Snazzy Snaps & Travel Tales
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Chiling Falls with Mr Baby
MEMORY MONDAY - One of my favorite days on RY was the Chiling Waterfalls in Malaysia. We took buses ~1.5 hours outside of Kuala Lumpur and I was lucky enough to sit in front with our driver: 'Mr Baby'.
MEMORY MONDAY - One of my favorite days on Remote Year was the Chiling Waterfalls day trip in Malaysia. We took buses ~an hour and a half outside of Kuala Lumpur and I was lucky enough to sit in the front seat with our driver: 'Mr. Baby'.
I have no idea what his real name was, because he introduced himself to us as Mr Baby. He said all his friends call him that because he has 10 babies.
Mr. Baby lives in a village outside of Kuala Lumpur near a gorgeous area called Perhentian. He said it was common in their village for men to have ~20-25 children! But, "Mr Baby only 10 children. And, only 1 wife, because Mr. Baby is good man." He was quite proud of the fact that while his religion said that he COULD have 4 wives, he only has 1 wife and loves her very much.
Mr. Baby made my day! He is a solid driver, not shy of steppin' on it. And he doesn't like it when other drivers are slow. "See, this driver is sleeping. Mr. Baby don't like this."
And, he thinks "Indian drivers are the worst". Not sure if he realized Abe was in the back seat, but not sure he really cared anyways. He didn't say it mean spirited, just matter of fact like.
The Chiling Falls are located near Selangor Lake, which is a really beautiful cool blue.
We had to trek through the jungle ~1 hour to get to the falls. It was SWELTERING HOT. I was sweating the second we got out of the air conditioned Mr. Baby-mobile. Welcome to Malaysia!
One thing I've learned on Remote Year---I love the jungle / rainforest. I love the outdoors in general, but the jungle has a bit more vibrance than the typical green forests I'm used to. The sounds of crickets and insects are constant. And, there is just a buzzzzzzzz that you can't describe unless you're in it.
In order to get to the Falls, you have to cross the river 4-5 times. Wading through the river was so fun! The main reason is because it was SO HOT and the river was so refreshingly COOOOOOL.
But also, it added a bit of extreme danger to the trek. I had my good camera with me, and one slip would be fatal (to the camera).
I love adventure!
When we finally got to the falls, I was so excited to see that we could swim in them! It was a great reward for the sweltering trek. The water was so cold and refreshing!
When you get into the water you realize you are swimming with MANY fish, and YES, they do nibble at your feet n legs a bit!
And, we could jump off the rocks!
Some of us were a little afraid of takin' that leap, like Heather. :]
But, I was in it to win it! Here's my plunge with the GoPro in hand.
We could even swim UNDER the falls! I will say, being inside a waterfall is not very fun. It's like being in a washing machine or a tropical storm. It takes your breath away and feels a little dangerous. But, our fearless leader TRAVIS is the waterfall KING!
Couple groups shots:
And then we had to trek back.
I think these are termites, not ants.
We made it back!
Thankfully, Mr. Baby stopped at Selangor Lake on the way back and let us snap a few shots of the lake, which was stunning.
Jungle + Waterfalls + Adventure + Camaraderie + Mr. Baby = 1 of my favorite days on RY!
Borneo's Wicked Wildlife - Pt 2
No trip to Borneo is complete without seeing wild orangutans. Seeing animals in a zoo is depressing. Seeing them in the semi-wild is wicked sweet!!
No trip to Borneo is complete without seeing wild orangutans. Seeing animals in a zoo is depressing. Seeing them in the semi-wild is wicked sweet!!
If you visit Kuching, you gotta go to Semenggoh Nature Reserve. It's less than an hour from the city. For a little context, Kuching is the capital city of the state of Sarawak, which is on the island of Borneo, which is part of Malaysia. Here is the map in case you missed the last post:
Here are a few snaps of Kuching to give you an idea of what this charmingly cute and colorful little island city is like. (THANK YOU to Fritztastic and Celeste for recommending it!)
Ok, back to the wildlife. You probably are wondering why I said "semi-wild"? The Semenggoh Wildlife Center was set up in the 1970's as a rehab center for injured animals. They help sick animals and then release them into the jungle.
Semenggoh basically acts as a feeding center for the endangered Bornean Orangutans. Twice a day they call out for them and if they come, they get to eat fruit. During the fruitful seasons in the jungle, the orangutans don't even show up, cuz they're full. This makes the staff happy, but the visitors sad.
Semenggoh is actually a little controversial, because some think we are intruding on their space too much. See the article here. I didn't see any problem with it. They're endangered and making sure they are fed seems like a good thing long term.
