After a 40-minute bus ride to the Geopark, we meet our guide, the guru that is Yan. He is a legend and the guy you want if you get the chance. So very knowledgeable and bloody funny to boot. Topman!!! The Geopark has been a Unesco Global Geopark since 2007, which includes helping the indigenous villages to become self-sustainable and benefit from the tourism $$$ whilst respecting the habitat. I also took this snap because of Yan and Jude’s stunning resemblance as explorers for the day. Check the hats!

The gang is ready. Mosquito spray on, sun-tan lotion on, and inquisitive minds turned on. Let’s hit it. It’s boat-time.

The jetty is managed by one of the local villages, and a number of these tourist boats are now privately owned. Back to the sustainability strategy. Just brilliant to hear and brilliant to see in action. Our driver was a local young chap called Mon, who was a spotter legend (as you will see) and speed-freak (as you will see).

How stunning is this place? It’s so very green and healthy. It’s weird, but you sort of feel healthy with it. Loving this place.

Wild packs of dogs cross the rivers and the tributaries frequently to get to the villages to scavenge for food. They look pretty healthy to me, plus they are better swimmers than wifey…

I really have no idea why the daughters do this? Amy and Jhea, both. Yeah, no idea. Anyway, this is Amy with blurry dogs crossing a river. Twice.

Off the 1-minute boat ride to the 1st stop and bat cave. Explorers are ready to go go go.

1st stop is to look at the mud-flats. Keen eye Kennett spotted this first. Mud-skipper fish. Crazy little things that can live underwater and traverse to land and breath, like the 1st animals to drag themselves from the primordial seas millions of years ago. The locals don’t eat these, but others do according to Yan. I forget which country.

BATS. The Australian cricket team could have done with some good bats in the World Cup, well here you go guys! These are insect-eating bats. Tiny little things that roost during the day and like clockwork exit at dusk to feed. Whilst we are in the cave there are loads of them flying around your head, missing you by cms by squeaking out their sonar. Stunning little things.

Yan did warn not to look up at them with your mouth open, by using an anecdote of a previous unfortunate tourist he had in his party. Mouthwash was needed.

It’s pitch black in there but the gang is having such fun. Here is Yan in full flow sharing with us the flora and fauna of this amazing little island. And this is just stop #1 of the 4-hour tour.

How cute are these? Tiny little things about the size of a fist.

And yes these are limestone caves within the volcanic Tors. So yes the water seeps through the faults and joints to create stalactites and tree roots from above also follow the same path to get to the water for sustenance. Quite amazing though is that the tree roots stop before hitting the water within the cave floor because that is intertidal and therefore very very salty.

Out we come now to some daylight and time to see some mangroves and monkeys. More stalactites on the way.

Now we are truly into the intertidal territory. The roots of these mangroves would be covered with salty water during high tide. All exposed at the moment which also brings the inquisitive Macaque monkeys to explore. Oh yeah and also because of humans with glittery things that they think contain food.

Yan takes a break from being the tour guide. “OK folks, what you can see in front of you are black mangrove trees. The smaller ones that grow up from the ground and look like shoots have grown from the fruit of the mangrove, but are white mangrove. If you want to know more this sign is very informative” said the monkey.

It’s quite eerie in here. Cracks, pops, squawks, whistles, rustles and the like all happening. This sure is alive. We were on the lookout for what Yan called a Blue Bird or what I know as a Kingfisher. I did see one later on the boat-trip but it fast flew away when it saw us.

Looks at this. It’s like an alien planet. But an alien planet that is full of fish, crabs, lizards, insects, monkeys, snakes and birds. You just have to be very bloody lucky to see them all.

Here’s one bird I love seeing all the time. It’s wifey. Believe me, as we stand here we are sweating buckets. It is seriously hot and humid. off-the-charts in fact.

“So if I do this scratching thing with my hind leg without falling off the fence do you think I could get a biscuit or some chocolate mate? said the monkey.

Then we come to Limbo Cave. I wonder why it’s called that. Holy shit because any adult above 2′ tall has to literally fold themselves in half to get in it. Even Jude had to bend over. It’s a tight entrance. I wonder how Big Bird and Big Foot would get on in here? Everyone would think they had converted to Islam and were praying. No . mate they’re crawling into the cave.

See what I mean? It is tight getting into this wee cave. More fun and games with bats and an exit path to the boat to follow.

Beautiful little crabs the size of a fortune cookie litter the floor. This is a male. You can tell the males because of the female having the same sized front claws. Whereas the male has one front claw much bigger than the other, as you can see.Must be his drinking arm?

