Anyone can visit Bako National Park in a day. Located 37 kilometres from Kuching, the park is rich with an abundance of flora and fauna with at least seven major types of vegetation typical of Sarawak. Although it is one of Southeast Asia's smallest national parks it contains almost every type of vegetation found in Borneo.
Not only is Bako compact, it's easy to explore. Jungle trekking is the best way to fully absorb the richness of the park's treasure. A system of 16 colour-coded walking trails offers full day jungle hikes to gentle strolls. The circular Lintang trail passes through all of Bako's vegetation types from dipterocarp forest, scrub-like padang, swamp forest, mangroves and delicate cliff vegetation. The Telok Delima and Telok Paku trails are the best vantage.
The park can only be reached by a 20-minute boat ride from Kampung Bako. It has been protected since 1957 so the animals have become used to human visitors and are less shy than their remote jungle cousins. This means a good chance of seeing wildlife and getting close enough to take photographs.
The proboscis monkey, only found in Borneo, may be the star of the wildlife show but it has a supporting cast of long-tailed macaque monkeys, usually patrolling the park headquarters, silvered leaf monkey monitor lizards and squirrels. Bako is also a good place for bird watching, particularly the hornbills. Bird watchers are spoiled for choice. More than 150 species have been recorded at Bako, including some rare varieties.
Small bays, steep cliffs and sandy beaches make Bako's coastline a delight. Along the sandy footpaths you will find the insect-eating pitcher plants that have been known to devour over small mammals. From the beach at Pandan Kecil you can see Bako's trademark, the sea stack carved by the waves.
The best time to visit the park is during the drier season of April through September. It is advisable not to go there during the months of October until March as the sea gets rough due to the monsoon and access to the park may not be possible.
Things to do
Wildlife observation and study, mountain trekking with 17 trails to choose from, ranging in difficulty from Tanjung Sapi (0.5km in approx. 30 mins one way) to Teluk Limau (5.75km in more than 7 hours), camping, beach strolls and swimming, photography and bird watching.
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