School trips to Kota Kinabalu

Why visit Kota Kinabalu?

Discover the delights of Borneo

On your school expedition to Borneo, you will be based around Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the state of Sabah on the northwest coast of Borneo. However, you’ll also travel to Sepilok on the Sandankan Peninsula to visit an orangutan rehabilitation centre.

Often referred to as KK, Kota Kinabalu is the ideal base for a school expedition exploring all that Borneo has to offer. All the exciting attractions of the state of Sabah are within easy reach, from the jungles and beaches to the impressive Mount Kinabalu.

Kota Kinabalu is incredibly multicultural, and so is a fantastic representation of Malaysia as a whole, in that regard. You’ll be able to spend time with local rural tribes, while also experiencing the cultural melting pot of the city.

On your school expedition to Borneo, your students will love exploring the sights of Kota Kinabalu, including Signal Hill, which offers spectacular views of the city and nearby islands. You’ll also see some spectacular mosques and don’t miss the opportunity to capture the magical sunset from the KK Waterfront or Tanjung Aru beach.

Explore wildlife conservation

Borneo is home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world and is home to many endemic species. This ancient rainforest is also one of the few remaining natural habitats of the Bornean orangutan.

On your school trip to Kota Kinabalu, your students will visit an orangutan rehabilitation centre. They’ll learn more about these charismatic creatures and what the centre is trying to achieve in terms of their conservation. Your students will even be able to take a boardwalk through the lowland forest, to see them feeding.

You’ll also be able to visit the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. Here, your students will find out about the threats facing these beautiful bears, including illegal hunting, deforestation and the wildlife trade. Many of these bears end up in captivity, often in terribly poor conditions. This centre rescues such bears and aims to rehabilitate them so that they can be released back into the wild.

Learn about British colonialism

Kota Kinabalu also offers some insight into British colonialism and its effects on Borneo. The city was once known as Jesseltown, after Sir Charles Jessel who was the Vice Chairman of the British North Borneo Company who had established a colony there to exploit the island’s impressive natural resources.

The town became a major trading post in the region and dealt with rubber, rattan, honey and wax. The city was almost destroyed during WW2, as the British razed it in retreat from the Japanese who had taken over the island and later due to Allied bombing campaigns. The British North Borneo Company couldn’t afford to rebuild Jesseltown and so handed control over to the British Crown in 1946. It was renamed Kota Kinabalu in 1967, four years after the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.