Travelling through the steaming jungles of Malaysia can be a somewhat unsettling experience – but one not to be missed if you’re looking for a wild experience in a stunning natural setting. Wonders await the adventurous.
By CATHY SENECAL
With dead leaves the size of welcome mats crashing to the forest floor, land lizards zigzagging among the ferns, and rats with such names as named bulldog swooping about the jungle at night can be an eerie experience.
I was walking with my guide, Roslan Bin Abu Kassim, who was pointing out edible rainforest plants in case of an emergency.
He thought he was being helpful. But I had no intention of getting lost deep within the interior of the Malaysian Peninsula at Taman Negara, the country’s first national park.
As we walked, spiders on tree trunks watched with luminous eyes. The odor of rotting corpses emanated from the night-blooming Midnight Horror plant (honest!). We made our descent over crude tree root steps to the swamp, watching for animal species larger 10cm in length.
Then, ten metres ahead, Roslan beckoned for me to come closer. “There’s something there,” he whispered, rushing toward what I imagined would be a temperamental rhinoceros or a tiger who had skipped lunch.
I walked among the peacock ferns, cautiously moving forward until I saw a pair of eyes glowing yellow in the distance. Because the animal was mesmerised by the flashlight, it didn’t spook and run off, but sat casually watching the light.
“What is it?” I asked. “Herbivore?” Finally (over my right shoulder as I ran in the opposite direction), ‘I got a clear view of the cat. It was a civet cat, which looks like a mixture of domestic cat, raccoon, and lemur. Realising it was not striped, I feigned chasing a rare nocturnal butterfly.
Taman Negara after a three-hour car ride north-east of Kuala Lumpur and a three-hour long boat journey up the Tembeling River through the south east Asian wilderness.
Taman Negara’s 4400sq km of flourishing grandeur straddle the north-south Barisan Titiwangsa mountain range.
Numerous varieties of fish, unique and exotic plants, hundreds of bird species and streams lined with Iiving canopies of vegetation attract wilderness enthusiasts who come here to hike, fish, ride rapids or camp in a wildlife observation shelter.
Similar to mutualistic relationships that develop between forest species, the park reaps the financial benefits of increased tourism, while “ecotourists” become more aware of the natural history and ecological importance of tropical rainforests.
Experts estimate Taman Negara’s forests to be 130 million years old – the oldest in the world – and among the most diverse.
The boat I glided on was about a metre wide and 10 metres long, with a tin roof and a 25hp engine. Knowing I would be in it a while, I arranged the lifejackets on the backrest and sat back for a leisurely ride.
“Be ready to jump out and push,” came a voice from behind me. This was my first experience with Roslan’s subtle humor.
“There are many sandbars…and crocodiles,” he added.
Hot winds blew against my face as we motored up the Tembeling, zig-zagging from bank to bank in an attempt to miss those sandbars. When this failed, as it often did, someone jumped out to “de-ground” us.
My senses were stimulated throughout the afternoon. Bright blue stork-billed kingfishers swooped low over the water.
Climbing palms, strangling figs, ferns and all manner of epiphytes form a virtual wall of multihued greenery along the banks, where light-loving plants reach for the sunlight of the river clearing. Domestic water buffalo, cooling their bellies in the water, snorted as we passed.
Where a fierce survival struggle brings out the best in plants and animals, natural wonders abound. At Taman Negara, one type of orchid boasts petals the length of a briefcase.
Plants and insects drop pungent smells or unique coloring to deter predators. Some insects, such as the orchid Mantis, walking stick and leaf insect, have mastered mimicry to the point that their camouflages are virtually fool-proof.
I could have spent days roaming the forest, admiring and pretending to identify the plant life. Most tours, however, cater to the non-botanist by including trekking, river running, wildlife observation, caveing and swimming.
On my first day there, we headed off to conquer Teresek Hill, a short trek from head- quarters. The first third is flat and easy walking as it cuts through fern-filled undergrowth, wild ginger, climbing lianas (the kind Tarzan swings from and stately dipterocarp trees.
Their spreading branches overlap with those of other trees high above (often about 60 metres) the forest floor. We spotted a racket tailed drongo and flushed a pair of crested fireback pheasants out of the underbush. Near the summit, the trail gets much steeper until a bright wash of light bursts through a clearing at the first viewpoint, a marked change from the trail’s relative gloom.
Viewpoints along the trail provide a lookout over the treetops and Gunung Tahan, peninsular Malaysia’s highest peak. River trips provide a wet contrast to treks. One half-day excursion took me on a wild run through seven sets of rapids. Its wilderness could have been because we were going upriver.
If you like fishing, ferry up the mostly untouched upper reaches of the Tahan or Kenyam Rivers for at least one fight with a 9kg kelesa or Indian mahseer.
The mahseer is bound to thrill even the most jaded fisherman with its wonderful leaps and speedy take-offs once hooked.
If the river trip into Taman Negara is the road to Eden, the Tahan River is the driveway to the front door. Ferns and lianas are so prevalent here, you’ll want to strip down to your loincloth and pound your chest.
Most visitors spend a night in a “hide” to observe wild animals. These odd-shaped shelters are built high above the ground overlooking a clear, grassy area.
Though elephants, rhinoceroses and tigers live in the park, they are rarely seen. You are far more likely to see such animals as wild pigs, tapirs and barking deer.
As we walked back down Tersek Hill, Roslan sald: “Malaysia has culture and nature – that is it.”
Although he made Malaysia sound lacking, this abundance of culture and nature are behind an increase in natural adventure tourism to Malaysia.
On my longboat out of the park, I hung my hand over the gunnel, trailing my fingers in the brown river waters. A long-tailed macaque crashed about in the canopy above.
When I had first come up this river a few days earlier, surroundings seemed new and unfamiliar, almost confining. Now, as I looked across the river at the cascading curtain of tropical forest, I felt only a strange feeling of comfort.
For information on Taman Negara and Malaysia, contact Tourism Malaysia.