Kinabalu Park, guardian of the foothills of South East Asia's highest peak, Mt. Kinabalu, is located about 2 hours drive from the city of Kota Kinabalu. The park headquaters itself are located at 1,585m above sea level is the proud custodian of Malaysia's first World Heritage Site which it earned for it's richness of biodiversity.
People mostly arrive via organised tours, but there are also public busses that depart from KK with frequent intervals. Usually you can catch the bus destined for the East Coast or to Kundasang or Ranau, and just get off at the Park. Be sure to advise this when you buy the ticket so as to pay a reduced price. Another popular way of getting to the Park is by taxi. Usually, near the Millemawa Supermarket in KK, taxi drivers will hang out and wait for 4 people to fill their taxi before they depart. They charge in the region of RM250 for the taxi, so however many people you can get (up to 4) will split the cost.
Due to the cool climate of Kinabalu Park, it’s as popular with day-trippers and short stay holiday makers, as it is with the 140 odd climbers who arrive daily to attempt to summit the highest peak in South East Asian, or any of the peaks found between the Himalayas and Puncak Jaya in New Guinea.
At the entrance to the park you will find the Sabah Parks Offices who overseas all the nature aspects of the Park as well as the Sutera Sanctuary Lodges reception, who manages the accommodation and restaurants found at Kinabalu Park. A little further along and up the hill from the entrance is the site where the World Heritage Site plaque is fixed to a statuesque boulder, in front of the exhibition center that showcases plant, animal, people, culture and even mineral deposits found in the Park.
Near the two offices is one of two restaurants of the Park, the Balsam Café. Open from 6am till 10pm, it’s the venue for the nightly climber’s briefing for those climbers starting for the summit the next morning. It’s also the unofficial starting point for many climbers, as they present a sprawling buffet breakfast. Alternatively and throughout the day it’s ala carte. They also serve steamboat, great in the cold weather and only RM15.
The center of all the scattered buildings and accommodation throughout the Park, is the conference and exhibition center, which houses another small museum type exhibit, a slide show presentation introducing you to the Park and it's splendour, and the second of the Park’s restaurants, the Liwagu Restaurant. They have a buffet lunch, and ala carte options for the rest of the 6am – 10pm operating times. There is also a sprawling lounge here for unwinding, with an outside balcony and a fireplace. A souvenir shop is also present, where you can buy any souvenir you can imagine, plus everything you should have brought along but forgot, including gloves, rain ponchos, batteries, suncream, etc. It’s truly well stocked and quite surprising for such a relatively small place.
Also housed in this building are the Liwagu Suites. A set of 4, split-level rooms, which are quite sexy, luxurious and great for couples as each feature one double bed. It has a ground floor bathroom and a living room with TV and cable and coffee making facilities. The upstairs bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, and is on a ‘balcony’ overlooking, but not visible to, the downstairs area.
Nearby this building are two hostel accommodation blocks with a total of 48 beds, named Menggilan & Medang, most frequented for 1 or so night at a time by climbers pre or post their summit attempt. Configured in rooms of 4, 6 and 8 beds, they provide a basic, but clean and comfortable place to sleep. A communal lounge area includes a fireplace, which indicates how low the temperatures here can drop. Bathroom and toilet facilities are also communal.
Other accommodation include:
- Hill Lodge (10 single roomed units with two single beds per unit);
- Peak Lodge (4 units with two rooms, 2 bunk beds and two single beds per unit);
- Summit Lodge (1 unit with two rooms, 2 single beds and a double bed);
- Garden Lodge (1 unit with two rooms and a double bed per room);
- Nepenthes Lodge (8 units with two rooms, one double bed and two single beds);
- Kinabalu Lodge (1 unit with eight single beds);
- Rajah Lodge (1 unit, 4 single beds one double across 5 rooms);
Apart from the Hill Lodge and the hostels, all units having a living room area with cable (Astro) TV and most have fireplaces and dining room areas. On the list above, from the Summit Lodge down, also feature kitchens. These accommodations are mostly used by people visiting the Park for a longer stay, as the Lodges are a little pricier and more luxurious than the hostels.
The price of the accommodation range from RM 46 per person per night for the hostels at the lowest end, up to RM 1,500 per night for the Rajah Lodge at the highest end.
In addition to the main attraction, the route to the summit, the Park itself has several shorter trails, which showcase the local plant life, and, if you’re lucky, some animal life. The area is rich in diverse bird species and quite popular in the ornithology community. Several smaller mammals also roam free in the area, amongst them Asia’s smallest deer, the Kancil. Most of these animals are fairly shy and small in numbers and as such quite rare, so spotting them is very lucky.
Do speak to one of the many, well-informed Naturalists that staff the Park. They are all local people with a passion for their culture and nature, very friendly, fairly knowledgable and always willing to help.
The only fees that apply to the Park itself, is a small entrance fee of RM 15 per adult and RM 10 per person below 18 and applies to non-Malaysians. Keep your ticket stub though, because if you pay the entrance here, you don’t have to pay the entrance fee at Poring Hot Springs. Other fees that you will pay at the Sabah Parks offices, apply to climbing the mountain, so I will mention them and the details relevant to the climb, under Mt. Kinabalu as an attraction.
Relevant Web Links:
http://www.sabahparks.org.my – overview of Sabah’s natural heritage including Kinabalu Park;
http://www.suterasanctuarylodges.com.my – for direct bookings. They are not a tour operator.
