None Shall Pass – KL Bird Park – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

We finally did it. We left the hotel and went somewhere besides the hospital! Today we headed to the KL Bird Park, home to over 200 different species of birds, nearly all of them native to Malaysia. Most sections of the park are giant netted free flight areas, meaning the birds are free to fly around as they please. This setup makes for a uniquely immersive experience; the birds are in their natural habit, but because of the number of daily visitors, they’ve become very acclimated to people.

As we walked through the park, there were so many times where we had to stop to let a peacock cross the sidewalk, or duck because there was a parrot flying straight for our heads. At one point, we encountered this great white pelican. He was blocking the path and didn’t want to let us cross. When we tried, he would quickly waddle towards us with his big beak open. We divised a plan to have Kevin lure him to the side of the walkway, while Christine quickly dashed behind him. Then Kevin followed. After crossing, we watched a family have the same encounter, however, when the pelican opened his mouth, they threw some bread in. Turns out he wasn’t a scary pelican, just a hungry one.

By the end of our walk through the bird park, we were hot and sticky, so we headed to the central market to cool off in the air conditioning with some cheap Malaysian eats. Then it was back to the pool for the afternoon. Baby steps! It was nice to finally see some of Kuala Lumpur in person, instead of through the windows of our hotel and the hospital.