Monkey Mania

Proboscis monkey in the mangroves

I got up at 6am to try and catch the proboscis monkeys at the mangroves, and to my delight I was rewarded with about seven of them. They were funny to watch, they were aware of me but not too worried since I was sitting up under one of the boardwalk shelters. (This is because it had bucketed down during the night and everything else was saturated). They moved out further and another group of three came along. They look so funny clambering along the mudflats, to be honest I was surprised that they were there. I asked a guide yesterday why they come there and he said they were looking for worms and crabs, but a quick Google search has otherwise indicated that they eat leaves and fruit so perhaps the mangrove trees are just plain delicious (if a little salty!) Although I did see the proboscis monkeys at Kinabatangan, this was pretty awesome as there was nobody else around at all and I had them all to myself.

Healthy breakfast

When they had moved away I walked back towards the canteen, but at the jetty I heard a noise behind the bin. I crept up to find a macaque with his head inside a chip packet, licking the flavour off the wrapper! He couldn't have cared less that I was there 3 feet from him taking photos. He got inside the bin itself then, finding more wrappers. There's quite a bit of rubbish around the place which I now realise is caused by the monkeys. I feel that in a national park though, perhaps better monkey-proof bins would be a good idea.

Canteen, complete with bearded pig

On returning to the canteen for breakfast I was greatly entertained by a couple of macaques who were stealing food from a girl who was screaming like... well, a girl. It was hilarious, they were so cunning and funny to watch. I spent the rest of the morning there just enjoying the wildlife, there were lots of macaques of course, huge bearded pigs (or wild boars depending on who you ask) snuffling about, an enormous lizard with a paddle tail that I wouldn't have wanted to get in a fight with, and then the proboscis monkeys came back too. You didn't need to leave the canteen to see wildlife, that's for sure.

Randolph and I then shared a boat back. We went out over water that was so shallow, I'm not sure how we made it. At low tide the park is inaccessible so we can't have been far off. About halfway back we hit something and the motor died, so we waited while the driver fixed it. There was a big sandbar next to us and we were tempted to get out and walk! There were heaps of locals out on the flat looking for clams. Once underway again, we chugged back at a snail's pace and arrived just in time to catch the bus back to Kuching. I noted that we hadn't been asked to wear lifejackets (billed everywhere as "essential!") but as Randolph pointed out, if we'd fallen overboard there's a good chance the water wouldn't have reached our knees anyway.

Stunning Weather

We went in search of a Sarawak Laksa for lunch as it's the local specialty, but apparently it's a breakfast food! We did find one though and it was good. After that I checked into my hotel, and decided to go to the movies for some air-conditioning. I saw the new Harry Potter, it looked like something you might record with an iPhone (and quite possibly was, I suppose!) and had subtitles in both Malay and Chinese. The sound quality was so bad that I actually got a lot of clues about what was going on from the Malay! I got some popcorn and I think the man next to me thought I was a bit strange because when I put it in my mouth I made a surprised noise, it's not buttered, but sweet instead. Still, it was a fun experience and I emerged from the frozen cinema once again ready to face the heat.