Pangkor

We spent a few nights anchored at Pangkor. The highlight for me was seeing the beautiful hornbills up close.

We sailed overnight from Port Dickson. Arrived and anchored midmorning and went ashore to find a scooter to hire. Once we had the scooter, we rode around the island. It is a tiny island, and it didn’t take us long to circle it. Along the way, we stopped at Nipah Beach for lunch. We enjoyed a delicious Nyonya laksa as we watched a family of hornbills.

The staff at the Nipah Deli put out some fruit for the hornbills that live in a tree nearby. The hornbill ma and pa cautiously made their way to the table and the plate of fruit, where they filled their bellies before returning to feed their two chicks. They were fantastic to watch. I even got to see the mother feeding the baby hornbill, regurgitating the food and placing it in the baby’s beak. Fantastic!

We decided that Nipah Beach was the place to be. So the next day, after catching the ferry to Lumut for a look around, we pulled up the anchor and took Thorfinn to Nipah Beach, where we anchored for a couple of nights. Now we were anchored near a pleasant beach with restaurants and bars – Dwayne’s favourite type of place!

That night we enjoyed a cheap Malaysian meal at the nearby warungs, scattered between the souvenir shops and water sports hire. The following morning we had thunderstorms and torrential rain, which finally stopped, as abruptly as it had started, around 11am. We hopped on the bike to return it as we now had no need for it… we had already seen everything there was to see in the few days we’d been there. Now it was time to relax on the beach, paddleboard and swim.

As we got to shore, I saw a couple of hornbills. I thought they were ma and pa hornbill from the day before. However, as we continued along the road, we saw another four pairs of hornbill birds. It seems that they were out in force enjoying the wet morning. It was nice to see that there was more than just one family of hornbills living on the island. After becoming aware (while in Kuching) that there is still a market for the hornbill’s horn in Malaysia, I must admit I did despair for this beautiful bird.

Later we took the dinghy to explore the small islands off the beach. We wanted to have a swim. I refused to get in the water because a used nappy was floating in the beach wash! Yuk! Yes, I forgot to mention that we sailed amid rubbish during the entire sail from Port Dickson to Pangkor. It was depressing to see. At Giam Island, we had a dip in the murky water before heading to shore for dinner – another laksa – and another glorious sunset.

Next up – Penang