Orang-utan with baby at Semengoh Wildlife Centre in Sarawak

Orang-utans at Semengoh Wildlife Centre in Sarawak

Our cabin at Bako National Park

Green Pit Viper in a tree by our cabin at Bako

Long-tailed Macaque Bako National Park

Sliver Leaf Monkey or Silvered langur (Presbytis cristata)

Mangroves Bako National Park

Mud Skippers at Bako

Mud Skippers at Bako

Natasha, Helen and Sebastian at the top of plateau in Bako

Weathered sandstone surface on the plateau at Bako

View from the plateau at Bako

Nepenthes rafflesiana with typical lower pitcher morphology

Nepenthes rafflesiana with typical aerial pitcher morphology

Nepenthes ampullaceae lower pitchers

Sebastian and Natasha climbing down from the plateau at Bako

Tangle of tree roots at Bako

Eating out in Kuching

Sungai Sarawak Kuching

Fisherman on Sungai Sarawak Kuching

Longboat trip on Batang Ai heading to the longhouse

Children playing in river at Nanga Sumpa Longhouse

Children at Nanga Sumpa Longhouse

Longboats at Nanga Sumpa Longhouse

Nanga Sumpa Longhouse a traditional Iban longhouse as seen from the river

Guesthouse at Nanga Sumpa

Our room at Nanga Sumpa

Sebastian at Nanga Sumpa

Inside the guesthouse at Nanga Sumpa

Helen and Natasha inside the guesthouse at Nanga Sumpa

Inside common area at Nanga Sumpa

Mother with child at the longhouse

Iban dancers Nanga Sumpa Longhouse

Iban dancer

Iban dancer

Oscar with Draco volans

Large centipede

Soon after arriving in Kuching we visited the Semengoh Wildlife Centre before going on to Bako National Park.

Bako National Park is located in a peninsula and is considered to be one of the best places in Sarawak to see wildlife in natural surroundings. To get to the park we took a 20-minute boat ride from Kampung Bako. The cabins here were simple but adequate, washing facilities were very basic and you were often accompanied by rats, which chewed anything that was left out.

We saw quite a few of these snakes during our hikes through the rainforest

Long-tailed Macaques were common and could be a problem at meal times as they would steal food at any opportunity.

These monkeys live in troops and share the same territory as the proboscis monkey. Leaf monkeys were also quite common around the cabins.

It took 1.5 - 2 hour to climb from the mangrove swamps up the steep sandstone escarpment to the plateau and get this fantastic view of the South China Sea

The plateau at Bako is a paradise for anybody interested in insectivorous plants. Nepenthes rafflesiana has two types of pitcher morphology lower and aerial.

The massed ranks of tangled roots made walking difficult.

After leaving Bako we returned to Kuching to do some much needed laundry and prepare for out trip to Batang Ai

We stayed in this guesthouse on the other side of the river.

All four of us slept on mattresses surrounded by mosquito nets in this very cosy room.

On one of our extended hikes from Nanga Sumpa Natasha had a close encounter with this Draco