Bako National Park, into the jungle!

We loved the orangutans at Semenggoh but we wanted to see more animals and in the wild, so on one (as always) cloudy morning we found ourselves on the way to Bako National Park. First a bus, then a boat through the Bako river estuary full of crocodiles took us to this nature reserve, the oldest in Sarawak. From the beginning it was clear that we would find here the animal company we were hoping for...

Crocodiles!

February is still a rainy season in Borneo and it rains every day, sometimes several times in a day, and Bako is no exception. When we arrived, the clouds were covering the sky completely and menacing with a storm. But we couldn't wait to 'get out there' and headed to the jungle right away.

Not very inviting

but the jungle is calling...

We made it to the top! At Telok Pandan Besar Beach

The park has quite a few hiking trails ranging from about 2 to 20km of length which under normal (not tropical) circumstances would be all very easy to do. But the heat,the humidity and the slippery tree roots everywhere make the trekking way harder. So if the sign says that it will take you 1,5h hours to walk 2km, you better believe it! And you will sweat like never before.

Get ready

to get wet

And it gets even more interesting when it starts raining. Over the three days we spent at the park we got rained on only once, on this first hike, and that was when we found out that all our 'waterproof' gear is in fact very water friendly.

Soaked

The following days the weather was more merciful and brought rain only at night, so we could hike some more without getting drenched to the bone.

Teluk Paku Beach

Carnivorous pitcher plants at Lintang trail

Viewpoint on Sepi trail

Surprisingly enough, the more we entered the forest, the further we seemed to be getting from the animals! We could hear them down in the jungle but in the upper parts the place felt empty except for the omnipresent insects. It turns out that your best bet to see animals is... to stay at the park headquarters and the animal world will come to you! That doesn't sound very wild but there is a simple explanation for it - the park has existed for over 60 years and most of the animals in it got used to the human presence, and although they don't look for our company, they don't look very bothered. And so we got to observe from very close giant squirrels, long-bearded pigs, silver leaf monkeys (langurs) or all kinds of birds and butterflies (that we don't know the name of).

Boars on the beach

And from up close

Silver langur

One of the main reasons to come to Bako was to try to spot one of the funniest monkeys there is - the proboscis monkey. And we didn't see just one, we saw dozens! Their species is highly endangered and can only be found in Borneo (250 or so in Bako). The males have a huge nose (the bigger it is the more it attracts the females) and equally big belly because of their large stomach that helps them process the food that is often very hard to digest. We thought we'd be lucky to see just a few but as they would come all the way to the main park beach to feed on young leaves every day, we saw dozens and dozens of them.

He is indeed excited about his food...

At Bako we met yet again with the vile macaques. After our encounter with them in Thailand we knew what to expect, but even then we were astonished how bold and fearless these creatures are. They'd always hang around the park restaurant waiting for their chance to attack the tables and steal anything that was on them. It was impossible to eat outside on the terrace as they would try to get your food and no, you don't want to argue with a monkey with a completely insane look on its face. You think I exaggerate but all the signs around the park prove me right ...

Think twice before setting up a tent

Despite the terrorist attacks of the macaques it was impossible not to fall in love with Bako. In what other place can a monkey peep on you in a shower? The jungle, the beaches, the animals, the rain, here we found the Borneo we'd dreamed of.