factory (Mark was thrilled…), then drove into town for a stroll along the Heritage Walk (Mark, Jim and Dona opted to stay on the air conditioned bus — more in this decision later) before returning to the ship.
Abandoned by my orangutan seeking cohorts, I went on solo on my tour “The Highlights of Kuching”. There are none.
Added to which, my bus was full of Spanish folks who would not shut up, so I only caught about every third word from the guide.
We drove past the Cat Monument without stopping – it’s 9 cats in the center of a roundabout.
9 because nine denotes longevity in Chinese; hence the concept of cats having nine lives.
Then we drove by a large white cat statue; we circled back and stopped for a photo op since the passengers were yelling at the guide.
Then on to a large temple, where we saw sacred turtles and tried lychee fruit, before starting the Heritage Walk (the one Mark and crew avoided – they had the right idea).
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Lederman 180 Day World Odyssey: Kuching (Borneo), Malaysia
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