BAKO NATIONAL PARK, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA OCT 16, 2012
After a late night of fun, singing and dancing last night we were a little slower getting moving this morning - but we left the Kuching dock before 6am this morning and headed over to Bako National Park arriving around 730am to drop the anchor. By then we'd already had our caffe latte and were enjoying breakfast on the back deck at 730.
BAKO National Park is the smallest, and oldest, national park in Sarawak established in 1957 and covering an area of nearly 11 sq miles. It sits at the tip of the Muara Tebas Peninsula at the mouth of the Bako and Kuching Rivers. The sandstone cliffs have been carved and eroded over the years forming spectacular shapes and very steep cliffs along the coastlines.
Today was a day of enjoying the park, checking out the various islands and coastlines, and hiking on shore to enjoy discovering the pitcher plants - carnivorous plants with prey trapping mechanism (like a deep bowl with water that traps flies and ants, drowns them in the water, then they decompose and the plant feeds from them). We boarded on the zodiacs at 9am for the first excursion of the day. The water was quite bumpy so great care was taken with each guest as we stepped off the ORION II onto the zodiacs to ensure that we were safely onboard with no accidents. Next to the marina at the back of the ORION where we board the zodiacs, there is a board with small tags for each passenger in every cabin number, as you go down to the marina you must have on your small life jacket before you can board the zodiac, and you have to turn your number from blue (meaning onboard) to white (meaning off ship).
There was a very 5 feet low tide this morning, so we landed on the beach on Pulau Lakei, which was a mud flat due to the low tide. There were a couple of macaque monkeys flying through the very old and large palm trees but they didn't hang around very long. We all wiped the sand and pebbles off our feet, then headed out with Alex our expedition guide to hike the island - first up 120 wooden steps in decent (but not perfect) shape to the top of the island where there is a nice trail marked by concrete steps made to look like slices of a tree. Since it rains a lot in this part of the world (Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo) the steps would come in very useful on those wet and muddy days. The earth here is mostly very sandy so no nutrition for most plants but the bamboo and palms are very lush, tall and dense here.
We spent about 2 hours walking, learning about, and looking at, the pitcher plants - some fabulous examples - we enjoyed two view points looking out over the ocean to the other islands in the area - and loved the breeze coming in to cool us down a little - everyone of us was running with sweat and soaked through to the skin! In addition as Terry and I sat on a rock for a photo the rocks were so sharp they tore a large "L" shaped tear in my nylon shorts! (I did do a repair on the ship when we returned to our stateroom and it lasted me through the cruise and will probably last me for several more years!!) It was still a really enjoyable hike and when we made it back to the beach about 1045am there was the ORION II umbrella set up with iced champagne or mimosas, served in crystal glasses and tiny ham and cheese croissants for those who felt like a snack - what a nice touch! We sat on the rocks (I took the chance I wouldn't get another tear!) and sipped on the champagne watching the water lap on the beach and three local fishermen in a small rowboat with lots of nets fish along the edge of the beach.
We headed back to the ORION II enjoying the cool breezes coming off the water as the tide started to come in. Then it was time to wash our wet clothes and change into dry clothes (dry for only about 5 minutes) after a refreshing shower before heading up for lunch al fresco on the back deck. Lunch included scallops, shrimp and calamari (loved it all, so fresh) followed by unbelievably tasty lemon grass gelato and pecan pie still warm from the oven!
After lunch there were three options offered for hiking and viewing the wild life. We had signed up the night before for the 2pm Telok Pandan Kecil Trail 2 hour hike starting with a very steep ascent (read 90 degrees vertical) and ending at the Park Headquarters. Others had opted for the 1pm departure for the 3 hour 4.5km Telok Tajor hike. Getting on to the zodiacs was a little trickier - the water was quite bumpy with good swells so the zodiacs were moving up and down at the marina deck. The Expedition staff teach you well and take great care of you, they take your backpacks from you and then you have two men handing you from the Marina deck onto the rubber zodiac and you must use the firemen grip - you hold their two arms and they hold yours - it works well and you are seated immediately and no one lets go until you are sitting safely.
