Betau Valley

Betau Valley

Thursday 28 July 2011

Kuala Gandah Revisited

Last Saturday, I joined the MAEPA 3 trip to Kuala Gandah as it was not that far from my home (about 60km). Haven't seen the place since 2009, much has since changed, especially improvement in the parking space and stalls around. As I arrived earlier than the bus, I had quite a few minutes to stroll around and I noticed that the place was teeming with birdlife. I heard many different calls but couldn't get a nice shot...and as people (tourists) started streaming in, the noise 'drowned' nature and well, the MTTs arrived...

Kuala Gandah is an elephant conservation centre, run by the Wildlife and Game Department and is actually a rehab center for lost, injured or 'troublesome' elephants in Malaysia. It is open to public and is absolutely free...including the elephant show (10.30 am), ride and river bathing with the elephants.

a species of Loranthus on a riverine tree

new signage

 beautiful blooms of the Saracca despite the dry spell



a baby at 4 years old...

elder 'siblings' of 5 - 6 years old

getting the elephants ready for the matinee show

the ranger explaining how it works...

showing the agility of the trunk...

all are welcomed to feed the elephants

the MTTs getting a thrill ride on the elephant back

the very excited Abdedullah signaling to his friends to come to the platform

at the Deerland Park later on

Monday 25 July 2011

Siamang!!!

Hardly two weeks after I've spotted a juvenile Siamang in Fraser's Hills, I saw it again at the same spot with a troop of Dusky Leaf monkeys...must be a resident young male as the Siamang was alone and it was rather unperturbed by the passing of vehicles and even me coming near it to take photos! In fact, it even 'posed' for the photos. It was swinging happily and carefree on branches of trees close to the roadside at the gates...



 Couldn't understand what the fuss was about...

 Dusky Leaf Monkey with baby

a tiny spidercatcher at the Paddock



 We're in the tropics but this has a rather 'English' allure to it



The Glenn through a pine borough

 small roadside cascade on the way from Fraser's Hills to Raub

strange cucumber-like fruits

Monday 18 July 2011

Ulu Jelai - River of tranquillity under threat

For all the outdoor places that I knew in my years of active nature appreciation in my region, this has to be the best of the best kept secret (no longer) that I, from time to time, revisited when I need to reconnect with Nature. This is a special place because of its relative inaccessibilty to popular tourism, meaning that it is not inscribed in the tourism map. Another thing is that accessible yet untouched nature is so rare these days that any gems like this needs to be protected for our own sake - which won't help if it is blogged but sensing the near end of greatness, it has to be shared by all before it is all gone, just like the once magnificent Jelai before 'development' came.

I started visiting this area when I was an active angler in quest for new sites back in the 1990s...much has since changed with inroads being built into the most remote of villages that once only accessible by the great and awe-inspiring fork of 3 rivers: Ulu Jelai, Telom and Serau. The Telom is a mighty river that doesn't allow swimming because of its headwaters coming from very polluted sources in the Cameron Highlands. The only option is now the Ulu Jelai - which in turn has its sources from the Ulu Jelai Kecil and Bertau. Already, this last bastion of 'perfect' river is feeling the heat from chainsaws cutting nearer and nearer to her sources. Certain days, the water can get murky because of logging concessions in the upper streams of Ulu Jelai Kecil, recently even more accessible by the opening of route C156, thus allowing even more access to lorries laden with logs to cut through this lasts of the great Malayan jungles. As we swoop downstream from Kampung Samut to Kuala Medang in our motorised canoe, patches of open forest already started to appear, sending glaring heat and light through the timeless cool greens that dominates the galleries-river banks of this ancient ecology. I couldn't help but wonder how long these will withstand the onslaught of greed...

a barbet feeding on figs at Kuala Medang

green banks, just like ever

huge clump of Tiger Orchid on a riverine tree -  a common sight along the river, an indication of its state of ecological health

orchids

river bends like this are common along the Ulu Jelai, with huge trees fringing its banks, forming tall galleries of quiet coolness and a permutation of a million shades of green



Locals fishing on a raft. Observe the rice pot on the bamboo raft...

How long will giants like these remain? We saw eagles quite frequently among tall branches along the river

part of Jeram Dong

visions of tranquility

Jeram Dong (Dong rapids)





our moored boat ride



Kampung Samut after Pos Betau

Heavy bunch of bananas

Butterflies congregating on the sand banks of Jeram Dong

local anglers camp along the sand banks, making their tents from wild ginger fronds, bamboo and sticks

two swallows pondering over the Jelai River at Kuala Medang

Sunday 17 July 2011

Fraser's Hills


Last week, I took a leisure drive to Fraser's Hills just to give another go at birdwatching but this time, I wasn't that lucky because the dry forest plus the lingering haze didn't exactly worked out well. However, as I was to descend (the way down near the Glenn was closed due to fallen trees), I took a few moments to ponder around the tall trees fringing the exit/entry point...I was iniatially distracted by a Dusky Leaf monkey trying to eat the young fronds of a giant tree fern, not realizing something even more exciting was lurking at the canopy behind. As the Dusky Leaf monkey descended, I thought it had a companion, only to be pleasantly surprised when the accompanying 'monkey' turned out to be a solitary Siamang! It was very quiet and was perousing the canopy-reason why I had not spotted it earlier...

 A Bulbul in the bushes

 compact flowers in an abandonned golf course at Jeriau

 a brown butterfly among dead leaves

 a nymphalid came out to play

 A Siamang! This is not an easy animal to see but its cries can be heard miles away

 the Dusky Leaf Monkey

 plucking a huge tree fern frond

 butterfly at Jeriau

 butterflies congregation at Jeriau

a Laughingthrush