About 45 minutes north east of Kuching along the shores of the Tabo River lies Bako village (Kampung Bako).
This is where all visitors to Bako National Park catch their 30-minute boat rides to the actual visitor center.
The terminal has the usual check-in counter where your details on your identification card and passport are noted prior to your departure.
The wait was brief because we had arranged our tour ahead of time.
I was entertained by the kittens who were terrorizing the life jackets strewn on benches in the waiting area.
Apparently my visit in January isn’t the ideal time of the year.
The rains make for rough seas as our boatmen pointed us towards coast.
I was never worried about the rough seas where we could see white caps on the waves as we approached the South China Sea.
Worse case scenario of the boat capsizing? Wet passport, damaged cameras. But read on and I will reveal what I was most worried about in the event we went into the drink.
As we pulled up on the jetty for Bako, we caught our first glimpse of wild life–a wild boar. It was difficult to discern anything about it from the distance.
But our guide “PE” said they hang out at the visitor center tolerating humans but never bothering us.
Visitors are advised not to feed or approach wild life.
Unfortunately for us, I only saw 2 wild life, despite going on on 2 hikes.
Ironically my 2 encounters with wildlife, the wild boar and the silvery langur didn’t even require me to go into the jungle.
They both came out to us at the visitor center where we spent the night.
We were supposed to have go on a trek into the undergrowth at night but decided against it because the rain had not let up.
Oh before I forget. Watch the vertical video captured by PE, our guide.
He was chuckling hard when he shot it because he tells me this is the first time he has seen the Silvery Langur interact with humans.
The little langur actually came to my leg and grabbed it. (Scrub to the very beginning of the video if you miss it)
Fortunately when it happened, I didn’t make a big deal of it. It was over in a matter of seconds
All I felt was a set of hairy hands holding my calf. No nails or claws. Just soft hands.
The reason I was concerned about boat capsizing? According to PE our guide, there are approximately 3000 crocodiles in the Bako National Park area.
In the state of Sarawak he said they have up to 25,000 crocs.