Pulau Bako National Park Beautiful Beaches

Sarawak's oldest national park was established in 1957 on a 2,728 hectare site, about 37km from Kuching. Bako is known for its extraordinary variety and contrast in its natural scenery, habitats, plant life, and its wildlife. Constant erosion over millions of years had turned Bako into a picturesque coastline of steep cliffs, rocky headlands, and many stretches of sandy bays. The erosion caused by constant waves at the base of the cliffs had carved and created many of the rocks into sea arches and sea stacks. Beautiful sandstone formations featuring pink and iron patterns on the cliff faces can be seen along most of the coastline. Many who have visited the Park commented that the Bako National Park is a treasure chest of flora and fauna. Naturalist will be thrilled to find a wide range of vegetation including the varieties of pitcher plants and wild orchids. The varieties of vegetation found in Borneo can also be seen in the park's mangrove forest, mixed dipterocarp forest, peat swamp forest, and kerangas forest. Trekking through any of its 16 well-maintained jungle trails is an interesting experience. Within the park, it is not uncommon to see troops of long-tailed Macaques and silver leaf monkeys along with giant monitor lizards, plantain squirrels, wild boars, and mouse deer. The most significant animal in the park is the bizarre long-nosed proboscis monkeys found only in Borneo Island. Swimming, beach combing at low tide, and watching the sunset are popular activities along the sandy bays of the park. Bako National Park is truly an ideal place for nature lovers and eco-minded adventurers!

Bako National Park is the smallest and oldest national park in Sarawak. No other park offer as much diversity in flora and fauna as Bako in just 2742 hectares of land. It's home to an abundant array of wildlife like the bearded wild pigs, silver-leaf monkeys, and monitor lizards, but particularly the rare and unusual Proboscis monkey.

Arriving at the park was an adventure in itself. After a 40 min drive from Damai to the sleepy jetty at Bako village, we transferred to a 30 min high-speed boat ride after paying for park permits at the jetty office. Permits costs RM 10 (US$3)per person. The boat ride costs RM 60 (US$18) two-way and seats a maximum of seven people.

The boat ride itself was exhilarating as we sped past the fishing village and headed towards the island that is the Bako National park. On arrival, we had to remove our shoes and wade in as the tide was very low and the boat could not dock at the jetty.

All visitors are required to pay for the permits at the headquarters located just off the jetty. Charges on camaras or video camaras are waived.

We chose to trek the most popular trail: Telok Pandan Kecil, a 1.5km easy to moderately difficult trail that ends at a secluded beach (2.5km from the HQ). The trail took us past a mangrove forest where we spotted sky-blue fiddler crabs and mud-skippers at low tide and two proboscis monkeys sitting atop the mangrove trees! The monkeys looked comical with their pendulous noses and their pot-bellies.

The trail begins with an ascent into the dense forest before reaching a plateau covered in scrub vegetation; it continued along a sandy path lined with carnivorous pitcher plants before reaching a cliff top with beautiful views of the famous sea stack and the secluded beach below. From there, I descended down to the beach, where I found that I was not alone after all. I "hitched" a ride with one of the boatman for a nominal fee of RM 25 (US$5) who brought me back to the HQ in less than 10 minutes. I took about two hours to trek the trail with frequent stops to take pictures.

Lunch at the canteen was a simple affair but made most interesting when some fearless long tailed macaques and silver-leaf monkeys arrived to raid for food. We also spotted a bearded pig, the biggest mammal on the island, scavanging for food near the HQ.

The tide had gone even lower after noon, allowing us to walk further out of the beach and towards the sea stack where we were able to admire the "works of art" by Mother nature.

We ended our day-trip with a thirst-quencher coconut drink served at the coffee-house located back at the jetty at the Bako village before heading back to the resort.