A Mangrove Jaunt & More!

  
  Crash! A large wave rolls over the side of the boat. Brrr! I'm drenched. Through my fogged-up glasses, I can barely make out the pristine waters of the Andaman Sea. I take a deep breath in and let it out all at once. I'm north of Langkawi Island, an island with an unbelievable equilibrium of natural and man-made structures. The sun is right overhead, and I'm speeding off in a boat through the mangroves of Langkawi. I've never been splashed with water droplets at such high speeds. What a thrill!

    It's early in the morning. I'd just woken up. My family and I got ready by 9 o'clock and got on the road to Tanjung Rhu, a port in the northern part of the island.  The road was spectacular. Not literally the road itself, but rather the surroundings of it. It felt like a snaking path through lush, vibrant green rainforests with the soothing sounds of birds taking control over the rest of my senses. The drive was short and sweet, owing to our distracted senses observing the natural beauty. When we finally arrived at the port, we were directed towards our boat.

    When they said boat, what I saw was not what I expected. It had a faded blue hull, maybe two meters wide and six meters long. It was roofed, with no walls as such. I was, let's just say skeptical about how the boat would hold up. With silent acquiescence, I got in and hastily put on a multicolored life jacket. I am terrified of going over open waters, of course I was in literal horror when the captain started the engine and started bouncing over the water.

     Crash! A bunch of water hit me at what I felt were jet speeds making me feel like I'm a polar bear. We came to a sudden halt near a small island of sorts. The island is a place where we can see and feed all sorts of fish varieties, shapes, and colors. We stayed there for a while, feeding fish and marveling at the sheer diversity of species present here. After spending fifteen minutes afloat, we returned to the mangrove forests. Next, we visited a large, musty air cave where there were dozens of bats hanging from the roof like stalactites. We exited the cave and were led out into the mangrove. We got back into the boat and headed to another area in the mangrove, where we saw an awe-inspiring phenomenon. Countless numbers of eagles swooping down to scoop up feed thrown down by tour guides. The eagles were flocking around in circles over the boats.  I felt like a 2-year-old all over again, feeling happy at the smallest working of nature. After that, we headed out onto the sea to see the Kilim Geoforest Park sign. It was actually a bunch of white letters strewn across a rocky hillside spelling out Kilim Geoforest Park. While marveling at the sign, I realized I wasn't afraid of being out on the open sea anymore. I felt a pang of joy at this particular moment. The boat made its way back to the port comparatively faster, and we reached Tanjung Rhu at twelve-thirty PM.

    After returning to the port, we decided to go to Kuah, another town on the island. We stopped in the middle of the trip for a quick lunch break. First, we went to the Dataran Helang, a famous eagle sculpture situated along the coastline. The sculpture was a large eagle with a majestic, brown and white body and head as well as a yellow beak.  Apparently, the sculpture was built with the interpretation that "Langkawi" was named with the combination of the Malay words: 'Helang' meaning eagle, and 'Kawi' meaning a type of red stone. We had fun looking off into the distance across the surrounding water. We took a few photos and headed back to our hotel, after roaming around the rest of Eagle Square and the directly adjacent areas. We arrived at the hotel room in the evening.

    I never expected a simple boat ride tour to invoke such a wide range of emotions within me. On this day, I felt a lot of emotions(all positive!) from thrill, to happiness, to even joy. I loved this day and the many experiences that came with it. I've found out that the only way to overcome your fear is to do the thing you're afraid of. Never be reluctant to do something you may enjoy, you will regret it in the end. I recommend you try something new whenever possible and don't be afraid to face your fears. Facing your fears is often a fear in itself for many. I believe that the only way to overcome that fear is to face it. I feel very happy now that I've faced my fear of going out on open waters. The only thing that prevents you from overcoming a fear is yourself. 

    I enjoyed myself on this day out in Langkawi, and I loved the many things we did. I hope you can come over to Langkawi one day as well. I recommend you visit here during January and February, to avoid most of the rain, however, keep a rain jacket or two just in case. I hope that you will be able to overcome your fear and when you do I hope that you will feel that pang of joy as I did. Please share your own stories of how you overcame your fears in the comments section. As always, thanks for reading my blog.

Yours Sincerely,

Learning Through Expeditions