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(This column is
updated regularly!)
Current | Archive: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
February 2013
Langkawi Nature updates
Welcome to the Year of the Snake and wishing all our friends and guests a Happy Chinese New Year!
Nature is an ongoing interesting phenomenon and there is always something going on, even though you would follow the same trail or do the same trip every day. Migratory birds, unexpected sightings of animals in certain areas, nesting birds, and newborn monkey babies are some of them and there is so much more.
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| Chestnut-headed Bee-eater - photo Sofian Zack |
Mangrove Pit Viper - photo Tom Reynolds |
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| Sun Skink - photo Ian Roberts |
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We are updating our company Facebook page daily and this can be a good way to get already a good idea of what Langkawi has to offer in the flora and fauna field or it can be a nice reminder of the time you have already spent on the island.
Please have a look at our Facebook page and any input or question is more than welcome there or through our e-mail: info@langkawi-nature.com
We love to share our experiences and passion about Langkawi with you!
November 2012
Dev’s Adventure Tours – your gateway to nature since 2006
October 2012
MEET OUR TEAM MEMBERS
These are the current team members of Dev’s Adventure Tours: We are all looking forward to meet you on one of our trips!
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| Anne-Marie - Managing Director |
Jerome - Naturalist |
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| Khirien - Naturalist |
Selva - Naturalist |
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| Mandy - Naturalist, Sales, Planning Coordinator |
Shah - Naturalist |
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| Shuhada - Naturalist |
Vani - Sales, Planning Coordinator |
Please drop us a mail for bookings or inquires at info@langkawi-nature.com
June 2012 – LAST COLUMN
Time is flying and years are passing like weeks. The world around us is changing and it is hard to get by with all the changes and innovations. All kind of social networks are daily (if not hourly) business for many people and therefore I have decided that this column will be the last.
We are better able to update you about Langkawi’s flora and fauna through the Dev’s Adventure Tours page on Facebook. We kindly invite you to have a look at this newly set up page and to ‘like’ it. You are also free to post any nature related issue on this page, to share your trip experience with us or to ask a question. Our guides will also update you with their experiences during their trips with photos if possible.
On behalf of all our team members I would like to thank you all for the continuous support to our company; the positive feedback is highly appreciated and the constructive feedback is taken as such and will keep us open minded to make improvements where possible.
‘To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often’- Winston Churchill
We hope to receive the same support from you in the future and we are looking forward to ‘meet’ you at our Facebook page!
Anne-Marie
March 2012
We could not have wished for a better start of the year 2012; we had the highest numbers of guests within 1 month ever and all guides were doing many extra trips to fulfil all the requests. We even had to refuse some guests with last minute bookings as we were simply fully booked on many days. Although we would be able to get more business by taking more guests we will always stick to the rules and to our own principles and we have our maximum number per trip to secure the service and quality level our guests are used to.
The rainy season seems to have started early this year. Since the end of February we are already having the short and heavy rain showers, mostly in the early evenings and during the night. Actually it is very refreshing and most of the time the next morning it is extremely clear and so beautiful to be outdoors.
 As usual this is a very interesting time of the year for bird watching. Many migratory birds will make Langkawi their home for a couple of months and we always get some nice surprises. During one of his bird watching outings our wildlife photographer Tom Reynolds was lucky to see a Large Hawk Cuckoo at the bottom of the Gunung Raya in one of the rubber trees. He managed to make an amazing photo of this bird which is not easy to spot on Langkawi. If you are a bird lover a trip into the forest and/or up the mountain can be very rewarding during these months.
After the busy months of January and February we are now back to normal peak season level which means we can do some other things as well. We continue to support the Langkawi Charity Club with mangrove boat trips on a monthly basis for the underprivileged people on Langkawi. And we are investing to upgrade our equipment. New kayaks are on the way and should be coming in during the next months. We are very pleased with our new bicycles and with a total number of 10 new bicycles we can increase the total number of guests per trip to 9 persons instead of 6 persons. The nature cycling trip is getting more and more popular and for some good reasons. The focus is on nature and in the meantime we do some cycling; many interesting local, natural and cultural aspects will be highlighted during the trip and it is a nice and different way to see Langkawi from a completely different angle.
For more updates on what we are doing please visit our company page on Facebook and if you have any suggestion or idea or question please feel free to contact us at info@langkawi-nature.com
Hope to catch up with you with the next column.
Anne-Marie
December 2011
At this time of the year we are celebrating the 5th anniversary of the company! Time flies and the company is now already active for more than 5 years; a few memorable dates:
- 18 September 2006 – decision made to start this company
- 30 September 2006 – the company name is known
- 15 October 2006 – first official trip for an agent – 4 persons on mangrove boat trip
- 6 November 2006 – officially established as private limited company
- December 2011 - DEV’S ADVENTURE TOURS – YOUR GATEWAY TO NATURE SINCE 5 YEARS
Thanks to everybody for all the support which brought the company to the current position: well known for our service, flexibility, reliability and quality and contracted to many agents and resorts.
