The challenge for Friendly-Friday this week is a collaboration between Frank from Beach Walk Reflections and Amanda at Something to Ponder About, it’s all about finding shapes in photos. Looking through my galleries I’ve found a few.
One of the activities I wanted to do was a Mangrove Swamp tour, and on our last day at Tanjung Rhu we thought we would give it a go. At the end of the beach there was a small market with tour guide stalls so we walked over and bought tickets. The sky was becoming darker by the minute and I was thinking that this might not be a good idea, but too late our driver was there to make the quick drive to the start of the swamp.
The Mangrove Swamps are set in the Kilim Geoforest Park, which is now a UNESCO geopark.
We were met at the jetty by our man Maddy and there was just the two of us plus him on the boat. Good job as the tiny roof was just big enough for two and he was rather on the large size! We had brought umbrellas but when we opened them up we realised they were child’s umbrellas! Five minutes down the river my shorts were soaked, at least it wasn’t cold rain. All of a sudden the boat started put put puttering and I was like “oh ooh” and our man said no problem and lifted the lid of the engine up and started pumping away at the fuel line. I really did not fancy sitting on the banks waiting for help.
It was quite difficult to take photos as we were going fairly fast by now and the rain didn’t help either. Our man Maddy liked to sit on one side so the boat was fairly unbalanced! But I managed to take quite a few.
We headed along the river, through narrow tree lined channels, under tunnels and outside the other side again. The limestone cliffs towering above us covered in dripping ferns were a sight to behold. There were monkeys clambering over rocks along the muddy riverbanks who came down from rocks and trees to greet us, hoping for a crust or two.
The Mangrove Swamps in Langkawi mangroves provide an important sanctuary for a wide array of life. They are habitats for many wildlife species, including fish, crustaceans, eagles, monkeys and otters. The mangroves serve as a buffer zone, a transition from the sea to the land, and act as a coastal barrier. If another tsunami were ever to strike these mangroves would serve to protect the coastal villages.
We had to take it slow through this tunnel and it was nice to get out of the rain for a bit!
We met these very jolly fisherman in their colourful long boat as we passed through a very narrow channel between huge limestone rocks. At one point I thought we might scrape their boat!
Our first stop was a floating fish farm where we could disembark and feed the fish. We said no to the fish feeding and just had a wander around. Quite tricky getting on and off the boat with man Maddy balancing at the front helping us off!
The luxury yachts above were in quite a dilapidated state and have been left unattended for two years during the Malaysian lockdown. Most have been abandoned now. We saw many of these dotted up and down the river.
Back onto the boat again and our next stop was Kelam Cave, a limestone cave housing bats. I didn’t realise that bats also play a very important part in the world, they are also pollinators like bees. They are becoming endangered in South East Asia due to fruit farmers shooting them down as they think they are damaging the fruit trees. Bats are highly sought after for their medicinal properties.
There was a very small charge to enter the caves and they provided you with a torch. I must say we found it fascinating but very creepy. We had to crouch in many places to get under the stalactites and extremely low ceilings!
The next stop was to feed the eagles, I think my favourite part of the whole trip. It was only after reading about the birds here that feeding is not encouraged, but all the tours still do this. I could not get one good photo but took many videos.
They really did put on a fabulous show. It was wonderful to hear the eagles crying above and watching them swooping and diving for the food.
In the background of this photo you can see Thailand. Our Man Maddy said we could go back via the open sea or along the waterways of the river. There was no way I would take the chance of the open sea in the sputtering boat we were in! So the waterways it was.
This limestone hill really does look like a gorilla.
I hope you enjoyed the tour of the Mangrove Swamps as much as we did. If you ever visit Langkawi be sure to look out for this tour.
Kilim Geoforest Park
Gua Kelawar Cave
I’ve also posted this as part of Friendly Friday – Green
A new Friendly Friday challenge from Amanda this week “Beneath my Feet”.
This brought to mind being up high and looking down at the world beneath my feet. You don’t have to be in an aeroplane to see the world below or up high in a building, sitting in a cable car or on a chair lift brings you closer to nature.
Back down to earth again. Nothing like digging your toes in the sand and letting the waves lap over your feet.
In Sarah’s Friendly Friday’s Challenge the topic is “Framing your photos naturally”. I am always on the lookout for unusually framed photos and often cross the road back and forth to see it at the right angle, well sometimes, not the one from the beach where I just sat and focused!
My gallery of naturally framed photos.
“That’s rule number one for a photographer, isn’t it? Fill your frame?”
David Cronenberg
“Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame.”
G.K. Chesterton
“Frame in terms of what you want to have in the picture, not about making a nice picture, that anybody can do.“
Garry Winogrand
The Grotto, Victoria, Australia and Biarritz, France
“For it is only framed in space that beauty blooms.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Thanks Sarah for a thought inspiring challenge
A gallery of wildflowers for Friendly Friday, a three weekly challenge. This week it was Amanda’s turn over at Something to Ponder About.
Some of you may have seen these photos before as dear hubby and I have been on a couple of trips about two hours North of Perth. Wildflowers in this region start blooming from July.
The famous Wreath flower. These are truly amazing flowers and look like they’ve been handmade and left in the dirt. Their real name is Lechenaultia and flower from August in Western Australia.
This is a map of the one of the routes. There aren’t that many places to stay so booking accommodation is essential well ahead of time as it’s a very popular trip.
Every two weeks Sandy and Amanda host Friendly Friday. This week it’s Hands and Feet from Sandy.
I’ve found a few from my archives.
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The Friendly Friday challenge for the next two weeks has been set by Amanda from Something to Ponder About. It’s all about travelling to or from somewhere.
My featured photo is from a trip to Vientiane, Laos. A man walking in the countryside with his woven baskets.
Going Home
Everybody rides bikes in Vietnam, old and young alike. The woman on the left doesn’t even have her baby in a sling! The small boys at the front in both photos look like they are driving as well.
I took the above photos from a car next to the bikes, a bit of a blurry result!
Going to and from work and school are my thoughts on the above two photos. I wonder how the man on the left didn’t lose his balance!
The left photo is in Hue and the right, Hanoi.
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Adding onto our Laos/Vietnam trip we flew to Hanoi from Luang Prabang and planned to stay here for three days. We decided instead of organised trips we would just explore Hanoi on our own. I had booked three days at Hotel Nikko a very large Japanese hotel near Hoan Kiem…
My attempts at creating postcards from the past from old photographs! Hosted as past of Friendly Friday by SandyL.
It took me much longer than anticipated, but has kept me occupied on a rainy day!
A trip from many years ago! I had a few spare days between jobs and went on an organised tour from Hong Kong. What a fabulous time I had.
For this I used a website called Crello
