A visit to Bongawan for firefly watching was one of the activities planned during Paul and Junshi's holiday back in KK in August. We were happy to be invited to join this excursion. Four years earlier, in July 2022, when Serene's family came back to KK for a holiday, we had travelled to Kota Belud to join a Kawa Kawa River Cruise, where we were treated to a spectacular display of fireflies. This time, we thought it would be interesting to experience another of Sabah's popular natural attractions and see what Bongawan had to offer - the proboscis monkeys along the riverbanks and the fireflies that gather among the mangrove vegetation after sunset.
Compared with our experience in 2022 (Read here), however, this excursion which started at a jetty at River Paradise Bongawan was rather disappointing from a wildlife-watching perspective. We managed to spot just one lone proboscis monkey, a small crocodile hidden behind a cluster of tree roots and a few macaques along the riverbanks. The contrast was particularly noticeable when it came to the fireflies. If I were to give the two experiences a simple score for the abundance of fireflies, I would have rated this trip perhaps 1 out of 10, compared with 10 out of 10 in July 2022.
As we drifted quietly along the river in the gathering darkness, I could not help wondering why the difference was so striking. Was it simply a matter of location? Could weather conditions, the season, the tide or other natural factors have played a part? Or could the changes we are seeing in the environment, including climate change and increasing human activity, be gradually affecting the habitats on which these creatures depend? It is difficult to say based on a single visit. Nevertheless, the dramatic contrast with our 2022 experience was hard to ignore.
Fortunately, the tour operators had incorporated, whether deliberately or coincidentally, several other attractions into the programme, perhaps recognising that wildlife sightings can never be guaranteed. After an early buffet dinner, we were taken to the river mouth to see the sunset.
Unfortunately, the sunset was not as spectacular as we had hoped. The sky was heavily overcast, with thick clouds and haze, reportedly caused in part by the forest fires in Kalimantan. Later, all the visitors were led to the seafront to watch a fire-spinning performance, during which a performer sent showers of sparks into the sky. These additional activities helped to some extent make up for the relatively disappointing wildlife sightings and ensured that the evening remained enjoyable.
In the end, the Bongawan excursion turned out to be a reminder that nature does not always perform according to our expectations. We may travel specifically to see proboscis monkeys or fireflies, but wildlife remains unpredictable and is influenced by many environmental factors. While the abundance of fireflies and proboscis monkeys we experienced in 2022 was truly memorable, this year’s more subdued encounter offered a different lesson - the importance of protecting the river, mangroves and surrounding habitats so that these remarkable natural attractions can continue to thrive for future generations of visitors.
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