It’s 5 o’clock in the morning. My traffic light turns green, I push the accelerator and immediately slam on the brakes. A car speeds through the red light – like someone took a wrong turn at the Sepang Car Racing circuit. In the next ten minutes, three motorbikes jump red lights without even looking left or right. Yes, I am still in Malaysia and some things haven’t changed in 25 years. With great infrastructure it is easy to drive around, but be very cautious and drive defensively. Also, learn a bit of Malay as the traffic signs are now all in Bahasa and “kereta sewa” doesn’t really read like “car rental return“… But what do you care? You want to know how I fared in Taman Negara!
Hot and bothered, to be true. Temperatures were high, air humidity was at the point of saturation and there wasn’t any wind. I had driven to Kuala Tahan, the gateway to the park. Here, you can take a one ringgit ferry crossing to Taman Negara, a name that means National Park. Stating the obvious can be poetic. Talking about poetry: all the dazzling pictures are by Kai, or from the archives and mostly both. The mediocre pictures have been provided by the author, for contrast.
My plan for the two days in Taman Negara was as simple as it was stupid: bird Hornbill Valley in the morning and do a loop through the park in the afternoon once it gets cooler. Hornbill Valley is promoted as “quiet valley where it is easy to see different species of hornbill“. I have heard more truth from politicians. Not quiet, no hornbills (the last one was seen three months earlier) and certainly not easy. This may be because a freshly tarred road now goes through the valley. This allows for higher speeds and more disturbance. The remnants of the forest are at scope distance from the road, so even if there had been a silhouette of a hornbill, I’d still be cursing and swearing.
Not to give up easily, I spent two mornings on this road… My rewards? The Gold-whiskered Barbet hammering away at a tree termite nest was worth the trip all on its own. I also saw Asian Blue-breasted Quail and Red-wattled Lapwing, both species are clear evidence of the disturbed environment. I saw on eBird that other birders had seen more species and from the photos it looks like they hiked away from the road into the forest. Worth considering.
I had decided to do my hiking in the afternoon… Surely, I would fare better in the national park proper? The plan was simple AND stupid, remember? Here’s how I will go birding in Taman Negara in the future: I will bring a thermos with an iced drink, enough food for a day and two liters of water. I will sit down in the Tahan hide near the Mutiara resort and wait for the birds to come to me. And I know this is the best strategy because it is how I saw Malaysian Honeyguide, Greater Coucal, Asian Fairy-bluebird and Buff-vented Bulbul while during four hours of sweaty misery on the Swamp Loop I saw one (!) family of Rufous-crowned Babbler. The next day I did an even longer walk through the jungle, followed by a short stop at the hide. Let me just say the hide produced a pair of Chestnut-breasted Malkoha and the four-kilometer walk didn’t.
All this complaining about Taman Negara may make you think I didn’t like it. On the contrary, I would even consider returning to the more remote Mua Gusang. This town provides access to the Sungei Relau area. However, I will not go birding in Taman Negara without a good local guide – the element of chance is just too significant for my liking and time is precious.
“I will sit down in the Tahan hide near the Mutiara resort and wait for the birds to come to me” – words of wisdom.