There are a bunch of other areas on Borneo where you can see orangutans truly living in the wild. I've already got a spot I want to come back to: Danum Valley in Sabah (just up the coast on Borneo) came recommended by a guy who guides up there, and it is home to Proboscis Monkeys, Orangutans AND Pygmy Elephants. YUP, I'll be back.
Feeding time is 9 - 10am, and then the afternoon. I went at 9am based on the recommendation of a fellow traveler --- thanks Yogginy! Higher likelihood of seein' 'em early.
The workers led us on a short hike to get to the feeding area. And then, they call out to them, yawping wildly into the jungle every minute or two.
We waited. And waited.
9:15. No orangutans.
9:30. No orangutans.
At this point, the crowd seemed defeated. The adrenaline had faded. I started taking pics of cool jungle flora.
Then, all of a sudden...we see large treetops swaying irregularly way off in the distance.
The excitement was palpable!
And then, the tree next to it started swaying...they're getting closer!
The first sight of one off in the distance, was unreal. I've seen orangutans in zoos before, but this was like Jurassic Park type stuff. Thrilling!
These guys are so acrobatic and flexible.
They seem like they are having a blast as they are climbing trees, swinging and swaying.
It's just their way of moving around, but arboreal locomotion just looks so fun! Who wouldn't want to be Tarzan, swinging from vines? Maybe I should get into trapeze...
2 came out to get their fruit on and we watched them for about 20 minutes.
They did not come close to the crowds like when Yoginny was there. But, I didn't mind. Call me crazy, but I tend to appreciate a bit of distance with wild animals.
For the most part, they had their backs to the crowd.
But, every once in a while, they would check us out.
I love how they hold the fruit with their feet, and use their hands to eat---all while holding on to the ropes. Amazing animals.
After about 15 minutes, one of the feeders announced that there were two or three baby orangutans approaching the front area if we wanted to see them.
When he said babies, I had this vision of orangutans in diapers, sucking on passies. But, naw, these babies look pretty grown to me.
Look how flexible this one is. Doing a split, holding his weight with his toes, while scarfin' some fruit.
10am, feeding time was over! But, I'm thoroughly happy with my visit to Semenggoh. Thought I was gonna get skunked. Instead I got orangutan-ed.
Next up...the grand finale! Borneo's Wicked Wildlife Part 3.
Ever wonder what millions of bats look like flying out of a cave, all together in formation!?!? Subscribe to my blog, cuz you don't wanna miss the next post.
Borneo's Wicked Wildlife - Pt 1
The island of Borneo boasts the most wicked wildlife! Because of the climate, the rainforest is home to the most species of life on Earth. I went to Borneo for Thanksgiving on a solo journey and here is part 1 of Borneo's Wicked Wildlife!
The island of Borneo boasts the most wicked wildlife! Because of the climate, the rainforest is home to the most types of species of life on Earth. From plants to insects to animals, it is lush in life. And, it's simply gorgeous.
So I went on a solo journey over Thanksgiving to explore and see what this wildlife was all about. Best travel week of the year. (Maybe because I was not working?)
I could write for days about the trip and all of the interesting things I saw. But I want to focus on the wildlife. This is the 1st in a 3-part series:
Pt 1 - Bako National Park
Pt 2 - Semnggoh Nature Reserve
Pt 3 - Gunung Mulu National Park
First, you’re probably wondering, where is Borneo? Well, Borneo is the largest island in Asia and the 3rd largest in the world. The island is split between 3 countries: Malaysian, Brunei and Indonesian. And it’s in the South China Sea:
Bako National Park was out of this world! It came well recommended from Remote Tom, and cousin Jeffrey SS Johnson whose story of getting robbed by monkeys had me geeked to the gills.
You have to take a ferry to get to Bako. This ferry was a tiny river boat. A ferry for one.
At the landing, you learn of the crocs in the water. GULP.
Guess I won't be swimming in the water, just swimming in sweat. It is unfathomably hot and humid in the jungle.
Bako is known for being home to the endangered Proboscis monkeys, among many other wild things. It features 14 different hiking trails, and you can see different plants, animals, birds and insects depending on which trail you take.
And it's got this weird awesome vibe about it. Almost like Jurassic Park. Or the LOST island.
In addition to the day time hiking, they also offer a somewhat spooky, guided night hike, into the deep and dark jungle with flashlights to find nocturnal animals. Not many pics from the night hike. A little dark.
I was only on Bako National Park for ~24 hours and here's a list of the things I saw:
Proboscis Monkeys (Endangered)
Crab Eating Macaque (Monkeys)
Flying Lemur (Sadly did not get to see it fly. It was just hugging a tree.)
Snails
Mudskippers (Kinda like flying fish)
Swallows (Birds)
Tortoises
Spiders
Centipedes
Scorpions
Frogs
Praying Mantis
Shell Dwelling Hermit Crabs
Spotted Gecko
Lizards
Grasshoppers
Mosquitoes
More Mosquitoes
Did I mention Mosquitoes?
