Floating boatsheds“The rock formations or karst landscape here is more than 500million years old…. Mangroves have a unique way of handling the salt in brackish water … they expel salt through pores in the leaves… Look! There’s a mangrove crab!” I had joined a mangrove Kayaking tour in Langkawi and we were on the Kilim river. This unique tour is run by Dev’s Adventure Tours and gives participants an in depth view of the amzing flora and fauna of the area. This river in the North East corner of the island is a lush nature reserve and a UNESCO world heritage site. Mandy, our guide was a small, wiry bundle of energy and enthusiasm and full of knowledge.
The karst landscape here owes its spectacular appearance to its limestone nature. Millions of years ago, Langkawi was part of Pangea and subsequently Gondwanaland. As the continents collided and seafloor was thrust skyward, the present hills were formed. Limestone is porous and acidic rain soon leaches in and caves form within the hills. When roofs collapse, one is left with dramatic towers standing alone. On close inspection of walls of some of these old caverns, one can see compacted layer upon layer of prehistoric sea-shells.
Mangrove roots exposed at low tide
After meeting at the jetty that was teeming with day trippers, we took a short 5 min ferry ride to pick up our kayaks at a floating boat shed. Led by Mandy, our motley group of four paddled our way upstream fighting the outgoing tide. (consoled by the fact that on the return leg the tide will be with us). It was more peaceful in the smaller tributaries, as the motor boats with tour groups were unable to enter. The canopy covered us and the sun-dappled scene was delightful. The breathing stilt roots (rhizophora) of the mangroves were slowly exposed by the outgoing tide and we strained our eyes to spot mangrove crabs, the odd kingfisher and curious mudskippers.
Kingfisher amongst mangroves
Did you know that mudskippers managed to stay out of water by using their own version of an “aqualung”? They gulp up large cheekfuls of water at the shore and recycle it in the gills as they move about the surface of the mud. Once the water is used up, these land loving fish return to the water’s edge to re-charge, as it were. We were not too disappointed by the fact that we did not see any mangrove vipers resting in the branches, given the fact that some of us kept crashing their kayak into the trees, which would have dislodged any sleeping snake!
Next stop was to view eagles. The name Langkawi derives from “helang” meaning Eagle, and “kawi” – which refers to a red colored rock found locally. We paddled out to another tributary and spied a few circling in the sky. Soon we heard the roar of motors and several tour boats sped by leaving us bobbing in their wake. Many tour operators feed eagles. A practice encouraged by the local tourism board but frowned upon by naturalists and environmentalists as it creates dependence on man for food and may change the feeding behaviour of the eagles. To make things worse, tour operators toss out chicken guts and skin (obtained free from local markets) – this is not their natural food and does not contain calcium. The concern here is that with insufficient calcium, the shells of their eggs may be soft and this may lead to reduced survival of the species. However, in the battle between the tourist dollar and be eco-friendly, $$ always wins. Dev’s Adventure Tours does not feed eagles and neither does Casa de Mar, the wonderful hotel that I stayed in (twice this year!). Hearing the sound of the motors, the eagles appeared out of the forest canopy and swooped down to feed. There are 2 types of eagles, the Brahmini kite (or Langkawi eagle with red-brown feathers and white head ) and the larger White Bellied Sea Eagle.
After watching the eagles feed, it was time to feed out own rumbling bellies. With heavy arms, we paddled back (against a stiff head wind) to a restaurant in a floating fish farm called Hole in the Wall Fish Farm (named for its proximity to the “gates” or small opening in the karst formation through which the Kilim River exits to the sea.
Satisfied after a delicious lunch of seafood fried rice and spicy tom yum soup, we visted 2 caves further upstream. (this time by motorboat). These caves (amongst many) are open for public viewing and house numerous bats. We waited till a huge noisy group exited the area and waited a little while more. Bats are disturbed by visitors talking loudly, shining bright torches and taking flash photography. (how would you like your sleep at night to be disturbed in this manner?) We learnt that there are 3 main types of bats here; fruit eating, insectivorous and honey bats. Led by Mandy, we walked quietly through the first cavern, awed by the stalactites and stalagmites. In some places, we had to stoop low as the roof came within a meter of the floor. In the second cavern, Mandy used a dimmed torch to point out sleeping bats. She also allowed one (1) single flash photo if we really really wanted to take one.
