Langkawi - Our Great Nature Escapade!

This March, our Poo-Poo Rocket landed in Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah! This beautiful island is located northwest of Peninsular Malaysia. 

We stayed at the stunning Andaman Langkawi resort that is nestled between the Andaman Sea and a 10 million year old rainforest. The Andaman has an inviting pool (with a slide!) and a Young Explorer's Club that offers an exciting range of activities for children. 

But the most fascinating activities are those that centre around the hotel's rich natural attractions. As the Andaman is enveloped by verdant trees and lush greenery, many animals make this rainforest their home. A wide variety of flora and fauna can be seen around the hotel and the Andaman also provides free guided nature walks that are informative and compelling. Our guide, Daia, told us about the medicinal value of different plants growing in the rainforest surrounding the hotel, as well as the 'resident' animals and their interesting traits. 

The flying lemur, or colugo, is a mammal that glides! This nocturnal creature is commonly seen sleeping in the day while hugging a tree trunk. Its two predators are the snake and the eagle. If the  colugo sleeps at the top of the tree trunk, the eagle can see it, while if it sleeps at the bottom of the tree, the snake will devour it. So colugos cleverly snooze in  the middle of  tree trunks! You can spot them on many trees around the Andaman. 

If you look up at the wooden beams of the hotel, you can also spy the White Gecko. This prized creature is illegally sold for thousands of dollars because the Chinese believe that its tongue can cure asthma. They are nocturnal animals and can literally say their own name. The females cry 'tokay' which is lizard in Hokkien, and the males say 'gecko'! Monitor lizards are a rare sight, but try to spot them wandering around the hotel grounds. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of one next to the swimming pool. Its tail was extremely long and its skin was grey in colour. It splayed out on the ground to sun itself! 

There are also many species of birds around the hotel grounds, for example, the hornbill and the feisty drongo. The latter is a very special bird that has two tails and is known for mimicking the call of other birds. When a bird of prey such as the eagle is in the vicinity, the drongo will mimic the sound of the eagle so as to warn the other animals of the imminent danger. It sometimes loses its tail when it engages the predatory eagle in a fight by covering the eagle's eyes with its longer, bottom tail! The drongo we saw flew so quickly that we couldn't capture a photograph of it, but we sure did spy its two distinctive tails! 

We rate the Andaman's nature walks 4 Poo-Poo Rockets 

The most memorable activity that we participated in at the Andaman was coral reef transplanting. Our patient and knowledgeable coral expert, Darren, told us all about corals and how they survive in the ocean. He recounted how in 2004, a tsunami hit the shores of the beach at the Andaman. 

Luckily, no lives were lost and no buildings were destroyed. However, much of the coral reefs along the hotel's beachfront, estimated to be between 6,000 to 8,000 years old, was damaged or swept away by the powerful waves unleashed by the tsunami. Therefore, the hotel management felt a great need to start a coral nursery to restore the coral reef in the bay to its original glory.

Darren started off the coral transplant by taking some coral from the nursery. Our job was to use super glue to fix the bottom of the corals onto a brick. 

The brick is then placed in the nursery until the corals are well-grown enough to be returned to the ocean. 

Guests are also welcome to snorkel at the coral nursery. Darren will help you put on a snorkel and a life vest, and will bring you around to see the amazing and magical underwater world. There are hermit crabs, lobsters, a number of 'Nemos' (clownfish), some sea urchins and lots of coral and algae. As you snorkel, the fish sometimes tickle your feet!

Can you spy the hermit crab on the third step? 

When we snorkelled  in the nursery, we had spied creatures that looked liked dried leaves floating in the water. What on earth were these strange looking things? Fortuitously, we bumped into Dr. Gerry, the Andaman's resident marine biologist. He told us that those creatures were called knife fish. Their slender shape enables them to protect themselves from predators by hiding between the spikes of the sea urchins. Aha!

Meeting the learned Dr. Gerry and admiring the coral nursery

We rate the Andaman's coral transplant programme 5 Poo-Poo Rockets 

The hotel really celebrates its natural surroundings and its close connection to flora and fauna. Every night, after your sheets are turned down, you will be surprised with a bookmark on your pillow that has a delightful poem about the animals. A lovely way to end the day! 

Other thoughtful, environmental touches include the placement of large drums of rainwater that guests can use to wash the sand off our feet after a day at the beach. 

Overall, we rate the Andaman Langkawi 5 Poo-Poo Rockets

Beyond the Andaman of course, Langkawi has much to offer! 

Traveling on a boat, we headed to a place with trees and thorns - the mangroves at the Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi's most impressive nature reserve. We fed bread to the colourful fish in the sea, 

and saw magnificent eagles swoop down low.

At the mangrove forest, cheeky crab-eating monkeys swung from tree to tree! Can you spy the monkeys hiding in the mangroves? 

We also wandered through a limestone cave to admire bats, stalactites and other limestone formations.

We rate Langkawi's Kilim Geoforest Park 5 Poo-Poo Rockets 

Bet you will be hungry after all that sight-seeing! Well, if you're in the mood for seafood and Malaysian Chinese cooking, Orkid Ria at Pantai Cenang is the place to go. With a wide selection of seafood, every dish is reasonably priced and the service is excellent. They serve different kinds of crab, lobster, and fish. If you are a fried rice lover, this dish is a must try - every grain is creamy and scrumptious! 

And what's a holiday without some little trinkets and souvenirs to take home? Just outside Orkid Ria, at around dinner time, you can't miss the cute wire keychains that this talented craftsman makes. First, he lets you choose the colour of the keychain. Then he takes a long piece of wire and after twisting and turning it with a pair of pliers, voila! There is your name in neon colours! On top of that, he affixes a dainty bell to the keychain, lending it a whimsical touch! 

Over at Pantai Tengah, we enjoyed delicious chocolate tarts and pastries at La Chocolatine, Langkawi's finest French patisserie, run by the amusing Chef Patrick. He grabbed his chef's hat just to take this pic with us! Cool! 

With so much to savour and enjoy, we rate the island of Langkawi 5 Poo-Poo Rockets!

 

What a truly thrilling and satisfying experience Langkawi was! We would be pleased as punch if we could rocket back to this gem of an island again!