All in all, the most exciting species were the endangered Proboscis Monkeys!
Proboscis Monkeys, aka Long-Nosed Monkeys are all over Bako. They look like humans with their pot bellies & long noses. My first sighting was my best. As I was heading to the hiking trails I stumbled upon 3 eating in a tree ~10 yards away, right out in the open.
The 3rd one was behind these guys, a bit lower.
They noticed me. I got so excited, like the feeling of approaching a girl for the first time. Heart racing, "Don't do anything stupid, just be cool." I took a couple snaps, and they were fine. Inched a bit closer. Fine. And then i did something stupid. I took out my GoPro and turned it on. BEEP BEEP BEEP. They ran away. So sad!
The funny thing is that, in my giddy, kid-like state, I tried to call out after them and ask them why they were running away.
"Hey, wait! Guys, don't go!"
As if they're going to just turn around and listen to reason.
I saw a few more during my stay on Bako but never out in the open like this. And then monsoon season kicked in and they were scarce. Coolest animals I've seen in the wild! Gotta go back to Bako. Here are some shots from them up in the trees.
Caveat --- I'm actually NOT a good photographer. I may have a decent eye, but I make a lot of mistakes that cost me amazing snaps. When you're in the jungle, sweating profusely, and the adrenaline is pumping from seeing wild animals, you don't have a ton of time or mental capacity to figure out the perfect F-stop and ISO settings. That's why these are blurry. And, that's why I have to go back to Bako!
The beach is filled with holes in the sand. If you're patient and you watch closely, you can see crabs running out of the holes every once in a while. They're tiny and have super cute eyes.
Pit vipers...you would not even notice them if someone didn't tell you they were there. They stay in the same position on the same tree for weeks sometimes. They sit and wait...and wait...and wait for prey to go by and then WHAM! Gotcha!
Speaking of snakes, there is a formation that juts out of the water in the park, that resembles a snake. They call this the sea stack...what do you think? Snake like?
And a spider from the night hike:
Here's a short video of what I assume is a Silver Lutung Monkey:
And, here is a weird video of what I assume are maybe mud skippers in low tide? And then, towards the end of the video, maybe a fish that is about to go aground?
Oh and lastly...a huge shout-out to the bearded pigs!
These guys are shamelessly snorting their way around the island. Stickin' their lil snout in everyone's business. But, it's cool. They're not shy and fantastically weird. One of them just wandered on to the beach at sunset, searchin' for sea worms.
Next up, Part 2: Semenggoh Nature Reserve, wild orangutans!
And, if you are curious about bats...just you wait for Part 3: Mulu National Park. Stay tuned for some mind-blowing battiness...
Rubber Trees & Duku Fruit
Did you know rubber comes from trees? I must have been daydreaming about Kelly Kapowski back in science class when they covered this, because I thought rubber came from factories. I guess that’s synthetic rubber? Mind blown!
Did you know that rubber comes from trees? I must have been daydreaming about Kelly Kapowski back in middle school science class when they covered this topic, because I thought rubber came from factories. I guess that’s synthetic rubber. Blew my mind.
Our Remote Year Welcome Party was last Saturday and we traveled by bus to a ‘remote’ (#pun) homestay in the country outside of Kuala Lumpur. We learned about Malaysian culture and did a series of fun activities.
We played with slingshots (Here is Ruslan showing us how it is done):
Mike won!
Laura came in 2nd!
Travis 3rd!
We played Sepak Takraw (volleyball meets soccer) with the local kids. This was really hard for me. You can't use your hands, just your feet and head. When the ball came to me, I instinctively bumped it like a volleyball.
If you want to see what hard core, competitive Sepak Takraw looks like:
But one of the more interesting events was a demonstration on extracting rubber from rubber trees. You just carve a couple diagonal lines in the tree, and the rubber seeps out.
If you touch the rubber with your hand and roll it around in your fingers it gums up and becomes---well, rubber. Reminded me of Elmer’s glue.
After a traditional Malay lunch, we were given as many duku fruits as we wanted to eat. Someone said these are langsat. But we were told duku. Wiki redirects them both to the same page, but there are slight differences between duku and langsat. Who knows. Either way---delicious.
Kinda tastes like lychee, even kinda looks like it. But, it's more flavorful and has more of an orange-y taste? Here's a demonstration for how to peel and eat duku fruit.
It was a fascinating Malay day and I learned lots. Like the fact that rubber grows on trees. And people in Malaysia harvest it.
Mind BLOWN!
Next thing I know, you’re going to tell me that a former reality TV star who publicly mocked a handicapped person got elected President of the United States.
Oh wait. That happened.