Easter09 Escapade: Chapter 3 - Wild Encounter

It's an experience to see many wild life there. The island is less developed compare to the others, hence we are still able to see a few of them wandering around the resort compound.


The size of the animal/insect that we saw there is above the average size that we usually find back home. We saw a huge lizard ( i guess it's probably 2.5 times the size of the domestic one) hanging with us on the ceiling at the lounge. Spider web is everywhere so we have to walk carefully as we crossing some bushes. And the spiders are huge! We had lots of amphibian friends visiting. A 'friendly' frog came to 'protect' us at our front door of our room the first day we arrived. And he (or she?) stayed there till the last day of our trip there!


Our friend had been sticking close with us throughout our stay there.


Close-up look.



The squirrel joined us for breakfast.



A bit shy initially....



A pregnant monitor lizard. Quite big, about 1.5 metre long.



Apart from the land, there are even more exciting living creatures under the water. Although the water around our resort resembled a genocide graveyard for the hard coral, there many many other colourful and lively lives living under the water surrounding the island. Fishes and corals still appear in abundant across the other side of the island. Too bad that i don't have a under water camera.......

One of my very own unique and unforgettable experience of mine while snorkeling was the sighting of a shark! We were brought by our the resort crews to an area known for shark and turtle sighting. I'm kind of intimidated to jump into the water when was told about this. But the crew said it depend very much on the luck to see a shark, and also up till now, there has not been a case of shark attack in Malaysian water, yet. :) Well, I guess i have been watching too many Hollywood flicks.




The group jumped into the water eagerly. Though a bit scared, I did wish i could see one of these creature. The crew told us that sharks usually hang around at much shallower and warmers water near the rocky shore. I swam towards direction, and trying to avoid the crowd. I knew these 'shy' creatures will definitely avoid these noisy visitors.

There are many beautiful and fragile corals under the water. Colourful fishes swam freely in the water. I failed to spot anything exciting at the direction that i swam in the first place. I decided to change path, to the opposite direction leading to a much quiter water which heads out to the open sea. I tried hard to hold my head up so that i can look further. That is because we were sort of 'faced down' while swimming afloat on the water surface and the sighting area is limited to to the sea bed.



Water seemed to clearer at the part. Not much corals underneath. And I'm feeling a bit tired already so I decided to turn back to the boat. It was the very moment when i just finished my first stroke swimming back to the sea, i turned my head to the left. There he was! It's a shark. The familiar vicious look that we saw in the tv documentaries. The pointed nose, the fearful eyes. He was so fast that i didn't have time to get scared/excited before he disappeared into the blues of the water. He turned and swam away when he realised he had been sighted. That actually allowed me to have a good look of him. He was about a metre lomg, with black and white patches at the tips of his fins. His streamlined body has enable him to swim swiftly through the water. He was able to cut through the water effortlessly by the slightest motion of his tail. It's really amazing to be able to see it, at that place, in the water. But he seemed to be very shy!

I lift my head out of the water and tried to call the others, only to realised that the nearest person was 10 metres away! Contented with the sighting, I decided to head back to the boat as i was feeling tired. I decided to leave him alone, let this magnificent creature enjoyed himself at his own 'playground'.

I wish I could see the other great animal of the sea - turtle at my next outing. :)