Palau Kapas - Bats and Beach

Back in April I took a trip to Palau Kapas, an island on the Malaysian east coast.  I stayed at a great boutique resort called Turtle Valley, which because of it's idyllic location combined with the fantastic hospitality and great cooking of the owner Sylvia, is probably my favourite spot to chill out in all Malaysia.

The beach is small and secluded with great white sand and good reef within a few meters of the shore which provided great snorkelling with stacks of colourful fish, rays, moray eels, octopus etc.

A second beach cove can be reached either by swimming around the rocks at the end of the beach or by climbing over them.

This beach was a little more stoney with lots of great shells washed up on the strand line. The snorkelling here again was excellent with lots of clown fish that would swim up to my mask as I dived down to them and loads of blue and orange giant clams and live tiger cowries.

At both ends of the first beach were caves containing sleeping bats that could be reached by clambering over the rocks. As night fell it was a spectacular sight watching them all streaming out to feed. Although nervous of me, I was able to creep up on them in the day and get these shots.

Beyond the beach was a forest trail across the island that led to a rocky beach after about 40 minutes of leisurely walking.  Kapas is only small and the interior covered in dense monsoon forest that was rather dry at the time I walked through, with little wildlife worth shooting.

I took this photo of a male Great Mormon butterfly (Papilio memnon) on the bougainvillea flowers near the resort on the way back.

Another shorter walk led from Turtle Valley to the main beaches of Palau Kapas. The name Kapas means cotton and refers to the soft white nature of the sand which feels wonderful underfoot.

The beach here was very sandy and the water shallow, extending out some way into a large area of sea grass.  I took a Kayak out and managed to see a number of turtles swimming past and surfacing near me, no doubt attracted by the sea grass.

There are only a few low key resorts along the beach and it was great to walk to the end of the three or so coves at the end of a day as the sun dimmed and enjoy the sight of jungle meeting the sea with the beach practically to myself.

Definitely somewhere I would go back to.

Tiger in the jungle on Pangkor Island

I recently turned 'a bit older' and so to get over the fact, took a trip with the family to Pangkor Island for a bit of R&R at Tiger Rock; a nice little boutique resort tucked in the jungle with good food and great hospitality.

Pangkor Island is about 3 hours from KL by road to Lamut and then a short 30 minute ferry trip across the water. A good number of beautiful white bellied sea eagles were soaring high above us as we crossed to the island. Pangkor is a small island where the main industry is fishing. The interior of the island is mainly made up of secondary forest which has been logged for timber at some point. It had a similar feel to the jungle on Tioman with lots of palms under the trees and large granite boulders that had rolled down the steep slopes. Unfortunately as I took this photo we were being affected by the haze; a thick blanket of polluting smoke blowing up from fires started to clear the forest in Sumatra.

Tiger Beer Can, not a real tiger sadly.

As ever I took the opportunity to do a spot of exploring in the jungle with my camera and managed to get a few nice shots of the local wildlife.

I didn't however expect to come across a tiger and manage to get this shot of it!

Unfortunately litter is a familiar theme wherever wild places are easily accessible in Malaysia. The beach that we walked to through the forest was also well covered in plastic washed up from the Straits of Malacca.

Apart from the plastic this would have been a nice beach with white sand and lots of shells washed up from the coral offshore. As we were there, the weather eerily changed from clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine, to grey, as the haze rolled in like sea fog . This gave the place a sombre feel as if in mourning for all the acts of wanton ecological vandalism taking place in the region right now.

Despite feeling somewhat gloomy from the combined effects of haze and washed up plastic I was eventually cheered up walking back through the forest as I managed to get a few good shots of the local wildlife.

Ideopsis gaura       The Smaller Wood Nymph

This Dusky Gliding lizard (Draco obscurus) was climbing a tree at the edge of the beach.
Unusually this specimen appears to have blue eyes.

I found this beautiful pair of Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceros albirostris) near where the forest trail met a fishing village near the remains of an old Dutch Fort . They were relatively unafraid of us and clearly used to being around people.

Back in the resort there were also a few surprises. Being in the forest a number of animals were about.

This magnificent Waggler's Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri) joined us for breakfast in the low bushes near the restaurant area. This highly venomous snake that brings about respiratory failure in its victims, moved little during the day but was gone by the next morning.

I also managed to find a male Changeable Lizard displaying on short tree trunk. As I approached him and started shooting, his lovely red-orange display colour slowly drained away as he became aware of my presence.

Left full display colour.

Right colour fading.

Below with colour drained, giving me the eyeball.

This lovely Common Mormon butterfly (Papilio polytes romulus) was a regular visitor to the numerous citrus bushes around the resort.

Overall Pangkor made for a nice low-key weekend getaway from Kuala Lumpur and wasn't a bad place at all to avoid a birthday.