Bako National Park is no stranger to everyone in Sarawak. I’ve never step foot here prior to this. It’s indeed one experience to remember.
Source from SarawakForestry.com
Gazetted in 1957, Bako is Sarawak’s oldest national park, covering an area of 2,727 hectares at the tip of the Muara Tebas peninsula. It is one of the smallest national parks in Sarawak, yet one of the most interesting, as it contains almost every type of vegetation found in Borneo. The well-maintained network of nature trails – from easy forest strolls to full-day jungle treks – allows visitors to get the most out of this unique environment.
We went there in the morning. You have to take a boat there. We took the boat from the jetty. No sure how much the cost of the boat ride though. However, you can get more details and tough estimations of the cost you’ll need from this link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Bako_National_Park
It was a less than 20 minutes ride. Along the way, you can see locals fishermen catching sea produce and all sort of creations by mother nature. The other group on the other boat managed to spot a crocodile. The boat will slow down when there there are small fishing boats approaching.
Heading out to the mouth of the river.
You’ll see lots of rock formations and vegetation while on the boat.
There, there… The iconic landmark of Bako, the sea stack.
Going nearer to see it up-close. If you don’t see this, your trip to Bako is not complete for sure. I have a photo taken with it too hehehe… Forgot to include the photo in this post. If you are interested to have a look, here’s the link to my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/p/BFq7sW6GoEw).
Can you see Mt. Santubong? How majestic is that? We reached the island, as it’s low-tide, we had to take off our shoes. Once we arrived, the guide told us there’s monkeys around. So we went to have a look. Well… My old camera couldn’t take good photo of it. It’s getting old… See the monkey? Can’t remember the name of this monkey, could be the Long-tailed macaques aka silvered langurs aka leaf-monkeys. The tail is long alright hahah…
Welcome! We were greeted by Bornean bearded pig. First time seeing it right in front of me. When you’re there, be sure not to make noise, do not provoke, do not touch, and do not feed the animal, and keep your belonging close to you at all times. You’ll know why later in this post.
It was such a hot day. There’s one place with air-con that you might want to rest in hahaha… The information centre where you could also learn about Bako.
After that, we started our trekking. There’s accommodations available for staying overnight here. The road leading to the beach…
On the way to a short trek. I think it’s the Tanjung Sapi Trail.
Bako has “25 distinct types of vegetation form seven complete eco-systems – Beach Vegetation, Cliff Vegetation, Kerangas or Heath Forest, Mangrove Forest, Mixed Dipterocarp Forest, Padang or Grasslands Vegetation and Peat Swamp Forest.” Source: SarawakForestry.com
I’ll just let the photos do the talking…
We didn’t come across the proboscis monkeys. You are lucky if you get to see one. According to the guide, they are sleeping during that time of the day because it is hot. Oh yes… Monkeys also need to have a siesta. It’s not a very hard trail, we even met some parents who brought their toddlers on the trail too. Just one thing is that the humidity was really high and would make you sweat buckets! Make sure you bring enough water with you. After the trekking, lunch awaited us at the park’s canteen. Man… Was so hungry indeed!
After we finished lunch, suddenly a bunch of silvered langurs came out. Lo and behold! It grabbed whatever that were on the table. Looks cute but don’t try to fool around with it. Photos not by me obviously. It’s from the photographer of our group.
After lunch and rest, we went back to the mainland. Almost reaching the jetty, there were boats filled with jellyfish. You definitely not seeing this everyday if you don’t live here. These jellyfish will be processed and export to country like Japan.
It was quite a fun and eyeopening trip. You should go there at least once in your lifetime. This is coming from someone who doesn’t like outdoor activities, that’s me!