Naughty, naughty, naughty!

Getting to Bako was as much a part of the adventure as living in the jungle for a week was. The hour bus ride from Kuching was easy although having the bus driver carry my luggage over the heads of passengers through the length of the bus was slightly concerning. Arriving at the pier, the tides were still quite low so our boat driver agreed to take us reticently and we soon worked out why. The swell was reasonably high and being the skilled boats man that he was, managed to dodge most of the waves that were crashing around us however

there were still a sneaky few that made it onto us. Arriving at the beach, Tony and I once again cursed the huge bags we owned as we had to jump into the water and carry them ashore.
Settling into our very basic accomodation-single beds, cold showers complete with damp and mould due to the rainy season, we got our bearings and hung out on the porch and chatted to our neighbours Gerhardt and Charlotte. They quickly informed us not to ever eat food on the balcony as the naughty long tail macaques would steal it. They had had 5 come up to them and steal their biscuits and a few days later as I opened the door to put out my shoes I saw a Mum and her baby spot me. As we both laid eyes on each other, I called out a slightly anguished 'Macaques!' to Tony and scurried inside which they mistook as an invitation onto our balcony. They jumped up on the railings, walked the length of the balcony and then the baby jumped up on our windows, feeling the flyscreen for any weaknesses. The Mum then walked the whole perimeter, clearly checking for entrances and then moved onto the next bungalow where there were people staying. 5 mins later we saw her running delightedly away with a white plastic object in her mouth. This scene was repeated over and over again at the canteen where a macaque jumped up onto a man's table, stealing a piece of chicken off his plate and again when two macaques tried to drink the cans of beer that a newly arrived couple had forgotten to hide. 'Naughty, naughty naughty' a Malaysian lady said shaking her head and holding

onto a stick tightly. 'You need one of these, they are so very naughty!'
Bako was in all fairness, is one of the most amazing places that I have ever stayed and both Tony and I fell under it's magical spell immediately. Taking a night walk with the Rangers on our first night, we saw a bewildering amount of creatures including a 25cm long scorpion, pit viper, kingfishers, a civet, a drongo, numerous stick insects, spiders, flying lemurs, catfish, tarantula holes and a poisonous rock frog. Our walk ended with our guide taking us to the edge of the water where it met the jungle, and to our delight, we were surrounded by fireflies. Just magical! During our own walk through the jungle we saw proboscis monkeys, bearded pigs, squirrels, geckoes, sun lizards, bats, crabs,

mudskippers and a grey snake.
For most part, the monsoon rains fell after our daily trek but for one day, it was torrential and the tin roof banged day and night with the pelting rain. Playing Yahtzee by the beach, we were suddenly surprised to see a family of usually shy proboscis monkeys playing in the trees nearby. Entertaining us for over an hour with their incredible noses and deliciously round tummies, Tony and I were enthralled. They kindly permitted us close enough to get not only incredible photos but see their behaviour and attributes clearly. These beautiful animals only live in Borneo so to have seen them for such an extended period was a real honour.
After a week we had gotten into the jungle rhythm of treks, proboscis watching and sunset gazing,

lulled to sleep by the constant rain and unusual jungle noises. We were loving being surrounded by nature and the simplicity of our humble little home. We couldn't however, shake off the anticipation of my birthday however, as we had treated ourselves to lure luxury for two nights at the Hilton.
On my birthday, we woke to realisation that for once it had not pelted rain all night, in fact, the sun was shining and we had blue sky. Rushing to book a boat off the island, we packed up with an eagerness neither of us had known. Catching the boat early and having a nearly rain free trip, our kind boatman stopped in the middle of the river and said: "Would you like to see a crocodile?" Laying on the side of the bank, was a metre long baby croc, looking at us warily. Amazed how close he was yet how camouflaged he'd been, we quickly spotted another. Then another. The last one decided to make a move-towards us! Our engine stopped, I was indeed thankful when it spluttered up again and with our little croc friend swimming towards us, we sped past. "There was a 14 foot crocodile in my village

last week" Omar shared and I was once again delighted that I had chosen not to trek to the beach where one had been sighted.
Alighting at the jetty, the bus to Kuching was waiting and we excitedly got on. We couldn't contain our happiness of managing to leave Bako without getting drenched and our bags remaining dry. The bus dropped us metres away from our coveted Hilton and looking like the skanky flashpackers we were, we put our heads up high and walked boldly in. After all, we had prepaid!
The Hilton staff were kind, helpful and discreet in their (almost certainly!) disgust at our appearance and state. I managed to quickly whip off the bin liner I had so attractively put over my bag toward off the torrential rain. The bellboy brought up our bags and when he opened the room, and Tony and I had to restrain ourselves from jumping with joy.
Our room was beautiful! It had a huge window from ceiling to floor overlooking the river, a marble bathroom, massive bed, clean sheets, fluffy towels and even a bath. As the door shut, we did indeed jump for joy and moments later, Tony gave me the best birthday present ever of whisking away my filthy laundry and hours later bringing it back smelling once again like apples. Bliss! We couldn't have been happier.
We spent our last few days in Borneo by the river, walking through the kampungs, catching local ferries and eating our favourite food from Tony's clay pot lady. Oh, and there was also some sneaky swimming in the beautiful Hilton pool too!