Because this is volcanic rock there are holes all over it from when it was bubbling as it solidified. And these, in turn, have become home to many little critters. This is a beehive. The World’s only stingless bees (I think), so you can literally stick your finger in there with no worry. These are also tiny about the size of half a jelly bean. Very cute. I assume this has to be honey residue around the hive entrance. Apparently, if you go to one of the stingless bee farms on Langkawi they literally stick a straw into the hive and you can suck up neat honey. I like that!

Yucks. Of course, shed loads of these. Yucks indeed. Apparently, these red ones are OK. It’s the slightly larger yellow ones you need to look out for, according to Yan.

Back on the boat. And it is time to start your engines gentlemen. Goggles on. Watch the video as Mon really opens her up and we were skipping along at a fantastic rate of knots. So exciting and uber cool.  And cool, as in not so hot.

Check out this countryside. It is breathtakingly stunning. I could stay here forever. This is a wide part of the waterway. Read on as it gets much much smaller.

A quick power-down to saunter past the floating restaurant where we will be having our late lunch. You’ll also notice it is an active fish-farm. There are loads of amazing sailing ships and yachts here. Apparently, it is way cheaper to moor here than in the marinas nearby. These boats come down from Thailand and my stopover here before Singapore and Indonesia with some even venturing down to Australia.

This is Crocodile Cave.  So named because of the rock formations at the entrance looking like a crocodile. Er, looks like no crocodile I have ever seen. Perhaps he had a bad dentist?

Spooky. Yep, it is shallow and pretty much completely floods when it is high-tide. See the lines up the wall,  almost like the plimsoll line on a ship.

Yan called this the Micro Canyon. Too funny. It is literally one boat width, not like the Grand Canyon at 1 mile wide and 1 mile deep. Bless it. When we get to the other side it was like a scene from The Deliverance with Burt Reynolds…

It’s squeezy through here.

If one of these picks up a banjo and starts playing I am asking to turn the boat around right now!!!

We now drift into narrower channels in search of Mangrove Vipers. Yes, snakes. This is where Mon was amazing with his eyesight. But first, we saw this Macaque Monkey literally sitting on a branch with his legs hanging down. So human-like, and so funny.

Mon nails it spotting this male Mangrove Viper laying silently and still in the low tree line. Apparently, they wait until higher tide and sit and await fish to come to the surface and then strike. Massive toxin injection, as all vipers do, and a yummy sashimi dinner. You can tell this is a male as it is much smaller than the female of the species. I also spotted some shed skin on a branch. This again clearly shows there is snake-action around here.

Yan told stories of a Python nearly being dropped in the boat by mistake once. He also tells of seeing a King Cobra once eating a Mangrove Viper head-first. He also tells of a huge Python nearly consuming a local, but it could not swallow past the person’s shoulders. Lucky he was an American Football Player wearing his pads! (Joking!). He has also had monkeys jump in the boat to snatch something glittery from unsuspecting tourists, before jumping overboard and swimming back to shore with it. I love this guy’s stories. I could sit and listen to him all day long.

It’s really narrow now. We all hope no snake will plop in the boat and cause havoc and a likely mutiny.

And then Mon steps up again. Here she is. A much bigger female Mangrove Viper. She is absolutely stunning. So perfectly still, just soaking up the warmth so she can become active tonight.

I do joke that if it rained we would need to find some Windscreen Vipers. Yes the boat, apart from family Kennett, all laughed.

Quite incredible to be so close to this rather venomous snake. Luckily she is docile resting in the warmth before going hunting at dusk. This is their habitat and we are encroaching, but only for a little bit. See you later gorgeous girl.

This is just such a beautiful place. I don’t know how Mon and Yan did it but somehow they managed to get us alone out here away from all those other boats that you saw. We are literally alone in peace and quiet in this serene mangrove swamp. It is magical.

And then it opens up again and we speed off to see what they call eagle feeding. Loads of boats here churning over their outboard motors causing a load of splashing water. Why? Two reasons; one is to cut up the processed chicken pieces they just threw into the water and two is to advise the eagles and kites that there is food in the water. Almost a Pavlov’s dog situation. Now, this I don’t like. Yan did explain there were loads more boats doing this before bur gradually it has reduced as awareness of how bad this is for the eagles becomes commonplace. For example, they reckon that the chemicals in the chicken they are feeding the birds reduce their calcium intake, which makes their eggshells very weak so when mum sits on them they just collapse and hence endanger the re-population of these majestic creatures. The realisation is kicking in that no eagles equal no livelihood at all. Long may this thinking and change continue!!!

