Cave Men

Mulu National Park, Malaysian Borneo (map)

In this blog: DIY rafting, the sight of three million bats, and the world's biggest cave passage

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It's funny how with nothing but a stretch of water and our imagination, four grown men can de-evolve into a bunch of teenagers.

This was in Mulu National Park, where still with Rene, Max and Tof I was experiencing the wonders of it's caves and jungle. Our hostel was close to a waist deep river, and after our intermediate caving session we went for a bathe to relax. The current was strong enough to take us downstream without being dangerous, and after a while Max came up with the idea of floating down to the park office, a quarter of a mile away. So we did. We soon found the water was too shallow really, and bashed ourselves constantly on submerged stones and logs, with a constant shrill of painful encounters echoing from all directions. 

Me, Tof, Rene and Max with 'the banana boat', in
front of the hostel, with Mt Mulu behind. Good times.

The water deepened and a couple of us clung onto some vines hanging down from a tree into the water, floating on the spot for a while. Tof spotted a huge piece of bamboo stuck in the river bank and yanked it out, and before we knew it to the tune of hysterical laughter, the 'banana boat' was born - a natural version of those inflatable things people ride behind speed boats at package holiday beach resorts. There was just enough boyancy in the bamboo that we were all able to claim a spot, straddling this piece of wood like you would on a greasy pole. For ten minutes of so we managed to float downstream, once again getting caught on the odd rock or tree before we reached the jetty, where we lifted it out and walking barefoot along the road, carried it back to the hostel much to the amusement of all the locals. We even stepped it up another gear the following day, cutting the bamboo into sections and lashing it together with some rope we found to form a raft. There was great anticipation when it launched, only to find it was barely capable of taking one of us. Oh well.

It was so much fun, so carefree and spontaneous, one of the benefits of being with a group and a great memory of this trip.

Deer Cave

Whilst Mulu National Park was all about adventure activities for us - our German/ Canadian/ Belgium/ British bunch of lads - it would be rude to visit without seeing it's main attraction - Deer Cave - the largest cave passage in the world.

Deer cave - the largest cave passage in the world

We wandered along wooden boardwalks through the thick jungle of the park, and after leaving the wooded area to see the rocky cave entrance my jaw dropped and seemed to stay dropped. It was truly awesome, the scale of what I saw beyond what my mind could comprehend, a bit like a natural Wembley Stadium inside except bigger and more impressive. We went inside along the nicely laid out paths, stopping for a bit of explanation along the way by the guide, who also showed us some fireflies. On the cave roof we could vaguely make out a large dark area which turned out to be large groups of bats huddled together, this explained the carpet of dry poo all around the cave floor, and the near overwhelming smell of ammonia in the air which was pretty unpleasant. A spot of a Tiger Balm around our nasal passages did the trick.

Neither words nor photos can do Deer Cave justice, it's one of those places when you just have to be there to be able to experience it.

Bat Exodus

A few hundred metres from the cave entrance was a viewing platform set up by the park where people congregate around 4.30pm every day. The reason? To watch the daily exodus of around three million bats leaving the cave to search for a spot of dinner.

We took our spot and waited patiently, before relatively small groups of bats started leaving. A Chinese-Australian girl held her shutter down constantly, taking hundreds if not thousands of shots to everyone's amusement. Gradually the groups started getting larger and more regular, until finally we saw one constant stream of bats exiting, looking like a stream of chimney smoke except morphing and moving in a wave-like pattern. Occasionally a separate group with leave the pack, spiralling off to one side in a circular motion like a spaceship. A mile or so from the cave, the stream dispersed into smaller packs, as the bats go off in different directions looking for fruit or insects, depending on what type of bat they are. 

It was an incredible sight that wowed everyone there for good reason, and only added to the experience of visiting Deer Cave. Quite some day at the office.

Bad exodus - we watched about 3 -4 million bats leave, on
their nightly hunt for food. An incredible sight.