13 January 2011
After the lunch stop, the crew weighed anchor and we headed back towards Kilim Geoforest Park. On the way back, there was still the sea caves and hidden lagoon to explore. The boat stopped by a small island and the crew prepared a motorised dinghy to take us for cave explorations. We took turns as the dinghy could only take about 6 persons.
This is the entrance of the sea caves.
Inside the caves.
If the tide was higher, we would have risked bumping our heads on the ceiling of the caves. The cave was a tunnel through the rocks and there was an opening at the other end.
Once through the caves, we were at the “hidden lagoon”, a lagoon in the middle of the island that was not visible from the outside. I immediately thought of old time pirates and hidden buried treasures, but then I realised that there was no sandy beach in here. But there was a jetty here.
The dinghy brought us round the lagoon where we could see the mangroves up close.
And also cannon ball trees where the fruit was brown and round like a cannon ball.
The boatman was telling us that the mangrove is a good wood for making charcoal.
No crocodiles here, only a “crocodile rock”. A rock hanging from the ceiling that is shaped like a croc.
After the cave visit, it was smooth sailing back to the Kilim River. We were then transferred back to the motor boats that would take us to watch the feeding of the sea eagles.
At this cove, there were many eagles in the air, circling and then one by one flew down to take food from the water. Some islanders had throw food into the water for the eagles and these eagles had been conditioned to come here at this time daily for their extra meals. Amazing sight to see. So many eagles at one spot and they seemed to be performing a well co-ordinated dance choreography.
There was a slight drizzle but thankfully this was not a show stopper. Our tour group did not feed the eagles. We just watched the eagles from a distance. I switched to my 200mm zoom lens and tried to capture some shots of the flying and feeding eagles. It was not easy to get a sharp picture.
Eagle feeding while flying.
Our boatman told us that this is the only species of eagle that could feed while flying. Normally, an eagle would catch the prey and then feed after landing on the ground somewhere.
Beautiful, majestic birds.
As we left the cove, we could see some eagles perched on the mangrove trees, watching us I supposed.
A welcoming committee of macaques monkeys was waiting for us near the jetty where we were to end our tour. These guys actually jumped into the water to retrieve bread that was thrown in for them.
A van then brought us back to our hotel (The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa) where we took a nice long dip in the hotel’s infinity edged pool while the sun sets. A couple of hornbills were seen on a tree by the poolside but they flew away before I could get my camera. So much wildlife seen in one day.
We enjoyed our seafood dinner so much last night that we had another lobster and seafood dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Kuah town, which was just 10 minutes by taxi from the Westin resort. There were more seafood restaurants to choose from in Kuah town than along Cenang beach and all were located close to one another. Good food and cold beer was a good way to end a nice day in Langkawi island.
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