Tasik Chini and The Pahang River, home of crocs.

I was at Cherating beach last weekend looking for a little R&R. The weather was great with a full moon by night and was perfect for a BBQ with friends. All was well until on Sunday we realised that we had been horribly savaged by sand flies. There seemed to be even more that morning than usual and they literally drove us off the beach. To salvage the day I decided to leave for KL and take a detour on the C108 road along the Pahang river in search of crocs and then stop for a while at Tasik Chini.

I thought that the croc search was a massive long shot given their rarity in the peninsular. I was therefore amazed when I found a baby crocodile sunbathing! It was on a concrete mooring block by a small slipway at the edge of a quiet Kampung called Sekepuh. Unfortunately I disturbed it and it raced off before I could get my camera out to shoot it. Next time.

The Mighty Pahang River near where I saw the Baby crocodile........., no sign of mum.

There are not many places where you can get to or see the river on this stretch of the C108 so I headed down the side roads of most of the river-side Kampungs I passed, but I found no further evidence of crocs.

Tasik Chini lotus bed

My next stop was Tasik Chini. This is natural freshwater lake and was clearly once a beautiful spot but has been spoiled somewhat by deforestation and other damaging activities in the surrounding hills. We took a relaxing boat ride around the lake for an hour enjoying the lotus blossoms, reed beds and islands formed by stands of pandanus or screw pines.

Lotus in flower.

The boatman stopped to show us how to peel lotus seeds to eat, they tasted somewhat like raw peas.

Above island formed by screw pines. Below various Tasik Chini views.

Although a pleasant experience we saw little in the way of water birds or larger wildlife on the lake itself.  I did however manage to get these shots of a magnificent Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) on the road away from the lake.

The road back to KL from Tasik Chini followed the Pahang River for many miles  through forest and wetland before finally crossing it and leaving this area behind.

I stopped at numerous points along the way and was rewarded with a few good spots. I saw my first troop of Banded leaf monkeys (Presbytis femoralis). These were wary of me and quickly departed as I approached, urinating profusely as they did so. As a result I only managed to get these less than average shots of them.

The last find of the trip was a magnificent and rare Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus), a giant stork, seen at a distance, feeding amongst a herd of water-buffalo on the floodplain of the river.