Cwtching in Kuching

Too soon the time came when we had to leave Lankayan Island 😣. (Kicking & screaming) we returned to the mainland by speed boat and caught our flight to Kuching ✈.

The next morning we were picked up by our guide and we ventured to Bako National Park, notable for its incredible biodiversity. Our guide was Alex, a very enthusiastic individual and he clearly had a love for nature 🐛.

We arrived at Bako via boat ride and waded onto the shore barefoot where we were greeted by Macaques on the beach foraging for flowers. As we progressed inland, other animals emerged such as more probosis monkeys, bearded pigs, silver leaf monkeys and a green pit viper.

Alex took us on an unexpected and very sweaty jungle hike. This led us to a sandstone plateau where the search for various species of carnivorous plants began.

Throughout the plateau we found pitcher plants of varying sizes. These ranged from the size of your little finger to ones as large as a water bottle! The plants lie waiting for an unsuspecting creature to venture a little too close to its edge, fall in and inevitably get digested alive by the juices within.

Along the trail we came across a small snake lying on the path. Unsure what type of snake it was, Alex asked us what colour it was. We bent down to take a closer look and replied "redish brown". Flicking through his personalised snake book he was not 100% certain on the species and we moved on...

At the jetty awaiting to leave Bako we got talking to another guide who excitedly told Alex that he had seen 4 species of snake today 😄. We wondered if we could trump his snake sightings with ours. We showed him the photo of the one we saw and he confirmed it was a Coral Snake! He exclaimed that we had just seen one of the most deadly snakes in the world, 2nd to the black mamba found in India! I still can't believe we were casually looking at it so closely! 😰

Apologies for the lack of blog photos at this point, my phone has deleted photos 😕. But don't worry, Steve's on his 2nd memory card 🙈👍.Read more