Animal spotting in the jungle of Taman Negara (Day 154 - 156 by Chris)

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Wednesday 17th February 2016

We left the hostel at 7:30am and took a taxi to the pick up point of our bus that would take us to the rain-forest of Taman Negara. We shared a small bus with approx 10 other people travelling with a company called Han travel who offered an all in one bus and boat transfer to the rain forest which had we organised this ourselves might have caused us some headaches. The first part of the journey was simple and after 3 hours we had arrived in a town called Kuala Tembelling which is a small town on the banks of a river. Here we had to wait 30 minutes until our boat departed.

Being the first 2 people on the jetty we were first in line for the boat. The boat was a narrow long boat which seated 2 people side by side and had about 10 rows. When the boat pulled up the lady from the booking office began loading the luggage on with the heavy suitcases going on first. Before we knew it the boat was full and the people who had their luggage loaded were off on the first boat. The second boat then pulled up immediately and as it did, the lady told us it would be leaving until 2pm, it was now 1:15pm. This was annoying for 2 reasons. Firstly because the boat journey is 3 hours and we wanted to arrive before it got dark so that we could find our hotel when we arrived, and so that we weren't attacked by mosquitoes on the river when it got dark. Secondly because we were the first on the jetty to begin with. As there was nothing we could do about this we had to sit and wait with 3 other couples who were in the same boat as us (metaphorically speaking - unfortunately!). As 2pm approached a bus load of people arrived and were immediately ushered into the boat that we thought was for us. We were told that this was a private tour so that they had to be together. That boat left and so did the next one that pulled up with their remaining group. At 2:15 and still no boat for us I decided to head to the booking office to have a word. As I got there I saw that the booking office was closed with the metal shutters down. I returned to the jetty to inform the other people waiting. At this point a new boat pulled up and as it did approx 20 new people arrived so without being told to do so, the 6 of us waiting decided to climb aboard the boat as we were not being left stranded again. Thankfully nothing was said to us and after almost 3 hours floating down the beautiful river we arrived at Taman Negara national park.

After getting off the boat and collecting our bags we walked up a very steep hill to our hotel, Holiday View Inn. We dropped off our bags and headed back to the jetty area to get some food before heading back to the room to sleep. Our first impressions of Taman Negara though were very impressive. The small town was situated on the banks of a fast running river with very brown water and surrounded by lots of jungle. The main things to do here is either hike through the jungle or to walk along the longest canopy walkway in the world and these are 2 things we intended to do.

Thursday 18th February 2016

We decided not to join some of the tour groups that many people had opted for and which left for the jungle relatively early. Instead, we decided we'd follow any trails ourselves, with the hope of having some leisurely time should we get tired, and without being hurried along by any guides. We had breakfast at a hotel resort just across the river, which you cross by river taxi, paying only 1Ringit per person (about 15p each).

After breakfast we headed to the jungle canopy walkway. We followed the signs which indicated it was only 1.5km away. Whilst walking along the trail we didn't see any other people for almost 30 minutes which was nice as it gave us a feeling of properly exploring. Along the trail we saw a grey lizard about 2 foot long in the bushes slowly digging up the dirt and with its huge tongue picking off any escaping ants. A little further down the trail we saw another lizard only slightly bigger than the first and we thought we were very lucky to have spotted them. After nearly 45 mins of walking we came to the realisation that the sign post of 1.5km to the canopy walkway was completely wrong as we had walked about 3km and hadn't even arrived yet. At this time we were soaked in sweat due to the jungle humidity and our legs were burning as we were constantly climbing up and down steps. When we did arrive at the walkway however, we were very pleased to see that we were the only ones there. We supposed that if we'd joined one of the groups in the morning this would've been packed.

The canopy walkway in simple terms, is a collection of ladders lying horizontally with planks of wood covering the ladder rungs, which in turn are tied with rope connected to very thick wire ropes that connect multiple trees. The walkways are located roughly 20 metres up in the trees and are very wobbly as you walk along them. You are guarded on either side as you walk over the walkways by mesh so that should you fall either side, you don't fall to your death. There are 7 separate walkways altogether and we were advised to keep a gap of 10 metres between us. We had a brilliant time walking high in the trees surrounded by noises of the jungle and best of all having the place all to ourselves. After completing the walkway we made our way back to the hotel to shower and take a nap as we were exhausted.

In the evening we headed back to the restaurant where we had breakfast, to eat dinner. We ate some lovely beef Rendang which is a local dish and is basically slow cooked beef with rice in curry and tastes amazing. As we were leaving there was some commotion outside and lots of camera flashes in the dark. We headed over to the noises and were almost knocked over with shock at what we saw. Standing there on the grass was a Tapir which is something I have never seen before in my life, never mind in the wild. A Tapir is an unusual animal as it looks like a cow but has a small trunk so also looks like an elephant, but has the hooves of a pig. Its about 1 metre high and about as big as a wheelie bin (probably the best way to describe it come to think of it). It didn't seem bothered by all the people at all and at one point even walked into the restaurant where it was fed a carrot by one of the waiters. They look huge but are not dangerous as they are herbivores so we were safe. Unfortunately it had a huge cut in its side which we heard was due to a fight it had had with another Tapir, but someone was on hand to treat the wound. We were really shocked but unbelievably happy to have seen this plus the 2 wild lizards earlier in the day. We'd had a great first day in the jungle and couldn't wait to see what the next day had in store.

Friday 19th February 2016

For our final day in Taman Negara we were heading back into the jungle to hike up to the top of a hill which is said to have great views over the national park. We left around midday hoping that by doing so we'd avoid the tour groups which set off around 9:30am. We crossed the river by taxi boat again and headed off on the hike to Teresek Hill which according to a signpost was only 2.5km away. We soon discovered that whoever put up the sign posts had no idea about distance.

The day was hot, but surrounded by trees we couldn't feel the sun, but we could feel the humidity of the jungle which after only 10 minutes meant our t-shirts were soaked through. The route we followed was marked out with distance markers and also a wooded paved track which although useful to keep on the correct route and easy to walk on, took away some of the fun from the walk as it would've been nice to walk over the jungle floor and feel as if we were real explorers of this area. After about 1 hour and having walked at least 4km we suddenly arrived at the end of the walkway and straight into the jungle proper and were now walking over tree roots and ducking under low hanging vines. The walk then turned vertical and using tree routes and the odd rope that was available we pulled ourselves up the steep hill. We climbed, and climbed and climbed until we eventually reached the top of the hill. We were drenched and seriously out of breath. The past 30 minutes walking vertical up and over trees was lots of fun and we were happy to have the view point at the top all to ourselves. We took the obligatory pictures before deciding to make our way back down.

The route down was much easier and also quicker. We took a different route which led us back onto the track form yesterday so we were back at the start after only an hours walk. We headed back to the hotel to shower and wash some of our sweaty clothes by hand (the joys of travelling!). In the evening we went back over to the restaurant at the other side of the river for a pizza meal which took forever to arrive. It took so long in fact that the waiter gave us a free mushroom soup to apologise - winner! Back at the hotel we relaxed and then slept deciding to raise early the next morning to pack as we just couldn't face it at this time. We fell into a deep sleep having had an amazing day and an even better time in Taman Negara. We read that the jungle here is older than the Amazon, and although I can in no way vouch for that information its a good feeling to have hiked through some of the oldest rain forest in the world and to have done it by ourselves and seen some natural wildlife. Taman Negara has been great and is highly recommended for those that like to take a little walk every now and again.

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