Penang

Most people take a boat from Langkawi to Penang but that was a bit expensive for us (and long speedboat journeys can be punishing) so we took the ferry back the mainland, a taxi to the station and caught a train to Butterworth, where we took the ferry across to Georgetown.

We also called here again on our way back north so I've included both stays here in this blog entry. We returned partly because we really liked Georgetown. Such a cosmopolitan town with different religions and cultures co-existing closely together. Food was some of the best we encountered in Malaysia (especially that of Indian origin) and there seemed to be a party or festival of some kind or other on pretty much all the time.

Our first visit coincided with Chinese New Year and the streets were literally jammed with people. Chinese temples, not normally open to the public, were welcoming all with samples of food and putting on displays of dance and music.

Great Mormon Papilio memnon

Wildlife mainly took a back seat here but there were some interesting moments. The Botanic Gardens are a bit of a haven for wildlife, sitting as they do at the base of the steep, forested slopes of Penang Hill. On our first visit we just walked part of the gardens but on the second we took the funicular the the hill station at the top and walked down (a painfully steep, calf-wrenching slog in the intensifying heat and humidity by the time we reached the bottom.

Time here on the first visit was fairly short as by mid-morning the heat was unbearable. Birds included a showy Little Spiderhunter, White-rumped Shamas, Changeable Hawk-eagle and my first Olive-winged Bulbuls.

A highlight, on the second stay, was a close troupe of Spectacled Langurs hanging around the top station of the funicular railway on Penang Hill. Lots of beautiful orangey young.

Spectacled Langur Trachypithecus obscurus

A massive female Nephila species was sitting on her web with many smaller spiders surrounding it. Could be either males (which are much smaller) or other species (there are a couple of smaller spider species that kleptoparasitise Golden Orb Weavers. There were many more Golden Orb Weavers here plus on the way down the hill this Spiny Orb Weaver. Clearly a Gasteracantha species and maybe G. versicolor.

Golden Orb Weaver Nephilia sp.

Spiny Orb Weaver Gasteracantha sp.

The descent from the hill top didn't produce that many birds. A Grey Wagtail at the top. Yellow-vented, Red-eyed and Black-headed Bulbuls, many Dark-necked Tailorbirds, Asian Fairy Bluebirds, Hill and Crested Myna, Crimson Sunbird,  many Orange-bellied Flowerpeckers, Chestnut-bellied Malkoha, Eastern Crowned Warbler and Arctic-type Warbler. A couple of Giant Black Squirrels were superb.