Rained Out at the Park

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I had the misfortune to visit Bako on a rainy day. As in, it rained all day.

I left Kuching on the second bus and arrived an hour later. After buying a poncho to keep dry, three other people and I were herded into a boat. Of course, we somehow were assigned the boat with no cover. We were told to choose a return time, and hoping for better weather later in the day, we opted for 4pm. You can't change your boat time and you can't change your boating group. We weathered the icy speed boat ride with our heads down.

Upon arrival at the dock, we made a beeline for the cafeteria to get tea and warm up. Finally, around noon, the rains seemed to be letting up, so we set out for one of the trails. The Swede in our group somehow got the brilliant idea to bring bananas with, making us more popular than we wanted. I was not amused. "The signs say "do not feed the animals!" I yelled over the squeals of monkeys. "I didn't think they were serious!" was his reply. Allow me to assure you that in Asia, unlike slightly-over-protective-and-worried-about-lawsuits western countries, these signs should always be taken seriously. Perhaps more seriously than the sign even implies. I watched him get chased around by a wild pig and some monkeys; when he finally threw them the fruit (he'd been trying to run with it), they grabbed it and started fighting each other for it.

We made it to the trail and it stopped raining. We started out, noting that the water was over our ankles and we couldn't see if the ground was even. Then the rain started again. And it rained harder. Then we met two women and their guide. The guide pointed to the rushing waterfall and said it was probably not safe to continue and they were headed back. That was all the suggestion I needed. Considering how many times on my trip I've already fallen when I could see the ground, I wasn't about to tempt fate with rain, high waters, and uneven ground.

I spent the rest of my day in the cafeteria chatting with other travelers and watching football. At one point, monkeys did make a few valient attempts to steal our food, but we managed to keep it. Until the next time, when they made off with someone's unguarded cookies.

Finally, 4pm arrived, and just as we left, so did the rain. Naturally.

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Photos

Awww... a Bornean Bearded Pig
Wait, why are you coming toward me?

Ummm, no
This is why they tell you to not feed the animals.

Uh, oh...
Bornean Bearded Pigs like bananas

long-tailed macaque
They haven't noticed the food. Yet.

They noticed
long-tailed macaque

Fighting over food
long-tailed macaque

So pretty
Even in the rain

In the rain forest!
The 10 minutes of the day that it didn't rain.

long-tailed macaque
Looking for food in the cafeteria

Sand after the rain
I just like the marbling pattern.