A Road Trip Across The Malay Peninsular.

A Road Trip Across The Malay Peninsular from Tasik Kenyir to the Cameron Highlands.

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few wonderful days with my family relaxing on  Palau Kapas. Rather than head straight back to Kualar Lumpur on the express-ways I decided to take a scenic route across the heart of Malaysia stopping at Tasik Kenyir for a couple of nights, before heading to the Cameron Highlands, stopping a night then returning to KL.

Tasik Kenyir is a large man made lake system created by damming a river to the east of Taman Negara and this was completed back in 1985. Much of the forest around the lake now seems to be protected and is still relatively rich in wildlife. We stopped in a lakeside chalet at the Lake Kenyir Resort with lovely views out across the lake.

The great thing about this resort was that you did not have to go very far to encounter wildlife. The resort grounds proved to be a great place to encounter a whole range of animals. Each evening around 5:30 a herd of wild boar passed our chalet foraging for food. Although in no way tame they had clearly got used to people in the resort and I was able to get fairly close to get a few photos before spooking them.

Eurasian Wild Pig (Sus scrofa) Tasik Kenyir Malaysia

The population in the area must be particularly high, I also came across some larger boar watering whilst exploring the lake by kayak. These animals were a lot more shy and fled as soon as they were aware of my presence.
As well as the boar there was a small troop of Dusky Langurs in the trees near our room. To my delight I found that one of them was carrying a seriously cute, bright orange baby.

Dusky Langur (Trachypithecus obscurus) Tasik Kenyir Malaysia

We also managed to see a lovely civet cat one evening but unfortunately it was too quick for me to get a photo.  There was also plenty of bird life around the lake including Fish Eagles, Sea Eagles, Jungle Fowl and both Pied and Great Hornbills. The Great Hornbill was a first for me and was a truly magnificent visitor at about 115cm from bill tip to tail. I was able to watch it for some time preening itself in the trees near our room.

The Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) Tasik Kenyir Malaysia

The Pied Hornbills formed quite large flocks in the trees around the resort. They are much less colourful and smaller at about 68cm in length.

Juvenille Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris) Tasik Kenyir Malaysia

Whilst at the lake we took a boat ride across the lake to soak up the scenery and stopped at Saok Waterfall where we had a nice swim.

Lata Saok Tasik Kenyir

Royal Assyrian Butterfy (Terinos terpander) Lata Saok Malaysia

Tasik Kenyir from the boat

Sungai Buweh Waterfall

Once we left the resort we passed the nearby elephant sanctuary and headed down a side road to Sungai Buweh waterfall on a tip-off from the guide at the resort that it was a good place to see White-handed Gibbons. We had no luck although the forest surrounding the falls seemed in pretty good condition and great habitat.

Leaving the waterfall behind the drive out of Tasik Kenyir took about 40 mins through beautiful jungle clad hills and with some great views of the lake.

Once out of the Tasik Kenyir area as we left Terrenganu and entered Kelantan the landscape changed dramatically. The forest was gone and replaced with palm oil for as far as the eye could see. Some of the land we passed seemed to have been cleared of forest only relatively recently and we passed numerous lorries carrying the huge trunks of recently felled rainforest trees. The contrast with the environment we had just left was stark and a depressing reminder of how threatened Malaysia's forests are.

Logging activity not far from the north entrance of Taman Negara

After Tasik Kenyir we saw nothing but palm oil until we passed Gua Musang and reached the foothills of the Cameron Highlands, except for a brief detour that we took to visit Taman Negara's north entrance. This was very run down and a bit of a disappointment. No one was in the ranger's office and trails seemed closed. We passed a few Orang Asli who looked as if they were off hunting in the park but saw few other people.

River at Taman Negara North Entrance

Ironically we finally found a group of White-Handed Gibbons not in pristine forest but in a thin strip of trees surrounded by new palm oil and cleared land on the way out of Gua Musang. I am guessing that we were able to see them only because they had been forced into such a small area due to the clearance of the forest around them. These beautiful animals were very wary and quickly  swung off through the trees when I got out of the car to see them.

White-handed or Lar Gibbon (Hylobates Lar) Eastern Foothills of the Cameron Highlands Malaysia

The Strip of trees the gibbons were in seen from the road and surrounded by palm oil plantation.

It was very sad to see so much of the land right across the centre of Malaysia stripped of forest and replaced with nothing but vast acres of palm oil and to see so much logging and land clearance still going on.  It was a relief therefore to get into some relatively intact forest areas on the approach to the Cameron Highlands. It was nice to be back in the Camerons again and enjoy some cool mountain air and I was pleased to find this unusual lizard, endemic to the area.

Robinson's Angle-head Lizard (Gonocephalus robinsonii) Cameron Highlands Malaysia

Our final stop before heading back home to KL was the popular and beautiful Lata Iskandar.