visiting cousins and aves bite.

obligatory journal 071b

a belated bloody birthday gift

If you didn't caught on the fact that the last was the first part, here's a nice surprise for you! My mother and I spent a night in the nearby hotel and got a nice package with a breakfast beside the lake, which was quite a new experience for me since it was a Western style, which you can see in the picture above. The toasts, the breads, the poach eggs and the chicken slices. I couldn't eat most of them since I had a stomach ache and just eaten the packed rice from yesterday (that I was supposed to eat at night if I was hungry) in the morning. I was also intently looking at the watch because I was waiting for the boat to the Orang Utan Conservatory to start going but since the breakfast came just right around the boat departed, I had to wait around until it came back.

I didn't ask about the burnt section there. There must have been an accident and they probably do not have the fund to fix it back up ...

I remembered being here in the past when I was younger but didn't actually go to the island myself, just seeing others going there by boat since I had to go back in the evening and the journey back home took hours. Now since we were actually taking our time and not rushing, I could take the time to go to the island myself before we went back in the afternoon. I went by myself since my mom was still hurting from the leg injury. The journey itself was slow and steady, as the boat went leisurely for us to enjoy the breeze. I wasn't sure of what to expect there and now I knew it isn't as hands-on as I thought it was going to be since they are rehabilitating these primates until they are ready to be re-released into the wild. There is one female with her own baby ... he is so cute! It's unfortunate I couldn't get better picture of him ... Some are brought there years ago and there is even one that actually birthed there (I believe he was one of  the biggest there, the one with the leaf). He is massive! And he isn't even the biggest. The guide pointed out one all the way up on the tree and even from far away I could see how big he is, let alone when he is right in front of me. She told me that he is as big as the statue below and I believe her!  

While the place for us the visitors to walk is quite small, I understand that it is to have as little human interaction as possible to not let them being dependable to us for them to succeed in the wild. The use of electric fence is for precaution and all of them have learned how to get around it, i.e. using long broken branch to pull in food that is thrown just too far enough for them to grab themselves. Being able to get right beside the fence was quite a treat for since I was able to look at these two just right in front of me with my own two eyes. The one on the right kept pushing sticks for me to grab and for him to sniff, since every human passing this place have their own distinct smell I deduced. I spent awhile just seeing their behaviours and even taking off my sandal to show my toes to them. Oh, the one on the left like to spit sometimes and I was told it was when he isn't feeling friendly towards us.

It was a good time all around and worth the price of admission in my humble opinion (RM30).

Yeah, he's just standing there and keep eating up what the worker was throwing feeding him! What a lovely sight!

Okay, I was following this Japanese couple and they were dropped off right at the Eco Park and I know the one ticket counter is all the way at the entrance of the Laketown Park but I took the chance of another ticket counter here and got dropped there as well but it wasn't to be. After a quick walk (which I don't mind since I could get in the exercise of the day), I got into the Park which is not quite a mini but rather sizable zoo, and I got the chance to feed the birds with the feed in my hand. A number of them were quite threatened by my presence but thankfully the little Nuris were brave enough to jump into my hands to eat them. It was a new, novel experience. If you've read my Instagram post, I took my chance with the red cockatoo below despite it being a bit cranky earlier and while it succeeded to eat up the seeds a couple of times with its tongue with the first two tries, it kept missing in the following tries and I knew what's coming but it was too late: it had its hard beak bit into my finger so hard that the flesh was bit open and drew blood right away. Having your finger throbbing while bleeding (albeit not too much) while I went through the rest of the exhibition wasn't what I had in mind when I walked into the place but it was certainly something that I will never forget anytime soon.

What a premonition of what's to come ...

Remember the shirt?

Such a cute raccoon! Just laying there ready to be photographed ...

These peacocks look healthier than the ones in the Park in KL that I went before ...

My first time if my mind serve me correctly seeing deer this close!

All in all, this was a worthwhile journey for me in the end. I experienced a lot of firsts, both good and bad, and can't wait to follow it up with more memorable experience!

-

Bukit Merah Laketown Resort,

Jalan Bukit Merah Taiping 34400 Semanggol, PERAK Malaysia.

04-227 9003

Well, that's all folks! Thank you for your time and please do come back for my future posts! :-)