As we motored back to the jetty, Mandy pointed out some short (about 1m high) mangroves near the shore. These are new trees that were planted after the shore was wiped out by high waves associated with the 2005 tsunami. Mangroves grow really slowly and function as a green lung. However, as catastrophic as that event was, the impact on forests is not as great as pollution and indiscriminate logging by man. If we are to continue living on this blue planet of ours, we must be more “green”!
What a day! Just as we got into our transport bringing us back to the hotel, the heavens opened with torrential rain. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Langkawi.
The karst landscape here owes its spectacular appearance to its limestone nature. Millions of years ago, Langkawi was part of Pangea and subsequently Gondwanaland. As the continents collided and seafloor was thrust skyward, the present hills were formed. Limestone is porous and acidic rain soon leaches in and caves form within the hills. When roofs collapse, one is left with dramatic towers standing alone. On close inspection of walls of some of these old caverns, one can see compacted layer upon layer of prehistoric sea-shells.
Mangrove roots exposed at low tideAfter meeting at the jetty that was teeming with day trippers, we took a short 5 min ferry ride to pick up our kayaks at a floating boat shed. Led by Mandy, our motley group of four paddled our way upstream fighting the outgoing tide. (consoled by the fact that on the return leg the tide will be with us). It was more peaceful in the smaller tributaries, as the motor boats with tour groups were unable to enter. The canopy covered us and the sun-dappled scene was delightful. The breathing stilt roots (rhizophora) of the mangroves were slowly exposed by the outgoing tide and we strained our eyes to spot mangrove crabs, the odd kingfisher and curious mudskippers.
Kingfisher amongst mangroves
Kayaking in smaller tributaries
Next stop was to view eagles. The name Langkawi derives from “helang” meaning Eagle, and “kawi” – which refers to a red colored rock found locally. We paddled out to another tributary and spied a few circling in the sky. Soon we heard the roar of motors and several tour boats sped by leaving us bobbing in their wake. Many tour operators feed eagles. A practice encouraged by the local tourism board but frowned upon by naturalists and environmentalists as it creates dependence on man for food and may change the feeding behaviour of the eagles. To make things worse, tour operators toss out chicken guts and skin (obtained free from local markets) – this is not their natural food and does not contain calcium. The concern here is that with insufficient calcium, the shells of their eggs may be soft and this may lead to reduced survival of the species. However, in the battle between the tourist dollar and be eco-friendly, $$ always wins. Dev’s Adventure Tours does not feed eagles and neither does Casa de Mar, the wonderful hotel that I stayed in (twice this year!). Hearing the sound of the motors, the eagles appeared out of the forest canopy and swooped down to feed. There are 2 types of eagles, the Brahmini kite (or Langkawi eagle with red-brown feathers and white head ) and the larger White Bellied Sea Eagle.
White bellied sea eagle
After watching the eagles feed, it was time to feed out own rumbling bellies. With heavy arms, we paddled back (against a stiff head wind) to a restaurant in a floating fish farm called Hole in the Wall Fish Farm (named for its proximity to the “gates” or small opening in the karst formation through which the Kilim River exits to the sea.
Satisfied after a delicious lunch of seafood fried rice and spicy tom yum soup, we visted 2 caves further upstream. (this time by motorboat). These caves (amongst many) are open for public viewing and house numerous bats. We waited till a huge noisy group exited the area and waited a little while more. Bats are disturbed by visitors talking loudly, shining bright torches and taking flash photography. (how would you like your sleep at night to be disturbed in this manner?) We learnt that there are 3 main types of bats here; fruit eating, insectivorous and honey bats. Led by Mandy, we walked quietly through the first cavern, awed by the stalactites and stalagmites. In some places, we had to stoop low as the roof came within a meter of the floor. In the second cavern, Mandy used a dimmed torch to point out sleeping bats. She also allowed one (1) single flash photo if we really really wanted to take one.
As we motored back to the jetty, Mandy pointed out some short (about 1m high) mangroves near the shore. These are new trees that were planted after the shore was wiped out by high waves associated with the 2005 tsunami. Mangroves grow really slowly and function as a green lung. However, as catastrophic as that event was, the impact on forests is not as great as pollution and indiscriminate logging by man. If we are to continue living on this blue planet of ours, we must be more “green”!
What a day! Just as we got into our transport bringing us back to the hotel, the heavens opened with torrential rain. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Langkawi.
