WONDERFUL WILDLIFE

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Of course no trip to this side of the world would be complete without a good look at the wildlife. As the island is covered by rainforest there are plenty of opportunities to study from the smallest to the largest creatures in the region. In fact our study started by default on the very first night in our treetop lodgings. Ali had told us about a cry we would here at dusk every night and sure enough on the evening number one we heard it right on time. Sorry folks but it goes like this..........'fuck you' It's the mating call of the ferocious tokay ghecko that patrol our balcony looking for insects and small vertebrates to devour. You might think this rather frightening but they cling skillfully only to walls and ceilings hunting


their prey. These little heroes are most welcome, for one of their yummiest meals is any mosquito that carelessly flies past. This keeps the little bloodsuckers to a minimum. Not sure about the moths though. We watched the other night as a ghecko stalked, then pounced on a large moth which had come to rest near our balcony light. The moth was then devoured whole.
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Then there are the monitor lizards, giant prehistoric beasts that stalk the undergrowth. But the best has to be The Blue Planet, the underwater universe easily accessible by boat to any one of five points around the island. Indeed we took one such trip yesterday, to snorkel off Shark Point, Turtle Point, Fish Point, The Lighthouse and Romantic Beach. A little less used to the sport of snorkeling, I was a bit nervous at first but with Ali and Annabel both experienced in the art, I was soon in my element gawping in wonder at shoals of brightly coloured fish of all sizes flitting through the equally colourful coral, turtles, barracuda, clown 'Nemo' fish, stingray and most impressive of all, one and a half metre white tipped sharks going about their business in the deep, like sleek torpedoes the perfect killing machine. Luckily they are only interested in eating other fish. But they certainly made you gasp as they swam effortlessly past just metres away.
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What really is amazing about all this is just how much it costs. For example, our snorkel trip, complete with dinner, hire of equipment, transport and guide was about £9. Malaysia is top value for money and then there's the food! More on that next time.