Naturally beautiful - NST
Zulkifly Ab Latif follows an expedition to document the flora and fauna of Pangkor Island
I am feeling somewhat overwhelmed. There is a cacophony of activities around me — much of which is a mix of the strange with the familiar.
A man walks by wearing neoprene scuba diving boots, carrying on his back an electronic-looking pack attached to a rod that reminds me of that 1980s Ghostbusters movie.
Others are busy stacking steel cage traps, the kind I’ve used to catch rats at home, outside the resort’s main entrance.
A woman in hiking boots is carrying a steel rod with a drill on one end. And there’s even a man walking around with snake catching tongs.
I am at Panvill Resort and Training Camp, within picturesque Teluk Nipah in Pangkor Island, Perak for the Pangkor Island Scientific Expedition 2017.
This is a seven-day expedition involving 115 researchers from 14 local institutes of higher learning organised by the Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Malaysia (Ecomy ) and supported by Vale Minerals Sdn Bhd.
It is the first day of the expedition and much of what I’ve seen so far has been quite scientific as PISE’s name implies, which aims to document the flora and fauna of Pangkor Island.
Andrew Sebastian, Ecomy co-founder and chief executive officer, walks up to me, claps his hands cheerfully and asks: “So which group are you following?
