Tuesday, October 03, 2006
10/03/2006 06:45:00 AM

Mangrove Forest in the Sea @ Bako, Kuching

posted by Francis Ho

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If you’re Kelvin and like most people, you would never expect to find a forest of trees growing in the sea! It was too early on a saturday morning for us to be drinking langkau and the likes and we were not hallucinating either and here are the photographs to disprove any such notions!

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These are mangrove trees which has over time adapted itself to the harsh marine conditions and are thriving so well that there's actually a forest of them growing along a stretch of the coastline at Bako. At low tides one can see that the trees are growing on sandy alluvial soil but when the tides come in, they submerge the roots and a good part of the trunks so that it would appear as if the trees are growing out of the sea! A most surreal sight that is a wonder to behold and a privilege granted to only those on a kayak due to the shallow draft and mud flaps that would play havoc to an outboard motor. Most tourists going to the Bako National Park by motorboats would most likely miss this wonder on the way to the park's entrance. But not us!

Have you ever seen a forest in the sea? No? And would you like to be able to see one?

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  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Blogger S.U.E said:

OMG! Lovely! Lovely! Lovely!

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

Mangrove forest is lovely when the tide is right, but during low tide...well, not bad also lah...but prefer to view it during high tide and can thus see the wonderful trees that seems to be growing on water :P

Thanks for lifting the moderation...and for that anon commentar...get a life and stop leaving nasty comments in uncle's blog

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Blogger Wuching said:

chey! thats global warming so now the forest is under water! hahahaha..btw, how do i RSS ur new blog? i can't do it now that u host it on a different server!

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

Wuching..idiotic....Uncle..bring him on the kayak when he's here and drown him in the mangrove forest while u at it hahahahaha

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Blogger The Moody Minstrel said:

There are actually mangrove forests in some parts of the U.S., mainly Florida. I have never seen them. Kayaking through one sounds like a wonderful idea.

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

can do any fishing there, fh2o?

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Blogger gus said:

I've seen mangrove forest in TV,
But not like that, at sea.
The real life I'd really like to sea.
To touch and smell the ocean, the see,
among the beautiful mangrove trees.

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

mangroovedan - yes! but u need to be sea kayaker first to reach there and return to shore safely. the seas there are unpredictable n can be treacherous at times especially at the end of the year. and it is such a beautiful spot. i love the bako coastline!

agus - i like that! :o)

  At Tuesday, 03 October, 2006 Blogger philters said:

hi there! i've been to bako twice, but never on a kayak, so that looks pretty exciting. bako also has a very cool karangas forest which is actually forests growing out of solid rock.

you gues should kayak out to the bako sea stack, man:)

  At Wednesday, 04 October, 2006 Blogger HappySurfer said:

There are mangrove swamps along the coast of Peninsula Malaysia too, lots of them esp on the west coast right down to Johore. When it's low tide, one can see mud-skippers doing their thing. Interesting to watch. Nice last picture, though reminiscent of a flood.

  At Wednesday, 04 October, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

I've countlessly been to Bako since the late 90s but have never kayak-ed there. This is definitely (an exhausting) experience but it was great! Being adapted to the forest, I prefer the jungle hikes but kayaking along the Bako coastline is an experience no one should miss!!

philters - We went to the sea stack and beyond, and it was good! But the whole coastline looks radically different from a kayak worldview. ;-)

fh2o - sorry to 'tumpang' your blog laa... ;-)

  At Wednesday, 04 October, 2006 Anonymous Anonymous said:

kelvin - no problem! friends are always most welcomed to drop in here!

yes, kayaking along the Bako coastline is really something magical and an 'experience of a lifetime'. I always wondered why ppl here travelled overseas at great expense and time and yet has never seen the beauty of our rainforests nor our coastline. Are you and me the lone madmen here!!! hahaha


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