A PASSAGE TO INDIA: July 2018

'when you are aware, everything is spiritual...when you are not aware, everything is material...'

In the past 3 years, much wild life has been spotted in little Singapore...more than what I saw on a recent exploration of Taman Negara, Pahang (post 174). It could be, there were too many people around in Taman during the treks, even at night, so the animals avoid those areas and perhaps forage in the more remote parts. But this doesn't explain why busy Singapore has so many wild things - it's a beautiful endorsement for urbanised Singapore - I like to think we have arrived where this is concerned...those wild animals could have made their homes or foraged in nearby Malaysia or Indonesia...all can swim...

Singapore's beloved family of otters who have endeared themselves to the locals. Otter watchers observed there's 2 large families who have made 2 different waterways their hunting grounds...when creatures from the wild make a place their home, their instincts tell them they are safe there...and this is in an urbanised densely populated small space with heavy human and vehicular traffic...

Sightings of crocs in Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve - pics taken by members of the public who were fortunate enough to have them cross their paths. I can only hope all visitors know how to appreciate and respect the life forms they share this space with. The Wetlands was improved on and reserved for such life forms to flourish, to attract them to this safe sanctuary where they may rest or breed without inhumane treatment from those that mean them harm.

This tango between 2 snake species was snapped by a jogger in one of our large forested reservoir parks, MacRitchie

Wild boars grazing in the day time by a busy expressway in Jurong...unfazed by traffic noise...

...and at night in a busy town center in Tuas where they walk among humans. The overfed locals don't need to trap animals for food anymore, so these boars are an interesting spectacle...

Pythons are rather common in Singapore - even in this area we are fortunate as nearly all known captured or rescued (depending how one looks at it) specimens are non- venomous pythons...

These 2 young women have spunk - for that python, resistance is futile - he's too full after a heavy meal to want put up a fight. There's hope in our young people, many of whom are females, who volunteer or work for animal welfare concerns...

106 of these Hawksbill turtles hatched on Sentosa recently. They were looked after by the National Parks Board (NParks). Turtles have never been known to lay their eggs in Singapore and now somehow they came this way in very recent times to do so...Ommm

It bodes well for Singapore for they return to the land of their birth as adults...

The Eco-Link bridge that connects 2 nature reserves across a busy highway, to allow animals to cross safely. It was monitored for a year via cameras to watch their numbers and to give them the chance to discover this crossing...

Every Cause and Effect...

This huge park covers a vast area - from Pahang state it extends into neighbouring Kelantan and Trengganu, many large areas still virgin forests. The Pahang side is likely better developed and explored

My accommodation was nice - I communed with monkeys and creepy crawlies - I had expected more small animals and especially birds of many feathers but there wasn't any. A forest so huge would be able to support more life in the higher branches but no large nests in the trees, no large birds, none foraging on the banks, no spiderwebs anywhere - it's almost as sanitised as Singapore's Botanic Gardens, but that's in a city...there's more life in Sungei Buloh Wetlands and even the Pasir Ris mangrove boardwalk has more insects...and than there's our beloved otters! Bukit Timah has more monkeys, so much so they had to trap them - but nobody knows what they did with them! And this is in an urbanised highly populated country...

To get here, the boat ride from Kuala Tembeling, Pahang, takes 2 hours or so...from Kuala Lumpur's airport, the bus took about 3 hours to the Tembeling jetty. It was a pleasant journey...

Karak cowboy town for good coffeeshop food, real coffee and village durians by the roadside...people are warm, genuine, shy...

A tree within a tree...

Secret garden to meet boars, if there's any - Singapore has more boars! Rats too! If a built-up city has these, why aren't there more in Taman?

The tualang tree - the largest and oldest in Taman Negara, 400 years of age I'm told...she's beaut..

buffaloes grazing

The ride along the Tahan River gave me some wonderful views of a truly old tropical rainforest. Its banks are scattered with fallen trees on its way to becoming fossilised. They're bleached such that from a distance they appear to be carcasses of dinosaurs. I view them as driftwood installation art!

Like something from Harry Porter! Several pics came from fellow travelers...

Trees by the banks do a balancing act - eventually succumb to their weight...

Along the banks, interesting mirror reflections in the placid water - like a kaleidoscope

Like a huge crystal shimmering in the sun...

This is the closest I will get to shooting rapids - wet and wild...

This obviously old liana is a sculpture. Lianas grow upwards from the ground towards the trees, they provide extra support holding the tree up whilst anchored to the earth - so beautiful the symbiotic relationships that exists in the natural world. For the tribal community, lianas when cut along its trunk, produce drinkable water

These pebbles, when mixed with some water and rubbed against a hard surface, produce these colors, likely oxide or ore...

They had an ice cream treat...they are terribly shy, avoiding eye contact, turning their faces away...

A Bateq aboriginal reservation - they are nomadic - they move away and some other family will take over for several months before they too move on...they are hunters/gatherers.
They hunt with blow pipes which they fashion themselves, using poisoned tipped darts that knock out their prey, chiefly monkeys. It was ingenious how they made those darts and start a fire using primitive methods. One suspects they would be using lighters these days but I suppose they still need survival skills when they are in the forests. They make full use of plants and herbs found in the forests for a multitude of things - food, poultices, medicines...aboriginals everywhere seem to have this innate knowledge. They are not wasteful, take only what they need, are respectful of living things and the Elements all around.
Because they are on the move so much, they live in the moment, accumulate little - if at all...

Using a machete he neatly slices wood strips till it was just a fine dart with a sharp end. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that machete, he's terribly deft with it - all the males are, it's part of their initiation into manhood by the time they are 13

This canopy walk covers quite a distance - there's at least 4 shaky wobbly crossings, rising higher before descending

The Kuala Tahan village closest to the resort - there's a boat service across the Tembeling River - or one may swim or walk as water is up to waist level

Whilst waiting for the city slickers, recharge one's batteries by plugging into Mother's green lung

The only way to get around - on arrival, trek or 4-wheel drive...
The boat ride from Kuala Tembeling to this resort takes 2 hours or so...

A most unusual fungus

That overpriced linzhi is right here and nobody seems interested...wait for the Chinese to invade this place...

Gotta look before I grab a branch or trunk for support - if it isn't spikes, it might be fiery red ants, a handful of jungle size termites, a centipede or millipede, maybe a scorpion, perhaps a snake...O jeez, what did I sign up for?!

Glorious specimen which remains nameless as I'm clueless...

Ginger plant and its lovely flowers in various hues

A seed that disperses propeller style - brilliant! Like a parachute, the wind carries it far and wide - go forth and multiply!

This fern came in a luminous turquoise shade - glorious - once again my mickey mouse camera can't do it credit - the guide referred to it as 'peacock fern' - apt...

This little fella came a-calling after closing hours in the coffeehouse - likely looking for scraps or can he be the pet of the crew! The locals I interacted with have a healthy respect for creatures great and small...

a stick insect - what a rare beauty!

baby squirrel

I learned from my jungle guide how to spot a spider that uses poison to paralyse its prey - they don't weave nets to trap prey, they hunt instead...

It's been decades since I set eyes on an atlas moth - I had a lump in my throat that this one came calling in the day time - they were so common in my young days, after the rains, they would visit...

Jungle termites can get bigger than these - there's plenty of wood for them to grow undisturbed

Jungle size crawlies

These 2 fellas were plucked off my legs before they got too attached to me - wearing shorts helped as I could see them before they had their fangs into me...one experience I hope not to repeat - but if it happens, fear not, they don't carry disease and are actually therapeutic - if you don't get squeamish watching them feed...they grow on you...lol!