Brunei - The search of the proboscis monkeys

As far as our 5 year-od son was concerned, travelling to Brunei was all about the proboscis monkeys. He was talking about it for days before we left for Brunei. It was a sentiment that I also shared. The proboscis monkey is an endangered species and can only be found in Borneo. Whilst you normally would have to go to national parks and wildlife parks to see them in Malaysia and Indonesia, in Brunei a short boat trip from the jetty in the middle of Bandar Seri Begawan can almost guarantee sightings.

A couple of considerations to make:

1) Timing

The monkeys are the most active early in the morning and a couple of hours before sunset, the latter to feed before nightfall. We went at 5pm (on our first day in BSB) when the heat was more bearable.

 

2) Ways to do it

Many tour companies offer a River Safari tour to see the proboscis monkeys in BSB. I have seen a couple of tours costing upwards of RM200 per person.

Alternatively, you can just stand at the jetty next to Kaisen Restaurant and I can promise you that at least 2 water taxis will come and offer to take you on a tour. We got ours for BND40 - for a trip to see the monkeys as well as Kampung Ayer floating village - on a (very clean) wooden boat with an overhead shelter. I think there were lifejackets, but we brought Snufkin's own child-sized one.


The search for the proboscis monkeys

The boat sped down Brunei River away from the city. Soon we lost sights of evidence of human settlements. There was something very tranquil in the way our boat glided over the water with mangroves and thick riverine forests on our sides. I thought that it was amazing the way you could be surrounded with such lush greenery only minutes after you left the city centre. You would be hard-pressed to find this in other capital cities.

Our boatman scanned the trees for the proboscis monkeys. It was just our (lack of) luck that they were not as easy to locate that evening. Eventually we saw another boat parked at the riverbank, with its occupants all looking upwards. We joined them and saw, high up in the trees, a small group of the primates with their strange and bulbous noses and astonishingly long tails. Alas, our camera was not of the sophisticated type and hence the few lousy shots:


A rear view shot of the Proboscis monkey

Spot the monkey

What's funnier than the above lousy shots was that Snufkin fell asleep on the boat as we were trying to locate the monkeys. I did wake him up when we saw the group of the proboscis monkeys but after a minute he fell asleep again. So for all his excitement and anticipation of going to Brunei to see this particular species of primates, all he could remember was a few groggy moments of looking at the rear of a couple of proboscis monkeys.
 
As far as nature-related attraction goes, I think it's important to manage your expectations. I was hoping to see more proboscis monkeys at closer range but alas, this was no Disneyland. The monkeys were at their natural habitat and could very well be anywhere. We did see other species of wildlife - huge monitor lizard, herons, egrets, long-tailed macaques, other unidentifiable birds and even a crocodile. Our boat driver told us that the crocodiles in the Brunei River do not eat human beings as they have enough food supply. I was not sure I believed him.


Spot the monitor lizard

A lone egret

Our boat then made its way towards Kampong Ayer (directly translated to Water Village). This is a group of villages contructed on stilts over the Brunei River, connected by plankways and foot-bridges. They have their own school, restaurants, police station, fire station and even a museum.


Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery

Whilst referrring to it as the "Venice of the East" might be stretching it too far, I learnt that the Water Village is special in its own way as it has been around for over 1,300 years and that it is populated by more than 30,000 people, which is roughly 10% of the country's total population. In a way, it reminded me of the floating village on Tonle Sap, Cambodia, only that Brunei's Kampong Ayer is not is not as squalid and poverty-stricken as it enjoys modern amenities including satellite television, air conditioning, plumbing and electricity.


Villagers making their way to a wedding



Older houses in the village

Some of the newer houses -most are air-conditioned

After zig-zagging our way through the water villages, soon it was time to return. Snufkin woke up as soon as the boat docked at the jetty and his first question was "Why was the boat ride so short?". He slept for most part of the 1.5-hours tour and obviously did not see much of the proboscis monkeys. I later bought him a proboscis monkey cuddly toy as a souvenir of Brunei - that was probably the only time he could see a proboscis monkeys in all its elongated-appendage-glory.

 



Our boat making its way home