Monkeying around in Borneo
There can't be many people in the world who can say they have seen rare monkeys in the wild, especially not the comical proboscis monkey. But, lucky little me can count myself among them – and they aren’t as hard to see as you might first think.
Heading out to Malaysian Borneo is a great place to start, and although I can't guarantee you will catch sight of these rare animals it’s the best place to have a go.
Kuching city, in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, is a great place to base yourself in while on the 'hunt' for rainforest life.
Kuching in Malay means 'cat'. And this place certainly takes its name seriously. It is home to the rather interesting cat museum, several cat statues dotted about, and of course, cats themselves.
One of the easiest ways I found to get to Kuching was to fly from Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. Take a look at Air Asia's website (www.airasia.com) where at certain times of the day they have some great deals on flights.
Once in Kuching you can organise or book trips out to the rainforest and surrounding areas and also organise heading further into exploring Borneo.
This island, which is also made up of Brunei and Indonesian Borneo, is also home to some of the only orangutans left in the world.
One of the most popular ways of getting to see these amazing creatures is through a visit to the Semenggok rehabilitation centre. Here the orangutans aren't completely in the wild, but they are free to come and go as they please.
Staff at the centre offer food for the wildlife, if they decide they want it. Of course, this means that sometimes there will be no-shows at the daily feeding, but if you get there early or hang around for a bit afterwards you might be lucky enough to catch sight of some orangutans just coming in for interaction with the staff. (When I was there a mother and baby came right up to us just before the feeding time.)
One of the main attractions in the area is Bato National Park. You can take a day trip from Kuching to Bato, or chose to spend a few nights in hut accommodation within the park.
If you aren't lucky enough to see proboscis monkeys (head to the mangroves on the river bank, this is where they feed) here while on one of the many rainforest walks, don't worry, you are sure to come face-to-face with some of the other monkeys who call this home, and you might even come across - what i can only describe as - a 'giant pig'. Something to look forward to.
Kuching is also a great place to pick up some authentic souvenirs brought straight from the makers - and have a look around at some of the jewellery which is really good value.
From here you can also travel downstream to stay with some of the local tribes who live in stilted huts on the river...but be warned, they don't speak much English.
This area is a little off the beaten track. Although you will come across other backpackers and tourists they are not likely to be in the numbers experienced on mainland South East Asia.
So get out there and become King of the jungle.