 We have made many (small) steps during the last years to improve our service and quality level and we will always continue to do this. Our most important goal is the guest satisfaction while providing our guests an unforgettable experience in nature. We really appreciate the feedback that we are getting through e-mail, phone, through the guides, resorts and agents as well as through various internet sites of which Tripadvisor will be the best known. At the time of writing this column we reached the total number of 376 reviews and 84% of the reviewers rated our trips and service as excellent!
A team is as strong as the weakest chain and I am very proud of the strength of our team; a big thanks to all of them for the current success of the company.
Unfortunately there are also some downsides on being a successful company. One of them is the fact that other companies try to use our name and reputation; you might be given the impression that you have booked a trip with our company and you will be put on a trip of another operator. Also some of the resorts tend to support those operators who are giving the highest commission and they seem to care less about the service and quality of that operator. Our advice: get the truth before you go (is part of the holiday fun anyway) and book your trips in advance or directly with the operators. We will stick to our principles and offer the best service and quality during our trips at affordable rates that are the same for all resorts and agents.
We are looking forward to the next 5 years and hope that we can rely on your support as usual!
All our team members wish you a peaceful and healthy 2012 and we hope you will treat our planet in the same way you would like to be treated!
Anne-Marie
October 2011
The September month was a wet month; heavy rain showers and some days with a lot of rain for hours and hours. There were also a lot of dry and sunny days, where the rain was saved for the evenings and nights.
It was already for a while that we were thinking of doing something for the local people on the island. We often meet locals, born and raised on Langkawi, who have never been in the mangroves or in other parts of the island where we are running our trips. We decided to contact the Charity Club on Langkawi and offered them to sponsor mangrove trips for underprivileged people. The reaction was very positive and we left it up to them to decide which groups they would send.
The first trip was on Wednesday 21 September 2011 in the afternoon.
It was a group of students with some teachers of the Tunku Putra School in Padang Matsirat. They got the full mangrove trip by boat as our regular guests usually get and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Our guide Khirien and boatman Awi pointed out many animals (but seeing a snake was definitely one of the highlights) and they finally went to the fish farm to enjoy a nice meal and to get a tour of the fish farm.
All participants will finally get a group photo of the event so they have something to remember. The trip is fully sponsored by our company and we would like to thank our subcontractors for the special rates they have given us to run this trip. Our guides are volunteering and they are all more than happy to do so.
This trip will be done once per month until the end of this year and it will be continued in 2012; we hope to be able to increase the frequency of these trips but this will depend on donations. If you would like to sponsor an extra trip please contact me at anne@langkawi-nature.com or contact the Langkawi Charity Club at www.langkawicharity.com as they are always in need of support in many fields to help the underprivileged people on Langkawi. They are doing a great job and our company is happy to contribute a little bit in this way with our mangrove boat trips.
Hope to catch up with you in the next column.
Anne-Marie
August / September 2011
It is a while ago that we gave you some information through this column. The launch of our new brochure and our new website with the new image went smoothly and successfully. In the meantime all our guests and the resorts and agents that are supporting us, seemed to get used to it very quickly. Normally December till the end of March is the real peak season for our business and there is always a ‘second’ peak season in July and August due to the school holidays in Europe and other parts of the world, which was the same this year. The lower price for the mangrove boat trip (160RM now instead of 180RM for adults and 100RM now instead of 140RM for children) turned out to be a good decision when we look at the numbers. Many families were on our trips and it is amazing how many different nationalities you can count within a few weeks. We are also getting more bookings for the nature cycling trip now this trip is promoted in our brochure and the new trip ‘Untold Stories of Langkawi’ is slowly finding its way to become more known.
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Durian Perangin |
Durian Perangin |
At the end of August we had a few days with heavy rainfall on the island. Besides the usual problems the island is facing, we would like to highlight the positive effects of the rain. First of all it was really necessary to get some rain as the months before were definitely too poor in that field. And secondly, there are locations that are so much more interesting to visit during or after heavy rainfall and visiting one of the waterfalls is almost a must.
I decided to visit all three waterfalls on the island within one afternoon (which can easily be done if you have your own car or if you rent a car with a driver) and I must admit that this was one of the best outings I gave myself for a long time. The falls were extremely nice with a lot of water coming down and it was amazing to watch this natural and impressive violence. The most spectacular waterfall for me that afternoon was without doubt the Temurun waterfall, located on the way to Datai Bay, but the Seven Wells waterfall (cable car area) was a good runner up. Durian Perangin is worth a visit too, but this waterfall is separated into several smaller falls which will make the view less spectacular.
All waterfalls were easily accessible, but I would still recommend everybody to wear good shoes with some profile, especially when you are visiting the locations during heavy rain. So, whenever you are on the island and you will face some heavy rain for a few days, it is highly recommended to head to the waterfalls where you will have a much better experience than you will have during the dry season. This month we will start with something new and we are all excited about it. We will update you soon, so we hope to catch up with you in the next column.
Anne-Marie
May / June 2011
Welcome to our new website!
We are very proud that after months of hard work we are finally able to show you the results. And not only our website is completely renewed; we are also coming up with a new brochure as per 1 June 2011.