The ride was about 1 1/2 miles to the small beach that we disembarked at for our walk. The waves were rolling in and we were all reminded again with the instructions on how to disembark - facing backwards to the beach and forwards to the sea to be aware of what was happening as we got out. The zodiac before ours (with Sue, Audrey, Brenda and MaryLou aboard) had a large wave come in and over the engine at the back so lots of water in the zodiac. Anyone with sense (doesn't include all!) takes their cameras in their packs wrapped in plastic ziplock bags or a proper dry bag. We learned later that evening that Michelle (who did the long hike) was on the beach when the zodiac that Suz and Pete came in on - as their Captain turned the zodiac around for landing a huge wave came in, caught the zodiac on the side and the Expedition guys on the shore yelled "it's going over!" but it didn't although everyone got completely soaked! Thank goodness for ziplock bags!
On the beach we could see the ladder up the side of the rock cliff starting about 6 feet up from the water. Damon (our Expedition leader) says "the first part is getting up that cliff to the top entirely unassisted, if you can't make that then the guys are waiting in the water just off the beach with the zodiacs to take you back to the ORION". Everyone made it up and this was the start of a great afternoon hike. At the top of the ladder we then climbed up along rocks, tree roots, and some wooden steps and after about 20 minutes came out at the most gorgeous outlook over the bay and surrounding islands - glorious! Lots of photos of all the beautiful sandstone cliffs, and sandstone stacks where the ocean's waves have worn away and left beautiful shapes. The cliff top itself looked like a huge mass of brain coral covered in small indentations - Mother Nature is amazing!
By now we were all soaked from inside out with good old fashioned sweat it was so humid! We continued with Damon explaining what we were seeing and how so many varieties of pine trees were very early found over this part of the world, and some in New Zealand. Lots of pitcher plants including a new type that looked like pretty green and red teacups sitting on the ground. At one point as we climbed gently up the trail it was completely covered in tree roots criss crossing the ground. The soil is so nutrient deficient here that the roots stay on the surface - Damon said that should there be a lightening strike, then several trees would be felled at once as the lightening electricity flowed through several trees via the roots at the same time. It was a great afternoon with most of the hike being across the top of the plateau along a sandy path lined with carnivorous pitcher plants, and intersecting at one point with the trail which the other group had taken.
The route down to sea level and the Park Headquarters was a little trickier since it was covered in tree roots and lots of deep steps down, it even started to rain on us - how cool is that, being in the rain forest while it rains! The very bottom of the trail is all decking across the sea waters of the mangroves - hundreds of yards of wooden decking. We did run into a few folks walking in the opposite direction to us, but only 7 folks. This park is on the mainland at the end of the peninsula, so access can be by road even though we came in by zodiac from the water. It was now late in the afternoon and a great time to reach the Park Headquarters since there are many nocturnal animals that start coming out to forage and feed at this time of the day.
We saw macaque monkeys, silver feather monkeys, proboscis monkeys, bearded pigs and two - count it - TWO green vipers curled up on a tree branch. You can tell how well they are camouflaged in the trees when it sometimes took 10 minutes before someone could see the snakes even though they were just above their head! The sky was getting very dark and out on the horizon there was definitely a rain storm! We climbed aboard the zodiac and prepared for the bumpy 2.5 mile ride back to the ORION II where Captan Vincent was waiting for us to assist his staff as necessary. Getting back on board was tricky as the zodiac and Orion went up and down at different levels at different times. As usual Tracy (Hotel Manager aboard ORION II) was waiting to check us back onto the ship on the in/out board and hoseus down to wash the mud and sand and pebbles off our feet and shoes with the hose.
Entering the ORION was cold as the air conditioning hit us - but oh that shower felt soooo good! After putting on dry clean clothes for dinner we all shared a drink in the Club Lounge and shared the stories of the day - everyone still pumped from their experiences. Dinner was an Asian buffet which was scheduled for al fresco on deck 5 on the outdoor cafe - but unfortunately the venue was changed to inside in The Restaurant on deck 2 due to the threatening rain. It was an awesome buffet - the tiger prawns and chicken satay being my two favorites! But the raspberry sorbet afterwards was spectacular. Terry said the wasabi with the sushi really cleaned out his nostrils! Terry, Linda and Carrie sampled the fine cheeses and port to finish off the evening - what a wonderful day!
I think we were all in bed and asleep within 45 minutes after dinner! The next two days are "at sea" and I think we are all looking forward to a little down time, dry clothes, and the amazing lectures that we can enjoy on board given by the Expedition leaders. This cruise is amazing - we love everything about the staff, the ship, the excursions and the food!
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