Malaysian Borneo - Bako National Park - Travel Story
Written by Thomas Dembie Sunday, 28 March 2010 22:36
Bako National Park, Malaysian Borneo
Monkeys, Birds & Trekking
The following morning I packed my day bag and started my trek to the Bako National Park. The trip involved taking a bus to Kampung Bako and then chartering a boat to the national park. Unfortunately for me, when I arrived at Kampung Bako, I was the only one heading to the national park. Since the boat drivers charge a standard fee per boat, the trip was slightly more expensive than what I had planned for, but there was nothing I could do.
As soon as I arrived at the park and registered with the camp officials I unpacked my bag and took off for the trails. Before even leaving the lodging area, I had already encountered a three-foot long snake that was bright-green in colour, a smaller, less colourful snake as well as a long-tailed macaque. It was quite funny, because over the course of the next four or five hours, the only wildlife I saw was a large spider and an unidentifiable small mammal up in the trees. The fact that it was raining did not help, as this made identifying animal sounds from afar almost impossible. I started my trek on the Lintang trail - a good introduction to the park, given that you walk through every type of vegetation found in Borneo. For those of you who are nature fans, I’m talking about mixed dipterocarp forest, peat swamp forest, cliff vegetation, kerangas forest, scrub and padang, and mangrove and beach forests. Though I did not see many carnivorous animals, I did get to see some carnivorous pitcher plants.
Proboscis Monkeys!
As I exited the jungle from the Lintang trail, I heard some serious noise coming from the trees above. One of the most identifiable sounds was a grunting that could only be the call of the proboscis monkey! Indeed, after focusing in on the noisy area, I noticed a couple long-nosed, beer-bellied monkeys hanging around. There are only approximately one hundred and twenty-five of them left in the wild, so seeing them in such an environment was a huge thrill for me. After a nice plate of nasi goreng I headed to bed for an early night. Not much to do at night in these parts and the best time to see the animals is often around sunrise. If you have any sweets on you when you arrive at the camp, make sure you keep them well packed, as there are plenty of ants just waiting to devour them. I found out the hard way and spent a good hour cleaning my bag.
I started the next morning on the Telok Patu trail, hoping to see more proboscis monkeys and other animals. Just as I began my walk on the boardwalk, a silver-leaf monkey and her baby greeted me silently. They stared at me as I stared back like a deer in headlights. They took off into the jungle and I followed slowly. Within five minutes there were all kinds of noises coming from the trees all around me. Wouldn’t you know, a group of proboscis monkeys decided to serenade me with early morning grunts. The end of the trail opened up to a nice little beach area, with beautiful jagged cliffs and significantly fewer mosquitos. As I wandered the beach, I saw many sun lizards, hermit crabs and mud skippers. Of course, once I hit the trails that took me deeper into the jungle, the wildlife disappeared. On my way back to camp, I came across a large monitor lizard and one last lonely proboscis monkey sitting by himself in an emaciated tree eating some fruit. Lucky for me, as I approached the cafeteria, I managed to find some fellow nature enthusiasts heading back to Kuching to share a ride with.
Photo Gallery