These are Red Kites which are much smaller than the White Belly Sea Eagles. But boy do these guys fly fast when they spot prey and angle their wings up to dive with talons out. Amazing to watch this aerial display a few meters away.

Here are the big boys and girls. The White Belly Sea Eagle. These are huge birds, just huge.

Swirling and swooping. We were transfixed for ages watching these guys. As they say eagle eyes, yep that’s what these guys have and when they spot something they flip and swoop and top speeds brushing the water surface with their talons to grab what they spotted. Amazing!

Look at them go.

Here are eight of the red kites sat in a tree. Yeah, sadly they are waiting for the next boat to come and feed them. Very sad in fact. It’s almost like a load of punters waiting for a food truck to park up and start serving.

Yan shows off another piece of history in the Geopark. This is a very old charcoal kiln. They used to deforest the mangroves and throw the chopped up wood pieces in these kilns and completely seal them up for 50 days or so to completely dry them out to make the most amazing charcoal. Also amazing was that Yan knew of the Japanese version of the same, Binchotan, which I mentioned in that recent Facebook post re the Netflix series – Barbecue. This is now banned in the Geopark and is only allowed in officially regulated forest areas with stringent re-planting and controls. Did you know that one hectare of Mangrove forest deforestation is the same as three hectares of normal forest – that is in terms of carbon dioxide retention. I did not know that. Protect our Mangroves folks!!!

We then hit a beach for 40 minutes or so. This place is just incredibly beautiful. And the funny thing is that it is named the same as the road we lived on in Singapore. This is Tanjung Rhu. In Singapore, it is Tanjong Rhu, but it apparently means the same – Tanjong/Tanjung is the fern trees that align to a sandy point. The Malay name comes from the Casuarina trees, referred to in Malay as Pokok Rhu, where Rhu is the casuarina Littoria, that grew along the beaches. Hell yeah. I love finding stuff like that out.

And boy it was bloody packed! HaHa, NOT!!! We are so going to go back here for the day next time we are over to Langkawi and I recommend you do too. It is stunning. Literally no one here. Yan did explain you can get a taxi here too from the town where we were staying. Too easy!

See I was there haha!!! Photo-bomber Jude wants to be in every single snap. We just tried to have one wifey and hubby snap, but no, the 5-year-old had to get in there bless him. Beautiful back-drop of limestone Tors again and off in the instance is Thailand.

What an incredible view from this exclusive beach. Not that we have it to ourself, but it is not far from it. We will so absolutely be back to explore more of this next time. At least a half-day here. We must have more time.

Jude decides to take a horse ride up the beach. Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop…

Wifey asked for a new shot for her Facebook Profile – hey presto there it is haha. Very nice despite the Boy Scout hat.

Sneaking off for a quick pee. The toilet was full so I snuck around the back as boys can do of course. Hey, presto I nearly pee’d on this as I did not see this until it moved. Pee nearly turned in to poo for that split second!

My little man looking rather older than his 5 years camped out at this extremely cool beach bar. Again another reason for coming back to this beach one day soon. This place is groovy with cool chillax sounds pumping out, and icy cold beverages a flowing with that view. I am in heaven!!!

And now +1. We like it here. We really like it here.

Have to have a snap of wifey and Jude Jude having fun here too. Next time I am commandeering those bean bags and having a Potato Head fun afternoon on the beach. Kids playing, wifey and I chilling. Hell yeah. next time, next time. All a drive away from the hotel too. Wow!!!

Finally wifey and I manage to run away and get a photo of just the two of us. Finally!!! Awwwww!!! Will miss our date lunches and fun stuff alone from next week – the dreaded work starts again! Deary me. Where’s that Lotto shop??

As we depart our private beach, seriously look at it and count the people. Oooh, maybe 10-15 people. Now the actual reason we slowed the boat down was to look back at King Kong Mountain. You can see what I mean right. It’s insane. It looks like King Kong lumbering through the Jungle – Bonkers!!!

It’s uncanny!

I really really love this place. It reminds me of our trip to Halong Bay in Vietnam. Remember that? Glorious volcanic Tors sticking up from the sea everywhere with the undercut from the limestone erosion from the sea and the tides. It’s beautiful.

A floating fish-farm is the only thing in the way. Next stop is Thailand, but we are about to take a turn 90 degrees to the right to stick close to the coastline of Langkawi. Skipping on the waves at top speed. Just the best fun. No sea-sickness here folks as this is top fun, Top Gun.

