Having scaled granite peaks in Kinabalu and squeezed through limestone karts in Mulu we took a few days out of our time in Kuching to visit Bako National Park, which we understood to have spectacular sandstone formations dramatically carved by the sea and wind. We had heard a lot about this place from other travellers but didn't really want to expect too much as we have experienced so many other amazing things in Borneo.
The park was only a bus and a boat ride away from the city which made a nice change from the long winded travel options we had partaken in in the previous weeks, all nearly went to plan except the previous nights full moon had done funny things to the tide and we had to wait three hours for the sea crossing to the national park. Whilst waiting at the jetty we had our first introduction to the park with a big warning about crocodile attacks in the area including some gruesome photos and advice on how to avoid becoming the next victim. Gwenno was ready to turn back at this point but we decided to persevere and keep our eyes peeled for any hungry looking crocs.
As the tide was still low during our crossing and we ended up being dropped off by the boat about 50m from the shore in shallow water which was literally as warm as a hot bath, very surreal. As we waded through the water we could immediately see the landscape of huge sandstone rocks, overgrown jungle and deserted beaches and we understood why everyone had raved about this place!
We spent the afternoon on a few of the various trails exploring the island and saw plenty of proboscis monkeys, maquaces, silver leaf monkeys and bearded pigs. The animals are used to being near humans so it was good to get up close to them but then it did also feel a bit more like a zoo than seeing wild animals as some were so tame. So tame in fact that you can get quite close to photograph them without them making too much fuss- though we did get a bit too close to a baby macaque learning to climb and he screamed for his mum; she promptly chased us away with bared teeth!
The walks were interesting with plenty of nice viewpoints and luckily we didn't see any crocs! We returned to watch the sunset on the beach and then had a few beers before retiring to the hostel.
The next morning over breakfast we watched some macaques helping themselves to someone's toast ( which was nearly as big as the monkey) before setting off on another trail through the jungle and over the rocky hills and catching a boat back to Kuching.