Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Bukit Larut aka Maxwell Hill

Maxwell Hill is the oldest and least developed of all the hill stations in Malaysia. It is about 1250m above sea level and the temperature is about the same as Fraser’s Hill, between 19-25C. 

The virgin jungle reserved is supposedly rich in wildlife with 25 species of mammals and more than 200 species of birds recorded at Bukit Larut and around its foothills.

Most of us either have not been to Maxwell Hill or were there  many years ago so we decided to make a trip there in late Novermber to see if the wildlife there is as good as Fraser’s Hill.

We depart early as it is a long drive from Singapore and the last transport up the hill departs at 3pm !  We arrived at the park office at 2+, just in time for the last transport up the hill.  We transferred our baggage into a cart and hopped onto a jeep. 

20091124_DSC05819

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The ride up the hill top was about 30+ minutes, through very bumpy, steep and whining road.  We regretted leaving our camera bags in the cart and wondered if our cameras will survive the journey.

 

After what felt like a never ending roller coaster ride, we finally arrived at our bungalow, Angkasa, in one piece.  All our cameras survived the trip, thanks to our padded camera bags.


Jee Kin checking to see if everything is intact.20091124_DSC05829 

Angkasa is 1036m above sea level - MYMaxwell_20091124_D2789

The front of our bungalow -MYMaxwell_20091126_D3298

Another view of the bungalow -20091126_DSC05877 

Looking out from the bungalow - 20091124_DSC05830

In the 2 days there we saw many interesting wild life :

Butterflies :

Ancistroides armatusAncistroides armatus armatus-MYMaxwell_20091124_D2863Female Jacintha EggflyHypolimnas bolina jacintha-MYMaxwell_20091125_D3127Red HelenRed Helen - Papilio helenus helenusSmaller Wood Nymph
Smaller Wood Nymph - Ideopsis gaura perakana
Yellow Glassy Tiger
Yellow Glassy Tiger - Parantica aspasia aspasia
Hasora salanga
Hasora salanga
     

Moths -the larger and more colorful ones:


Antheraea helferiAntheraea helferi (m) Antheraea larrisa ridlyi
Antheraea larrisa ridlyi (m)Ambulyx tattina
Ambulyx tattina
Kunugia sp 
Kunugia sp
Underside of Eupterote sp
MYMaxwell_20091126_D3349

Other wildlife:

Ashy Minivet

Ashy MinivetBlack-throated Sunbird
Black-throated Sunbird
Bushy Crested hornbillBushy crested hornbill (f) Dusky LangurDusky LangurSlow LorisSlow Loris Giant Flying SquirrelGiant Flying SquirrelPope's Pit Viper
Pope's Pit ViperKing CobraKing Cobra

These are just a sample of what we saw during our two days at Maxwell.  There are places that we did not have time to explore and we will definitely go back next year to continue where we left off.

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