There were a number of travel agents advertising
various trips to the Bako National Park for around 500 ringits (£100) each. This included all travel, food and
one nights accommodation in a basic lodge. However on discovering that one could book the lodge
separately at the National Park’s desk at the Information Centre in the Court
House, we decided to make our own arrangements to get there and buy to food as
we needed it. As it turned out we
did the overnight trip for just 150 ringits (£30)each, as we discovered that
instead of a taxi we could catch a bus back to Kuching which cost just couple
of ringits.
On the 4th December we took a 40 mins taxi
to the ferry dock to get a boat to the Park, which is situated on a peninsular
at the mouth of the Sarawak River. The park offers the chance to see native animals in
wild. At the ferry terminal we met
a Dutch couple, also making their own way so we shared the cost of one of the
small boats and a Guide between us.
As we approached the park and the open sea it was very choppy with the
wind against tide, but the boat bounced off the waves at speed.
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| Sarawak River ferry dock to Bako National Park |
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| Numerous trails at the Park |
On arrival our first stop
was at the Centre, a modern building with offices and a canteen. We were able to leave our bags here
before setting off with our Guide who initially took us on a path around the Centre
where he pointed out some flying lemurs asleep in a tree and a green tree snake
resting on a low bush
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| Our Guide |
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| Flying Lemur |
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| Green Tree Snake |
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| The Bako National Park Centre |
The trail, which took us a few hours to complete,
initially led us along plank walks through the tidal mangroves and then along
rocky, craggy tracks through the rainforest. The park has many well-marked paths of varying lengths. It was a very enjoyable trek made all
the better because our Guide was able to point out all the flora around
us. He pointed out a wild bees
nest –apparently these bees have no sting.
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| Alan on the trail |
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| Small bees nest - only about 25cms long |
However we didn’t see any animals on the trail, other than red crabs and mudskippers, until we returned to the path close to the centre. Here we saw wild bearded pigs, macaque monkeys and the main attraction for me – the proboscis, or the long nosed monkey
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| Family of Bearded Pigs |
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| Bearded Pig |
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| Proboscis monkey |
Alan had started to feel unwell on our trek and by the
time we got back he was about all in!
We collected our bags and headed off to our accommodation
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| One of the chalets at Bako National Park |
On approaching the chalet we were full of anticipation
but the interior was very basic with torn lino on the floor and 2 small wooden
beds – mine had a mattress with the springs poking out! There was no cooking
facilities not even a kettle but there was a small, rusty fan attached to the
ceiling. However when we arrived the electricity was off because they were
working on the main power lines.
Alan collapsed on the bed feeling awful in the heat. A couple of hours later the power was
momentarily switched on again with a bang and one of the two overhead light
bulbs fused! It was another hour
before it was finally turned on again.
The next morning Alan was still feeling poorly so we
cut short our visit. As we left the views across the bay from Bako were
stunning with the low clouds clinging to a small island and the macaque monkeys
running across the beach.
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| Looking out from the Bako National Park Centre early morning |
