Mamutik and Sapi Islands

My boat crew

In a world first I actually did what I planned to do today! I walked down to the Jesselton Port where 20 people hissed and kissed and called out to me trying to sell me their boat tickets. The whole process was ridiculous, having to go different places to pay extra jetty fees, park entrance fees, etc etc. But in the end it was a grand total of around $13 to visit two islands in the Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park off Kota Kinabalu. The ride out took about 20 minutes and after insisting twice that I be taken to the islands I'd paid for and not just the closest ones, I finally got to Mamutik Island. Stepping off the boat was like walking onto a little piece of paradise, with a clearly laid-out snorkelling area, a beautiful beach, and a little store & cafe. I promptly dumped my bag with the lifeguard saying "Saya satu orang!!" (I'm by myself) and he was only too happy to help. I repaid him by removing rubbish as I snorkelled. On this island were the biggest clown fish I have ever seen! Seriously they were enormous, bigger than my outstretched hand.

Sapi Island

I spent 2 hours in the water and then got back on the boat for island number 2. Again he tried to convince me to go to a closer island but I just kept saying "Sapi? Sapi?" with an innocent look on my face. His son laughed so I expect the badgering normally works on tourists. Anyway we arrived at Sapi and he said there was a beautiful coral area just around the side so the driver took me there and said "tirty minute - then jetty!" I finally worked out that he was dropping me off in the water so I could snorkel and was then going to take me to the jetty. That was pretty nice of him! I jumped in and swam around and while I was looking at a crown of thorns, another face popped up beside me. He'd decided he was going to have a swim too. He was very enthusiastic, showing me mushroom corals and sea cucumbers etc but unfortunately his enthusiasm was scaring away all the wildlife! He did love having his photo taken underwater so he posed for a bit and then he dropped me off on the island.

Taking the snake out for a swim

I walked around to the first snorkelling area and was amazed to see a man in the shallows swimming with a snake. What was even more amazing was that on closer inspection it turned out to be a land snake. I took photos and thought he was saying it was "frightened", but it turns out it was a "python". He said "Is ok! Can pick up!" He asked if I wanted to hold it, I said yes of course (see picture...) Still thinking it was wild, I asked whether I should put it in a tree. He looked a bit shocked and I realised it was his pet snake, and he was just taking it for a swim! I have seen many things in my life but never have I seen anyone out taking their pet snake for a swim. The snorkelling in that area was far less exciting than the snake so I headed up to the cafe for some fried rice, waited the obligatory 45 seconds after eating, and got straight back in the water.

The cuttlefish

One of the lifeguards told me where to swim so I would "see everything" and to my delight I found a huge cuttlefish (Eliza - thought of you!) which I followed around for a bit. I called over a pair of extremely unenthused Japanese snorkelers who were just a tiny bit impressed after the 3 minutes it took for them to actually see it. It was camouflaged quite well but come on it was the size of two footballs! I swam around a bit further, got bitten by some fish that were obviously used to being fed (though it's not allowed) and went back to the jetty to meet my boat. After my 3rd degree sunburn from Kuching I was smart enough to wear a rash vest, but unfortunately I still wasn't smart enough to put sunscreen on my legs, so now I resemble a pair of candy canes without the white stripes.

On the way back from Jesselton port I stopped in at a dive shop, and it didn't take long to convince me to sign up for tomorrow's dives. It's $75. For return transfers from the backpackers, three boat dives, lunch and gear hire. Wow....