Sabah - Borneo - page 97

ted (including a centrepiece whale skeleton). The prehistory gallery has a replica lime-
stone cave, in case you don't make it to any of the real ones. In the gardens, the Heritage
Village offers the chance to wander round examples of traditional tribal dwellings, includ-
ing Kadazan bamboo houses and a Chinese farmhouse, all nicely set on a lily-pad lake.
The adjoining Science & Education Centre has an informative exhibition on the petro-
leum industry, from drilling to refining and processing. The Sabah Art Gallery features
regular shows and exhibitions by local artists. If you're heading east after KK, keep hold
of your admission ticket - it also allows entry to Agnes Keith House in Sandakan.

Mari Mari Cultural Village
( 019-820 4921; www.traversetours.com/culturalvillage.php ; Jln Kiansom; adult/child
RM160/140; ) Mari Mari is an entertaining combination of semi-corny and semi-edu-
cational. It's supposed to offer insight into the living cultures of Sabah via a three-hour
show-tour (beginning at 10am, 3pm and 7pm), which winds through the jungle passing
various tribal dwellings along the way. At each stop, tourists learn about indigenous folk-
ways and can try their hand at bamboo cooking, rice-wine making (and drinking!), fire
starting, tattooing, blowpipe shooting etc. A short dance recital and meal are included in
the visit - the centre must be notified of any dietary restrictions in advance. A trip to the
cultural village can be combined with a white-water rafting tour; contact Riverbug for
more information. The village is a 20-minute to 30-minute drive north of central KK, so
most people visit it on a package tour, but if you come on your own the admission is
RM80/70 for adults/children.
Rather than portraying living cultures, Mari Mari sort of freezes local ethnic groups in-
to museum pieces. No one is dressing in loincloths and feathers in Sabah, except maybe in
the very deepest, remote interior. The Rungus and Murut may live in longhouses, but
many of those longhouses have satellite television and air-con, and they hunt with guns,
not blowpipes.
There is also a small waterfall - Kiansom Waterfall (admission RM1; dawn-dusk)
- about 400m beyond the cultural village, which is easily accessible by private transport
or on foot. The area around the cascade lends itself well to swimming and it's a great
place to cool off after a visit to Mari Mari.

MUSEUM

Lok Kawi Wildlife Park
( 765710; www.lokkawiwildlifepark.com ; Jln Penampang; adult/child RM20/10;
9.30am-5.30pm, last entry at 4:30pm; ) If you'd like to check out the orangutans but
won't make it out to Sepilok or the Kinabatangan, a visit to this wildlife park is highly re-
commended, especially for those with children in tow. There are plenty of other animals

ZOO