We saw this tour advertised in the place we were staying , they said they would organise it so we said we’d go.
Car turned up at 08:30 to take us to the area at the north east of the island - beautiful long empty beach, a silver leaf monkey (the young of these are orange in colour) and a lot of tour organisers. It got near to the time to leave and the phone rings - ‘where are you? You’ve gone in the wrong car and are now at the wrong place!!’ Panic set in until we learned the place we were supposed to be was about 500m away. Somehow a rival tour company arrived at the Hotel and we (and they) put two and two together and hey presto....... Anyway at the new location were all the tour boats and everything was sorted and got aboard. About 15 people and 7 nationalities and an English speaking guide.
First stop was a little cove where the guide threw a few bits of something over the side and the water started boiling with hundreds of beautiful coloured fish. On to the next area to be met with upwards of 15 eagles flying around. Apparently this are was a breeding area for the fish and the eagles new this, so it was a meal time.
Next we encountered a family of macaques near and IN the water. These we learned were a newly designated sub-species as they had a penchant for crabs. Normally monkeys don’t go in the water but these had learned that crabs were a source of fresh water when broken open. So they has taken to swimming and diving for crabs - amazing.
On to a floating fish farm where we chose a fish to be prepared for our lunch later. Last stop was a bat cave with no evidence of the man himself ;-). Back to the farm for lunch, a ride back and 30 mins on the glorious beach before the car ride (in the right car) back to the Hotel. A full and interesting day out was had by one and all.
Our guide reckoned the mangroves helped protect Langkawi from the full effects of the 2004 tsunami. Not sure that was so, more the fact there are 100 or more small islands surrounding it that took the sting out of it. Apparently only 1 person on Langkawi died at that time and that was from a heart attack !!
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