MULU CANOPY SARAWAK

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Dense vegetation clings to every surface and trees are draped with orchids, ferns and creepers. Insects, lizards and squirrels dash up and down the tree trunks with butterflies and dragonflies adding a burst of colour as they glide by. Peculiar insects buzz past in search of a mate and a wild perfume wafts down from the canopy where tropical flowers bloom. How do you discover all this and understand why Mulu is one of the World's biodiversity 'hot-spots'? Try one of our rainforest activities. Guided tours leave the office daily; the return trip will take approximately 2 hours. Bookings are essential and group sizes are limited to 7. The Mulu Canopy Skywalk at 480 metres is the longest tree-based walkway in the World. As you walk among the ferns and vines 15-25 metres above the forest floor and river you will enjoy tis unique opportunity to get closer to the rainforest 'web of life.'

THE BAT EXODUS

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Twelve species of bats have been recorded within Deer Cave, including the colony of Wrinkled-Lipped Bats estimated to number between 2.5 and 3.5 million individuals. While you wait in the Bat Observatory for the nightly flight of bats to begin you can watch the secret life of millions of bats on MULU BAT CAM a remote controlled, closed circuit TV system which takes you into the dark recesses of the cave to observe the bat 'live,' up close and sometimes a bit personal. Expectation builds as the sun moves towards the horizon and the Bat Hawks take up their roost on the cliff face, waiting for the first of the millions of bats appear. Each evening the bats gather at the cave entrance in large ring-shaped formations, circling higher and higher up the cliff face before moving out cross the rainforest in spiralling ribbons. It has been estimated that nightly each bat consumes between five and ten grams of flying insects. This means that 3 million bats will return in the morning to deposit a huge amount of guano in the cave and provide a unique ecosystem, home to millions of insects and their predators. The bats leave the cave on most evenings between 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm but on rare occasions do not leave at all. Even more rarely they sometimes leave as early as 4.30 pm. The return   trip to Park HQ is a wonderful time to move through the forest, listening to the calls of the frogs and insects, often seeing fireflies and stick insects.

DEER CAVE

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We sat and watched millions of bats stream out of Deer Cave, they fly as far away as the coast to gorge themselves on 15 tons of insects. Adventure Caving in Mulu is so exciting, exploring deep underground with just a torch to show you the way. I envied how easily the bats found their way around in the pitch black. It is so big-the largest cave passage in the World. As we walked around Deer Cave,100 metre columns of water fell to the floor and a huge underground river roared beneath our feet. Climbing was such as

a challenge but the view of the 40 metre high Pinnacles was an amazing reward. I didn't believe them when they said going back down would be the hardest! We were suspended 20 metres above the river and rainforest, it was so beautiful. The Mulu Canopy Skywalk is 480metres long with walkways swaying from tree-top, it was breath-taking.A path leads into the cave and winds its way around, following the natural contours of the cave floor. Although the path is lit, a flashlight is useful for examining the guano-covered cave floor and its population of insects. The path eventually leads to the “Garden I Eden” where a hole in the cave roof lets in a shaft of light which allows the rich green vegetation to thrive. Another feature is the famous profile of Abraham Lincoln, which guards the southern entrance of the cave.You can also visit Deer Cave is a cave that has a tunnel that is the largest in the world that can take five measures cathedral church of Saint Paul in London.Another major attraction here is the Clearwater Cave that is the longest cave in Southeast Asia. Large caves are home to millions of bats and swiftlets clustering flying out into the jungle every evening.