15 februari 2008 06:42

Born to be wild in the jungle

Borneo – Borneo is a word that has held an exotic fascination for me since childhood: the steaming jungles, the bizarre creatures, the sheer, middle-of-nowhereness of it. And now here I am, standing on a boardwalk over a swamp looking up at an animal that looks like a cross between a computer nerd and a Terry Gilliam cartoon.

The poor darling is a male proboscis monkey: he has a hairy tummy, a ginger Donald Trump comb-over and a nose like a pink cucumber. They are endangered, but not because they can`t attract the ladies. However, they are plentiful here in Bako National Park in the Malaysian Borneo state of Sarawak.

Bako, Malaysia`s oldest park, is a short drive north of Kuching. You then take a trip up the wide Bako River in a motorised longboat.

On either side is thick, green jungle and I just know it`s full of the weird, the wonderful and the best-left-alone. We pass secluded beaches and weathered sandstone stacks of rock, some rearing up out of the ocean.

Our welcoming committee at the little jetty is a gang of ne`er-do-wells with long tails and eager expressions. They are macaques, a naughty breed of monkey that is more likely to be thinking, "I wonder what`s in that backpack?" than, "Hi tourists. I hope you have a lovely day."

Source: www.nzherald.co.nz

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