Some of these beautiful pictures (and captions) here are taken by Late Rabani, such a great photographer he was. These pictures were taken around the place I currently live, the beautiful Sabah Borneo fondly known as Land Below the Wind.

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI In Sabah, if you are after long white sandy beaches, you wouldn’t go wrong keeping your itinerary along the west coast. You can find nice long white beaches and usually deserted in the Kudat Peninsula. There’s no nice beaches on the east coast. You couldn’t find a decent one in Sandakan, Semporna, Kunak and Tawau. But…you should try the islands this side of Sabah. While Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai are dive islands, you could find nice short deserted beaches on islands up north. A good one would be Maiga like you see in the photo. And if you favored rock climbing or island adventure, go see Bohey Dulang Island.

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI A waterfall on the upper reaches of Kionsom Waterfalls about 20 minutes from Inanam, a town near Kota Kinabalu. To get to this waterfall, trek uphill for about 30 minutes from the entrance and look for the path which leads down to the waterfall. In the photo, a nature photographer is kneeling gingerly on a slippery mossy rock, taking center stage shooting nearer to the fall. Just like any other photography disciplines, you have to look far and wide to look for subject to document and along the way, getting to know your environment. And getting fitter and healthier, just as well.

PICTURE BY MOI

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI The blurred view of Mount Kinabalu in the hazy blue background with a leaf coated with a thin layer of morning droplets, in the foreground. Sometimes you need to find an anchoring subject in the foreground to lead the viewer into your work, even if the background itself is appealing itself. The inclusion of the leaf and its droplets is giving the impression of a morning freshness if you will. This photo was taken about 1km after the Kinabalu National Park on the way to Kundasang. Look on your left for a clearing which is used sometimes as a rubbish dumping ground. This location is the only area from the park to Kundasang where you have a clean view of the mountain without any wires getting in your way.

PICTURE BY MOI View from the Top of Mt Kinabalu

PICTURE BY MOI The Marina, Sutera Magellan Resort, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

PICTURE BY MOI Sipadan Water Village is located on Mabul Island within a group of Islands surrounding the Celebes sea on the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia. Ihe island is approx. 35 mins boat ride from the town of Semporna, on the east coast of Sabah. The resort is completely surrounded by coral and amazing marine beauty! Divers access easily to excellent diving spots around Mabul,in addition to the world-class reef and fish populations of neighboring Sipadan Island. A perfect getaway – quiet and peaceful!

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI Mempakul is the administration section of Menumbuk, and making the western most part of Sabah. Menumbuk, which is about 10 minutes from Mempakul, is the jetty town for anyone going to Labuan Island. In this photo, a coconut palm beach with the effect of the setting sun with a little sign of rain due east.

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI Mempakul is the administration section of Menumbuk, and making the western most part of Sabah. Menumbuk, which is about 10 minutes from Mempakul, is the jetty town for anyone going to Labuan Island. In this photo, a coconut palm beach with the effect of the setting sun with a little sign of rain due east.

PICTURE BY MOI

PICTURE BY MOI Cactus flower

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI The moon over Semporna Bay with the lit stilt houses of Bum Bum Island across the bay. The first night of Crossing Bridges, an annual photographic project conducted by the photographic web galleries or forums in this region. This project is to bring together photographers from participating countries to do a community project on a selected country on rotational basis. This year it was Malaysia and the project was conducted on an island off the coast off Semporna.

PICTURE BY MOI farmer’s shelter kota belud

PICTURE BY MOI “Takob-akob” in Kadazan language, dried fruit of the mangosteen family. The Kadazandusun people of Sabah know how to use this best as one of the cooking ingredients! Mom picked them from the orchard and had them dried for a day or two. She uses them as a souring agent for stews.

PICTURE BY MOI Labuan

PICTURE BY LATE RABANI The Pacific Sutera Harbour and Marina, just outside the outer marker of the Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Note the haze enveloping the nearby countryside and hills up north which has been preventing/delaying the aerial assignment. Kota Kinabalu,the capital city is just at the next bay, with Pulau Gaya or Gaya Island, in front of its seafront.

Sabah known as North Borneo before its independence through Malaysia occupies the top portion of Borneo (the third largest island in the world) and most popularly known as “Land below the Wind”.  It is blessed with a diverse landscape of tropical forests, rugged mountains, green flat lands and pristine seas teaming with indigenous flora and fauna some of which can only be found in this part of the world.

Mt. Kinabalu, the highest mountain in Borneo Island standing at 4,093m above sea level, is the symbol of greatness of Sabahans. Every year, more than a million tourist climb the mountain, making it one of the most accessible recreational mountains in the world. The mountain, the highest between the Himalayas and New Guinea, sits in Kinabalu Park which became a Unesco World Heritage site in 2000.

Other attractions includes the Sipadan Islands, re-known for its scuba diving, the Sepilok Rehabilitation centre for the Orang Utan in Sandakan and Tunku Abdul Rahman National Parks which is located all around Sabah.

Some notable mentions

• Agnes Keith, the famous American writer of the early 1900s was mesmerized by Sabah’s beauty that she lived in Sabah for many years and wrote several best-selling books including the famous “Land Below The Wind”.
• Jacques Cousteau, oceans’ greatest ambassador, fell in love with Sipadan Island, a world class dive destination in the East Coast of Sabah, and its surrounding area so much that he decided to let the Calypso’s anchor lay there longer than it had on any other expedition to have a longer scuba diving vacation.
• Prof. David Bellamy, the world famous ecology professor, author, and documentary producer, called Sabah, the “Nature Hollywood” of the world. He added that Sabah is “living solar-powered theme park”.
• Sir David Attenborough, acclaimed conservationist/film maker, declared that “Sabah has the greatest treasure of wildlife”.