Langkawi Mangrove Boat Cruise: ABM Members

"ABM". That was the answer from Vivien when I asked her for the names in her group. ABM stands for Association Backpackers of Malaysia. Vivien, Tan and myself met on hiking trips more than a decade ago under the umbrella of ABM. We lost contact for a long time until Facebook reconnected us.

Vivien, Tan and their three sons came to Langkawi on the school holiday in the first week of December 2015. This was their second tour with me on the mangroves boat cruise and their first one was in 2013. Vivien and family enjoyed their first experience in Kilim mangroves and the Bat Cave that they brought the Hoo family along. All of us were also the members of ABM.

Adventurous and sporting family

Vivien's boys remembered their exciting moment on their first tour with an alpha male of a Long-tailed macaque. They have learned not to place any food containers on the boat. This alpha male leaped from a leaning tree onto the roof of our boat because he spotted a can of Pringles left on the seat. With the speed of a lightning, he descended and then followed by screams on the boat. He took what he was eyeing for and then dived into the water. Oh dear...there goes a rubbish.. oh well, I will pick up more trash when I go kayaking next. I said this in my heart with guilt as I watched the macaque happily inspecting the can. The boys told us that the can was empty. Poor macaque then. We were caught off guard and a lesson learned for us including myself. It was also their first time having to see a macaque swims.

All of us as members of ABM are nature lovers. Vivien and Tan are always encouraging their boys to be connected with nature as much as possible by being in the outdoors.

Interpretation tour with the Tan and Hoo family on the mangroves boat cruise

They were shown the mudflat creatures like the fiddler crabs and mudskippers and were lucky to see a Brown-winged Kingfisher. In Malaysia, Brown-winged kingfishers are only found in the mangroves of Langkawi.

This is how beautiful a Brown-winged kingfisher looks like. This picture taken a few months ago.

The tour took them into the heart of Tanjung Rhu mangroves before arriving at the Bat Cave in Kilim. The call of empty stomachs made us stopped at a floating restaurant for a simple lunch. Thankfully the floating restaurant was not packed with people and they didn't need to wait long for their meals.

I really love this picture! Is classic. The surrounding of the mangroves is so tranquil, peaceful and together with the gentle rock of the slow moving boat is definitely relaxing. I would do the same too if I am not on the job!

The final moment all of them especially the kids have been waiting for...... a swim at a beach! Tan demonstrated how to jump off from the boat into the water and all of them went crazy! The kids did countless rounds of jumping off the boat!

It was fun having them back on the same tour again. Thank you Vivien and family for your support and enthusiasm. Looking forward to see all of you next time. How about kayaking the next time?

Please click here to view Vivien's review

The Tan family went site seeing on their own. I like this picture so much that I post it here. The kids posing on the Eagle Square in Kuah town