“Are we going fast Maverick?” “Hell yeah Gooseman!!!”

But then some dark clouds adorn the skies. And yes, heaven she did open and we got pelted with rain in this open speedboat. Yan even stopped to hand out ponchos to all, it really did hammer it down. So bad, in fact, that I had to lend Jude’s sunnies to Mon so he could see where he was steering the boat. Loved it! 

And then a rather nice lunch on the floaty restaurant cum fish-farm. Yan the super organiser. He really is a top guy! 

My new BFF. We speak a different language but speak the same language. 

And the heavens continue to open and pour out. This is one Perfect Storm. So cool to be sat undercover on a floaty restaurant watching this in the dry. Yeah, a very cool last stop on this exploratory trip.

Included was a rather nice lunch. Tom Yam soups all around with a choice of spicy or not spicy. I went spicy. Can you guess which one that is of the two? Holy cow we could power the speedboat on the chilli oil for a week.

Very very yummy! Just simple food but seriously delicious. Deep-fried chicken, some stunning fried rice and that Tom Yum bum burner. Woo Hoo!

And that folks, was that. About 5 hours all up out and about and then we return to the solace of our amazing abode. The amazing Meritus Pelangi Resort. Welcome home family Kennett. Last night MWAH!!!!

This is what I wanted to share with you from the second night here. We didn’t get this until we returned home after dinner so could not offer their kind offer. I dod ping Priya a note just to say we don’t do the blogs for the gratitude we do them to share with our loved ones, family and friends all over the World. They let them see what we’re up to here in South East Asia. If we have an amazing experience, as we have here, we write about it very honestly and it is usually containing feedback from the whole family, not just yours truly. I just scribe it. So we said a massive thank you to Priya, and it turned out the Hotel General Manager.

Last night. Let’s go hard. Well after I try to finish the blog for day #2. I am a tad behind because of all the fun we’re having not allowing me to sit and type! It will be done tonight!

OMG, a first. Well, nearly a first. Wifey and I ‘alone’ for 30 seconds for a photo together. Happy happy days with wifey and kids in paradise yet again. Don’t want it to stop!!!

A little research and spelling practice happening now at the other end of the table. Oh yeah and reading day #1 and day #2 blogs now that I have finished them both. Phew!!!

Dessert anyone? Holy cow – the buffet is shaping up nicely. WOW!!!

It’s a beach grill night tonight so we are 100% signed up for that in a big way. 1900 on the dot the kids are a queuing awaiting the laster Chefs to practice their training.

But 1st I get to practice myself. I took the tomato soup and made a Chef Kennett version taking some Olive Oil, a little Balsamic and a good crack of Black Pepper and sprinkle of sea salt. Hey presto, my very own tomato soup for this evenings dining. All the family wanted and had one. Quite proud of my improv…

This is wifey and Jude’s table of food dishes. Yeah, buffet kind of makes you go crazy with your ordering right? Good work wifey!

We’re really getting into this as is the Chefs. The guys that work in this place are ALL just so chatty happy and inclusive. Great team that we have enjoyed meeting and interacting with these 4 or 5 days. Bloody ACE people. It has been a ball.

The sun going down is always a good indicator. That red glow is the sign that darkness is on its way. Nighttime is coming and we must go to bed as an early start for the flight at 10 am tomorrow – damn and blast! In fact, I thought it was a 104t5 am flight and set family expectation such. Imagine my surprise, and theirs, at 0730 am when I checked the booking and announced we had just lost the extra 45 minutes. Yeah, chaos ruled!!!

Goodnight Langkawi you beautiful thing!

One call out here though to the house band at CBA Bar/Restaurant on the beach at Meritus Pelangi Resort. These guys play some amazing renditions of favourite songs. People might, or might not be listening. We certainly were tonight as we were sat immediately in front of them. That also gave me the chance to see them front and centre and I tell you I was double blown away! Be so very proud of the quality of the music and singing guys. We loved our last night listening to you thank you so very much. You may be thinking yeah whatever we’ve all heard bands before at hotels. How about this then for consideration before you dispel what I call out; the lead guitarist is blind (the chap to the right of the singer), and behind the singer, the guy on keyboards and percussion is also blind. Bravo to the band. Bloody brilliant guys!!!

And then sugar kicks in – what could possibly go wrong on our last night?

More of the same…

And more of the same…

And more of the same…

And more of the same…

And; “RIGHT!!! That’s it you two!!! Get your stuff together NOW and let’s get you to bed!!!”