Bako

---

(Kev)
Currently as I type this i am in a computer gaming room. You would not believe the amount of noise in here, people are yelling, music is blaring,and I think i am about read to explode. Seriously you would not believe how nuts it is in here! The computer is also going super slow so we probably won't be able to get as many pictures on as usual.
Our last real adventures were in Bako National Park. We stayed in the park for two nights, and got to see all the wild life we had set out to see. The first night we went on a late night trek through the jungle, we heard all sorts of crazy jungle noises...monkeys crashing through the trees, the perpetual buzzing of different types of bugs, as well as other not so identifiable jungle sounds. We walked to the light of our headlamps and the ambiance of a full moon shining through the trees. We encountered all sorts of interesting bugs, many of which glowed, and many that looked like they could do some damage. When we got back from the late night hike the tide was out so we explored the beach.
...The noise in here is really driving me nuts, so i might cut the rest of my encounters short for now. In a whirlwind Bako was a really good time, the hiking felt like a true jungle experience and I did get to see all the wildlife i had hoped to see. There is a lot more to say than that, but these computer nerds in the corner are asking for it, and i don't think i can hold myself back much longer!
Maybe Dust and Matt will have more patience.
Talk to you later
~Love Kev

(Matthew) Kuching is finally behind us. We left the hustle and bustle of the big city and headed out to the national park of Bako. We had to take a bus to the Bako Jetty and then a river boat. The water there is so muddy but i'm starting to think that all of the water on borneo looks pretty much the same. we arrived and found that the place we were supposed to stay was a bungalow that was built in a swamp. talk about a breeding ground for mosquitos. yuck. but we managed to get away without getting bit to much and we've all been taking our malaria pills regularly so we should be fine. actually, there isn't really supposed to be any malaria in this area but better safe then sorry.

Bako isn't a large park but it does have lots of cool hiking trails. in 2005 there were over 26,000 visitors to the park. it's even becoming world famous for Probiscus monkeys. but the monkeys that are everywhere are the smaller macaque monkeys. they are little thieves and everyone there gets tired of them really fast. they are also very aggressive and will sometimes bite people. kevin was taking picture of a little one that was next to a tree. i snuck up and scared the little guy, which made him run off and start yelling like i was trying to kill him. all of his buddies came and surrounded me. i thought they might try to bite me but we managed to chase them off.

one of the coolest things we did while at bako was our night excursion through the jungle. we hiked about half a kilometer to a really cool lookout. i made the mistake of going in my flipflops. not such a good idea since it turned out that we had to go through some mud puddles. i ended up having to do the last part of the trail barefoot and something stung my foot, or bit me or something. but it hurt. but the viewpoint was worth it. the moon was out and we could look down on the jungle and the ocean. it was beautiful. and the sounds were amazing. it reminded me of those nature sound tapes that people make....

the next day we went for a long hike through the jungle. we saw monitor lizards, silvertailed langurs, probiscus monkeys, flying lemurs and lots of insects. it was a great day. i had a blast at bako.

we left on our third day and headed back to kuching. we got a late enough start so we decided to stay in kuching and get up early the next morning. we didn't get to sleep until about 1:00 am and then we got up at 6:00. talk about no fun. and then the bus ended up being really late so it wasn't worth getting up early. but after a long boat ride and another long bus ride we finally reached bintalu. we went to the first place that was suggested by our travel book for us to stay and asked to see a room. the room was pretty dirty looking and then a huge rat ran across the floor. it was about 8-10 inches long without it's tail. we left in a hurry and found somewhere else to stay. and that bring us to today. hope you guys are all doing great. don't be afraid to write.

(Dust)
Kev is right, this room is amazingly irritating. There are a million different noises going on at the same time and there is this one kid who keeps yelling in the corner. I suppose if we were playing games too we wouldn't have a problem with it.
Well that park was pretty amazing. We made a mental list of animals we wanted to see while we were there and saw every one of them in only really 1 day of hiking. The night hike was pretty cool, there were millions of spiders all along the trail for you spider lovers. You could only see them when you had a light right by your face pointing out because it was only their eyes that would reflect directly back at the light. The bats again were pretty amazing, in one of the pictures it looks like there is a stick lying across the boardwalk but its actually a bat coming right at us. Its really cool because the headlamps attract the bugs and the bats go nuts right in front of your face.
The next day we actually did some hiking during the day and left the HQ with only 1.5 L of water because the main area said they didn't have any more at the time. We really regretted that after even only about 2 hours on the trail. Down in the lower jungle the humidity is really oppressive and has you sweating REALLY fast even though you aren't boiling hot.
When we got back, thankfully they had more water. It was nice to just chill out and watch the macaques raid the cafeteria area whenever anyone would leave some cookies or food out. Those monkeys can be a real pain in the neck but they're still cute. Just at the HQ area there were about 3 different kinds of monkeys. Its also pretty cool that you can only get in and out of the park by boat, making it a little less populated and more laid back. Pretty neat place but this internet place is getting to me and I can't think right now....maybe some more later.

Cheers,
Dustin

---