The new brochure has one page extra compared to the old one as our new trip ‘Untold Stories’ and the ‘Nature Cycling’ trip are now both included.
We have also decided to change some prices as per 1 June 2011; one of the changes is the drop in price for children (5-12 years old) for the mangrove kayak trip and the jungle trek or jungle trek / evening walk. Another change is the price for the mangrove boat trip for both adults and children. We noticed that we were a bit too expensive for especially families with a few (paying) children and we hope that with the new lower prices more guests will be able to join our mangrove boat trip.
NEW IMAGE
NEW PRICES
SAME SERVICE
SAME QUALITY
DEV’S ADVENTURE TOURS: YOUR GATEWAY TO NATURE!
We are also very happy to inform you that our company has won a 2011 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. TripAdvisor awards this certificate to properties who consistently receive excellent ratings from their members and we are one of them. Our passionate team of nature guides is doing a great job and I am very proud that they are rewarded in such a way; many thanks to Khirien, Nour, Selva, Mandy, Shah and Jerome!
Enjoy exploring our new website and our new brochure and hope to catch up with you in the next column.
Anne-Marie
April 2011
We are happy to introduce to you our new trip called ‘Untold Stories’. After several months of trying out several aspects of the trip we have found a formula that we are happy with and that we would like to share with our guests. Untold Stories of Langkawi will give you a different kind of adventure and all your senses will be triggered as you will get a mix of culture, food, colonial history and its architectural influence. During this 6 hour trip you will visit some interesting places like temples, Malay houses on stilts and the local night market and the guide will tell you all about the Malay culture, food, island legends and various religions. It is a completely different way of experiencing Langkawi and it is highly recommended if you are interested in the less well known stories of a beautiful island like Langkawi.
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Malay house on stilts |
Lagenda Park |
As with all our other trips we will start this trip with a minimum of 2 persons and it is possible to book this trip on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We will start around mid afternoon (about 3pm/3.30pm) and at the end of the trip you will get to taste some really good Indian food, served on a banana leaf at the house of a local family. The price is 200RM per person and we would not recommend this trip for children so the minimum age is 12 years old.
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Buddhist Temple |
Indian Temple |
A combination of culture, nature, history and food; you just have to try it for yourself!
 This trip can be booked as an eco-package with any of our other trips. The eco-package will give you a discount of 20RM per person on the second (and next) trip if you book directly with us. Other days for this trip are on request and in that case we will need a minimum of 4 persons to run it.
Hope to catch up with you in the next column.
Anne-Marie
March 2011
We not only had a different rainy season compared to last year but also the dry season was completely different and climate change seems to be messing up the usual patterns all over the world. We are now heading towards the end of the dry season and the short and heavy rain showers have already started which finally only gave us 5-6 full weeks without rain. But the rain is welcome; it is needed by nature and it is clearing the air and sky and it can be so nice to be out in the open air after a rain shower; the smells, the colours, the sounds; it all seems to have a more intense effect on our senses.
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Dusky Leaf Monkeys - by Mick Hill |
Dusky Leaf Monkeys - by Mick Hill |
The dry season is for many animals the breeding season, although not all mammals will stick to a fixed breeding schedule. New life is born and it gives many nice views during our trips. The Dusky Leaf Monkeys can be found in the jungle; they are 100% herbivore and are living a bit higher up in the trees compared to the Long-tailed Macaques. Their babies are born with a yellow or orange colour and the fur will change to a greyish colour within 6 months. They are feeding on young leaves, shoots and seedlings.
During these weeks and the next 2 months bird watching can be quite surprising on the island as many birds will be on their migratory route and might opt for a stay on Langkawi for a couple of weeks before flying further. The birds are also nesting everywhere and it does not take a lot of driving around to find them at various places. We almost bumped into a nest of sunbirds. The nest was hanging on a wire and it does not take a lot of imagination to realise that the birds must have made many flying hours to get this nest up to their standards.
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Great Hornbill - by Tom Reynolds |
Nest of Sunbird - by Tom Reynolds.jpg |
A complete different way of nesting is done by the Great Hornbills and they are Langkawi residents all year round. The most prominent feature of the Hornbill is the bright yellow and black casque on top of its massive bill, which appears U-shaped when viewed from the front. The casque is hollow and does not serve any known purpose. The Great Hornbills form monogamous pair bonds and the females build nests in hollows of large tree trunks. She remains imprisoned in her nest until the chicks are semi-developed relying on the male to bring her food. During this period the female undergoes a complete moult. The young birds have no trace of a casque. After the second year, the front extremity separates from the culmen and in the third year becomes a transverse crescent with the two edges growing outwards and upwards while the anterior gets broader to equal the hind end in width. The full development takes about five years.
You have not heard often from us during the last few months, but we have been extremely busy. First of all we had some very busy months with many trips going out on a daily basis. Secondly a lot of development is going on in the background and some changes and new things will be coming up soon. We will keep you posted through this column and some of the changes you will be able to see for yourselves soon.
Hope to catch up with you in the next column.
Anne-Marie
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