The excavations left by the mining works have been converted into lakes which are now home to fish, lotus plants and water lilies and some more exotic species, namely crocodiles and hippos.
Actually it is the crocs and hippos which drew my attentions when Lee Siang uploaded the photos, because it is quite rare that in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor areas, we can see the crocs feeding or hippos feeding, unless you are in Zoo Negara. This sparked my mind and suggested to the kids Dad that, we pay a visit there.
We reached our destination around 8:00am. Once we entered the Paya Indah Wetlands, the wetlands view catching our eyes as we are so close to the nature. We registered at the Information Centre, the Receptionist did give us a list of activities that we can do here:
We had our breakfast at Thypa Platform at the Typha Lake, where we can watch the birds and the lake is so serene. It was a good day, as the morning was still foggy. The children and their Daddy were enjoying the breakfast there. We can see the birds flying across the lake and hear them too.
The park is open for bird watching from 7:30am to 7:00pm. There is no charge (admission to Paya Indah is free) but of coarse you have to bring your own binoculars. We didn’t have one.
Jungle Trekking
The Typha Trail is available for trekking. Much of the woodland in the recreational zone has been recently planted so do not expect the same sort of lush jungle that you encounter in other parks in Malaysia.
The bicycles are available and can be rented for RM5 for 2 hours. Tricycles are provided for children under 6 years old at RM3 for 2 hours. This is a spread out (and flat) park so a bicycle is a good way of covering the distances.
We choose to walkabout as both Daddy and Mummy had long time no doing cycling already. Both Issac and Annabelle too, were walking tired and after 9.00am, it is really a sunny and hot day.
This is the most happening and made the children happy. Two hippos, originally from Botswana, live in the Hippo Pond enclosure. Feeding time is from 10:00am - 10:30am. The Hippos are so hungry, just ‘park and rest’ his big mouth at the stainless steel fence waiting for its meals. Their diets are fruits like papaya, bananas and selected grass.
They spend much of the rest of the day semi-submerged in the lake to prevent their surprisingly sensitive skin from getting sunburnt.
We were so enjoying the time since the last time we had at Taiping Zoo. But, Taiping Zoo hippos are still the best, though.
After seeing the hippos eat their breakfast we had made our way to the nearby crocodile lake in time for the crocs' feeding session 11am - 11:30am. It is on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays only.
The massive fierce-looking crocodiles were apparently transported to Paya Indah from Langkawi.
According to the Tour Guide, there are 37 crocodiles in the lake, and all are Buaya Tembaga species. The feeding only on the weekends due to the lake itself have enough fish to feed them.
It was almost noon by the time we decided to make a move back, as it was so hot and both Issac and Annabelle were very tired already.
There are still some activities which we did not manage to check out, such as:
Fishing is possible on Typha Lake from 8am - 6:30pm everyday except Fridays. The cost is RM10 per rod. No live bait is allowed.
Kayaking
Kayak rental costs RM7 per hour. An instructor can be hired for groups of between 10 to 20 people at RM180 for 3 hours (prior reservation is needed).
The hours for kayaking are 9am - 12pm, 3pm - 6pm.
They have also built a lookout tower providing a 360 degree view of the whole area. We did not manage to go up and visit the Animal Farm as well.
Chalet
We did come across the Chalets which sleep two people (double bed) and are air conditioned, and very nice they look too. It is at the very reasonable price of RM120 per night. May be someday we’ll check it out then. Probably stay a night and wake up early in the morning for the bird watching.
A great outing after all..^^
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