Kuching & Bako National Park
Our final couple of days in Borneo were to be spent in Bako National Park, probably the premier destination in Borneo for seeing proboscis monkeys. By all accounts, it also offered some great hiking and some stunning coastal scenery.
As such, we set off early for our bus with great excitement. We had seen quite a few proboscis monkeys in Borneo, but always from a distance and were really hoping for a close up experience with one of Borneo’s most bizarre endemic species.
The bus journey was about an hour on one of the most comfortable buses that I have been on anywhere in the world. Huge, soft leather seats and air conditioning meant that I slept most of the way to the jetty.
From the jetty, we booked ourselves on a boat into the national park and sorted out the entrance formalities.
It was low tide, when we arrived, so the boat dropped us off on the beach by the visitor centre, greeted by a large bearded pig. It was still early, so a great time for wildlife spotting.
We dumped our overnight bag at the centre and set off on one of the many trails that snake all over the park. We picked the Teluk Delima trail, as it was supposed to be one of the best trails for seeing proboscis.
There was no doubt that there were proboscis about, the tell-tale call of the male rang out across the rainforest as we walked towards the coastal mangrove forest at the end of the trail.
On the picturesque beach at the end of the trail, we found a horse shoe crab shell, but not a great deal else.
As we turned to go back, Kim spotted a proboscis high up in the canopy away from the beach. We were getting good at this primate spotting lark, but it wasn’t the close up proboscis experience that we had been hoping for.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Kim and Joe's Travels: Borneo – Bako National Park
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