Taman Negara National Park: More bizarre than an Indiana Jones movie...

Long haul flights are never fun, but ultimately always worth the effort. After our first leg from Johannesburg to Hong Kong, the jet lag took control, leaving Dale passed out on an airport bench whilst Esti kept an eye on our belongings. Upon arrival in Kuala Lumpur, the captial of Malaysia, we were very fortunately collected by a friend, Leejiah Dorward and his uncle. Leejiah is a fellow conservation scientist and birder who we had planned to travel with before and after the International Congress for Conservation Biology (the primary reason Malaysia was planned as our first stop). Leejiah's uncle ensured we received the full local hospitality treatment, taking us for our first traditional satay kebab skewers and later to a fantastic Chinese restuarant. Their family are Chinese Malay, and we chatted at length about the ethnic diversity and history of this interesting country. A final evening stop involved us trying out the local favourite fruit - Durian. Although the combination of cheesy scent and texture did not quite appeal to Esti!

INTO THE JUNGLE

The next morning we set off early, planning some bird watching on our road north to the Taman Negara National Park. At our first stop the Asian Fairy Bluebird and Black and Yellow Broadbill provided Dale and Leejiah with some exciting first "lifers" of the trip. We arrived at the small yet busy town of Kuala Tahan in the early afternoon; the access point for one of the oldest rainforests in the world! The afternoon was spent strolling through the forest near the main entrance gate and relaxing in the nearby "hide" with more exciting bird sightings, including a falconet and hanging parrot - completely new groups of birds for us!

In an effort to avoid the heaving throng of tourists (as birders and biologists we mistakenly did not consider ourselves tourists), we headed to the adjacent section of the park and ended up hiking through the ultra-humid rainforest for much of the day. Leejiah would stop to look for birds only to have glasses immediately mist up! We spent the day evading leeches, whilst it seemed the birds, in turn, did their best to evade us! We did come across some elephant dung, and thrilled at the knowledge of these great behemoths secretively watching us through the dense jungle. We returned to the town in the late afternoon for a much deserved tiger beer, soaking up the majesty of the jungle from our campsite on the opposite river bank. A Rhinoceros Hornbill soared past and landed nearby to provide us with great views, perhaps a small token of reward for our tough day of birding.

We had decided to use the services of a local bird guide the next morning to improve our success rate and provide a more intimate understanding of the rainforest. Roselin certainly delivered, as we enjoyed epic views of a Daird's trogon and Great Argus pheasant. He also provided some background to the Park, explaining that it was first established in the 1930s, and subsequently expanded to its current size in the 1950s. Being born inside the Park, with his father working as a ranger, this was definitely some first hand experience. We had planned to spend that night in one of the hides (locally known as Bumbun Kimbaung), deep within the jungle, and Roselin also assisted to organise a boat for the trip up river and some take-away fried rice to sustain us through the night's watch (focused on nocturnal animals rather than game of thrones).

Being dropped off on the side of the river by ourselves, in this ancient forest, definitely provided a feeling of adventure. We hiked the last leg to the hide and settled down alongside some other tourists also spending the night there. The old concrete structure and overgrown jungle vegetation providing a fitting "Indian Jones" feeling to the whole venture. Fortunately there were no zombies to dodge, but also unfortunately no golden chalice to be found either. Rather, the jungle itself provided the prize, serving up initial offerings of fantastic bird sightings (more lifers for Leejiah and Dale), before finally yielding the ultimate prize - a Malaysian tapir! The opportunity for potential spotting this bizarre nocturnal creature was one of the main reasons we had decided to overnight in the hide. We watched through our torch beams for a few hours as he slurped at the salt lick, gaining much needed nutrients. The black and white coat and short, prehensile snout providing just the right kind of "out of this world" appearance.

We feel asleep, and woke up, to the sounds of the dense jungle around us, fully satisfied with this awesome encounter, and perhaps ready for a night in a proper bed. A last stint of birding with Roselin in "hornbill valley" added a few more great bird sightings to our steadily growing list, before making the short drive back to the bright lights and concrete jungle of Kuala Lumpur.

(Tapir image: Leejiah Dorward)