Langkawi: Heaven of Ecotourism and Travel Adventure

Langkawi situated just off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia comprises a group of 104 tropical islands during the low tides and 99 Island during the high tides. The main island Langkawi, is 47. 848 Hectare followed by Pulau Dayang Bunting and Pulau Tuba while some of the others appear to be mere dots in the emerald green ocean when viewed from the air.

In Langkawi a nature adventure had a true-blue naturalist as their guide. The guide’s name is Irshad Mobarak. Dubbed the Jungle-wallah (Jungle-fellow) of Langkawi ( http://www.junglewallah.com ), he is perfect for the job as he possesses vast knowledge about Langkawi’s wildlife, gleaned from years of trekking and observation of its jungles, mangroves and wildlife.

Some people think the beauty of Langkawi lies in its pristine beaches. Others like the duty-free shopping. But Irshad and his team of naturalists at Natural History Tours ( http://www.wildlangkawi.com ) reckon that the edge Langkawi has over places like Bali and Phuket is its jungle and wildlife.

As such Irshad and his team have been actively involved in preserving Langkawi’s natural environment. His social-responsible company provides real ecotourism experiences such as nature walks, birdwatching, jungle-trekking and mangrove tours in kayaks or motorized boats without the “gimmicks” activities involve.

His pet peeve is the eagle-feeding sessions at the mangrove swamps of the Kilim River. While it is quite a sight to see dozens of white-bellied sea eagles and brahminy kites circling in the sky and swooping down on their food, Irshad feels it’s bad for the birds.

“What you’re doing is habituating the eagles to take food from humans when they usually feed on fish. Now they are given chicken guts, and these are from farm-bred chickens fed with antibiotics and hormones, making it unhealthy. It may affect their bone development and the integrity of the shells of their eggs.” Irshad said contaminated feed could kill a lot of birds, as each feeding attracts between 50 to 100 birds.

Not only is Irshad fully acquainted with information on the wildlife in Langkawi, he is also great at handling children. His “young explorer club” is a hit for student’s summer program in Malaysia and tourists traveling with their children. “The trick is not to bore them to death. You can be much more informative with adults, but with children, you need to make it more experiential. They need to touch and smell and conduct experiments.”

Irshad, who’s especially love birds, said Langkawi has recorded 190 species of birds, including brown winged kingfisher, black hooded oriole and mountain hawk eagle. The mountain hawk eagle which can be identified by its very pronounced crest with two feathers can only be found in Langkawi and Irshad has recorded 3 different individual here.

The relatively small and cut-off habitat of an island like Langkawi allows for many of its flora and fauna to evolve into unique species over thousands of years. But it also possessed a danger of Habitat-fragmentations. One of Irshad ongoing project is planting figs trees closer to the road so the canopy on either side of the road will meet and become close enough for animals to cross over. “This is one way to counter the negative effects of habitat fragmentations and we hope to see the results in 10 years,” Irshad said. Visitor can also get involve in this program by purchasing trees and plant it during their visit to Langkawi ( http://www.treesfornature.com )

Who is the Jungle-Wallah of Langkawi?

In the 80s, the Negri Sembilan-born Irshad was a decathlete and rugby player employed by a major bank institution. He worked for five years with the bank in Kuala Lumpur, only to discover the corporate world was simply not his cup of tea.

The turning point in his life came during a vacation in Tioman Island between 1981 and 1982. He realized that what he really wanted was to be closer to nature.

“So I quit my job, traveled and bummed around for a couple of years,” said Irshad, and then he found Langkawi. The island’s beauty and mystique inspired him to embark on his own study of its ecosystems.

“I saw the potential for nature-related work. I got a job as recreation manager at Datai and at the same time was involved in conservation work,” he said. Soon, a new position was created for him, that of a Resident-naturalist. And today, after 19 years, he is so well-versed in the subject, he is considered an expert. He has trained many individual who is now employed by other hotels as their own Resident-naturalist and some of them work as independent nature guides.

Irshad considered himself very lucky because his work, his hobby and his passion are all fused into one. He also believes that taking care of the natural environment is an integral part of being a steward of the Earth. He is recently won DiGi Amazing Malaysians Award 2007, an award for Malaysians who were nominated by the public for their passion and dedication in heritage conservation.

Cool Places … In Hot Malaysia

The pet monkey named Joyng bit through her leash and romped through the fronds of the palm trees, celebrating her freedom. She paused occasionally to heave a coconut down at the sweat-soaked baseball cap of her frantic owner, who was chasing wildly after her and, in the Terengganu dialect which Joyng knew, beseeching her to come down. Such is life in tropic Malaya’s resorts–better known to Europeans (especially Germans) than Americans. Guests enjoy the sun, sandy beaches, swimming pools, eco-tourism, river cruising, ocean diving, jungle trekking, remainder-to-remnant massages and spacious villas in the architectural styles of the Malayan Archipelago.

They will also find crab-feeding monkeys, noisy hornbills and monitor lizards sunning them selves on the green lawns as their neighbors. Our press grouping’s have was limited to impertinent local culinary art, sleeping in comfortable villas, snorkeling in warm seas and partaking in 3 health club treatments, which together created a perfect high gear-enjoyment refuge memory. We had first base flown into Kuala Lumpur, ’s modern capital city, which everyone calls “KL.” The cosmopolitan city and business center gained new public awareness when the Petronas Twin Towers topped out in 1996 and occupancy began in early 1997. Tower One is occupied by Petronas, the state-owned petroleum corporation. Tower Two houses Petronas’ associate companies and multinationals. The towers are joined by the 192-foot-long sky bridge on levels 41 and 42.

Our final examination dinner was at the Fisherman’s Cove Restaurant, which offered an Asian-fusion of Western grill, Taiwanese dishes, Italian specialties and impudent seafood. The open kitchen, views and state-of-the-art design made it the ultimate dining know at Pangkor Laut. Our drive back to KLIA for our flight home was notable because it was on Ching Ming, the day that people from the Formosan communities traditionally sojourn cemeteries to honor and show respect to their ancestors. The many final exam resting places that we passed, all senior high school on hillsides, were thick with devotees and there were no places left to park on the highway.

is a great place to inflict, but be prepared for heat, overwhelming humidity and thunder-showers every afternoon, depending on the time of year. Monsoon temper starts around the beginning of October and continues to January-February. A haunt arrest, with its breezes, is fresher than a check in KL, and dress is more casual. Airlines flies five times a week ‘tween Los Angeles (LAX) and KL via Taipei and III times a week betwixt New York (JFK) and KL via Stockholm. Airlines’ crown jewel, the Golden Lounge, is the world’s largest business–and first gear-class airport passenger lounge, with good food plus corners in which to relax and check your e-mail. Pangkor Laut Recourse was included on the Circus tent Ten Overseas Hotel Spas-Asia and 100 Big top Spas Worldwide 2004 lists by Conde Nast Traveller.

Opened on March 1, 1979, the repair has been extensively refurbished under new management. It features 126 luxury villas and 22 resort hotel villas plus a watering place building and two swimming pools. It is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World mathematical group. Tanjong Jara Refuge won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for its updated interpretation of a 17th-century sultan’s palace.

It was given the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences’ 5-Star Diamond Award and the top award in the Malaysian National Landscaping Competition.