Bako National Park

Bako National Park on the island of Borneo, is in Sarawak, a state in East Malaysia, and is home to the bizarre, obscene-nosed proboscis monkey. It is well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Bako enjoys sunny weather much of the year. Temperature is constant throughout the year, in the lowland range from a cool 23C in the evening and early morning to 33C under the shade during the day. But from late November to late January, the monsoon rain may spoil plans for an outing. The hottest months are usually from June to late August, when the tribal farmers do their slash-and-burn land clearing before planting their padi, this has been blamed for the haze that envelops the regions and may cause health hazards. But since the governments of both Malaysia and Indonesia have "banned" open burning, incidents of haze have been reduced somewhat.

The interior of the park can only be traversed on foot. Staying on or close to the marked trails is strongly advised. Boardwalks and ladders are installed to help with some of the more difficult stretches.

Small boats similar to those that take you to and from the park wait on the beaches at busy times of day and can be chartered to take you to other beachside destinations. A boat pickup can also be arranged to help ease the return journey from some of the park's longer trails that finish on beaches. Pulau Lakei, some distance offshore, can only be reached by boat.

A wide range of animal, bird and plant life including the Proboscis monkeys which come to the mangrove swamp to feed early evening. It's close to the lodging area where covered sheds are built, go there around 4PM, take a book and wait till they come. Seeing Proboscis and other species here is a lot easier and more comfortable than going on a safari. You just walk along an elevated wooden pathway, perhaps 10 minutes from where the boats land.