Borneo: Bako National Park jungle trekking!

So I had this great idea of a jungle trek and I just knew that once we were deep in to the Borneo jungle Dave would REALLY appreciate it….instead of making comments like ‘I am very happy appreciating it from the outside and from a distance’. We packed a small backpack and William drove us to the boat launch to take us out to Bako National Park; the oldest in Western Sarawak and protecting over 27 kilometres of jungle between the mouths of the Sarawak and Bako rivers.  The boat trip through crystal blue waters was stunning and we stop to drift by a croc lazing on something which must have been a buoy but looked like a floating torpedo.

We landed on the beach walked around the corner and got our first glimpse of the jungle we were about to venture in to.

But before we could accost what looks like an impenetrable wall of jungle vegetation, we had to devise tactics to avoid the local Macaque monkeys nicking all our stuff at the registration area. You have to register and name the trail you are going to take so they know where you are in case hours later you haven’t come back and they can send out the search party….hopefully not headed by a macaque monkey who would just show up and nick all your stuff and scoff your provisions. This macaque below was hilarious. Dave was sorting out our bag so we could decide what to take with us (bottles of water, insect repellent, sunscreen…and the life savers that are Pringles) and what to leave behind at the camp as we were staying overnight. The macaque kept raising itslef up on to it’s back legs so it could get a really good view into Dave’s bag to see what it could steal but every time we turned to look at the monkey – hilariously it would stare studiously at it’s fingernails as if it had just been sitting there thinking about possibly having a pedicure appointment sometime later in the afternoon. 

Another male macaque showed up and typically of the male species in the animal kingdom started chucking its weight around and aggressively slamming a stack of plastic chairs against the veranda to make sure that everyone knew he was there. They might look cute but the forestry commission has had to post notices everywhere warning everyone to beware of monkey antics; they nicked a woman’s suncream out of her backpack whilst we were watching and ran off with it.  They can undo zips and buttons and will take anything they can get their hands on.

We set off, me in my Adidas trainers and Dave in his Fallen trainers; I tell you we would have been a bloody great advert for what those shoes can stand up to. Adidas please feel free to contact me with big money offers.  Dave checked the map to make sure we were on the 6 kilometre trail and not one of the much longer ones…. which frankly would have killed us.

Just over 2 kilometres later – all of which was pretty much vertical (F**!) – we reached the top of the jungle clad mountain with stunning views  across the sea.  It was about 38 degrees and 100% humidity; our clothes were plastered to us with the sweat which was running straight off our arms and faces.  It would have been funny if I hadn’t been absolutely knackered and wanting to lie down and die somewhere quietly.

The climb upward are pretty much this all the way; deeply knitted and tangled tree roots which you have to step through and across, concentrating to make sure the looser ones don’t trip you up. You cannot veer off this cleared ‘path’ as it is dense vegetation on either side and in some places huge rockfaces with deep ravines running down the sides which you could fall down into never to be seen again.

Tree ferns….little did we know at this point that this was going to be one of the more interesting things we saw in the entire grueling 6 kilometres looking for wildlife.

Photo opportunities became great excuses to stop and let my heart rate reach some sort of equilibrium.

At virtually impossible sections of the trek for us novices they have built rickety wooden staircases up through the rocks because the only other alternative would have been to rock climb. 

Pitcher plants which are  carniverous…but thankfully not quite large enough for us to fall in to.

Dave contemplates the incline ahead tangled with even more tree  roots which after a few hours start hurting your feet from walking on them.