Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, Perak
My husband doesn’t like to stay long in one place, so right after spending a day and a night in Georgetown, we later drove to Bukit Merah Laketown Resort. He was partly too lazy/sleepy to drive and at the same time need to complete a job and upload it online. We put up a night at Suria Service Apartment Hotel. The apartment is quite spacious, we got a view of the highway on 7th floor.
Yassin was quite excited to explore the theme parks but as it was raining, we kept the plan till the next morning. Furthermore, it was already around 7pm when we reached the laketown. It was also raining so we took a rain-check.
After breakfast the next morning, we let Yassin take a dip in the pool for an hour before checking out and head to the theme parks.
Boy, he is big now!
Bukit Merah Laketown Resort is divided into 3 parks; Water Park, Eco Park and Orang Utan Island. We bought a combo ticket for Orang Utan Island, Eco Park and Sky Chair (RM39 for adult, RM33 for children below 12). We skipped the Water Park as Yassin already had his dip. The first park we explored is Orang Utan Island. We took a 10-minute’s ride on a boat.
Orang Utan Island Jetty.
The 35-acre Orang Utan Island is a research institution dedicated to the preservation and research of the orang-utan. Founded by MK Land developer’s Executive Chairman Tan Sri Haji Datuk Mustapha Kamal, it was developed to resemble the orang-utan’s natural habitat as closely as possible, its vegetation similar to the rainforests in Sumatra and Borneo. The island has dedicated 5 acres of land as a research and rehabilitation centre while the remaining acres are for Orang Utans to roam freely. Unlike zoos, the humans are the ones inside caged enclosure here.
Observing Orang Utans from inside a cage.
Sonia, Adam and Carlos swinging around. They were quite excited to see humans in a cage. Haha.
27-year old BJ is like any other normal orang utans—when he is having a bad day, he will have his amok and break tree branches around him and roars like a lion.
This is sleepyhead 7-year old Harry.
Oh, this is my very own ‘orang utan’. ;P
At the research and rehabilitation centre, care is given to the infants as well as to the healthcare of a total of 18 orang utans in the island. The facility’s ICU (Infant Care Unit) is equipped with heart monitors, IV drips, incubators, as well as a trained veterinary surgeon to cater to the orang-utan infants that may require medical assistance after birth. Infants who are admitted to the ICU will go through a specially designed rehabilitation programme consisting of 6 stages to ensure the development of their natural instincts such as foraging, nest building, searching for water source, swinging and climbing. The rehabilitation programme aims to ensure the infant adapts well to their natural environment before their eventual release into the wild.
One very shy infant.
After visiting the rehab, we went to watch a documentary—Nurturing Nature—at the video room. It tells about the declining numbers of orang utans due to the clearing of their natural habitats from human development, mining, and illegal poaching as well as the efforts taken by the foundation to save the endangered creatures. This is my favourite part; a frame from the video:
It was very educational trip for my family and I. Although we missed our boat to get extra information about the island (as well as buy some souvenirs), we were happy that we left the island on the next boat with extra information about the life of orang utans.
Next, we went to the Eco Park. The 3-acre park features three large enclosures – Nature Trail, Reptile Park and Tropical Trek, with a variety of reptile, primate, mammal, bird and fish species in an environment as close to their natural habitat. In addition, there is a Pets Park and daily animal shows.
The Eco Park.
Beautiful Sri Lankan peafowls.
Bearcats (binturong). The left one is doing major cleaning, haha.
Guinea pigs.
Cute cuddly hamsters.
Sleeping hedgehog.
Yassin feeding a rabbit. Pack of mixed food (vegetables, seeds, fish food) for animals can be bought at the park’s entrance. The staff will let you know what food to be fed to which animals.
We got to see the animal show. Seen here a parrot carrying a ball through cones.
Clever parrot solving mathematics.
One for the album. Red parrot and me. Forgot the name of the parrot but it is named after a football player.
A thundercat and a couple of parrots.
This is what Hanging Parrots do—hanging around. Also known as Serindit in Malay Language.
Friendly ducks seem to be smiling for my album. Awww….
This squirrel monkey climbed on my bag and took away my lens cover! It later gave it back to us. 🙂
We had a blast spending time with the animals and on the way back to the main area, we took the skychair. The ride was great and we got to see view of the Water Park.
Yassin on a skychair.
Yassin had a blast and made us promised to come back here again for the Water Park. We will definitely return here as this resort is great for family holiday.
28 Comments
cikcloudy
very informative la kak, i’ve never been to bukit merah.. nice photos too!
Oldstock
I’ve been to Bukit Merah Laketown once before with staff at my former workplace. We spent the whole day at the waterpark… adults behaving like kids, hahaha..
Didn’t know about the Ecopark… maybe the next trip up north, I’ll check this place again.
fiziskandarZ
Happy happy happy new year! seems like you guys had a great fun 🙂 Some colorful sketch of the animals pls! pls! pls! 😀
Syuq
Betullah..very informative. I was there in 2006 but I think I should go again to have the same experience as yours.
Niza
I have been there but never got to experience the Eco Park. Must go again. Thanks for the info and lovely photos.
Niza
Btw, you have certainly lost weight and look younger in return.
Sigh. If only I can stick to my diet and not the see-food diet…
emila
Ya ke? Yippe thank you, Niza! Struggling hard to lose weight sebab dah tua-tua ni kadar metabolik adalah sangat rendah hehe
emila
Yes you must go and bring kids along! They will love it there.
emila
Syuq mesti pergi bawa anak-anak. Memang seronok.
emila
Happy New Year to you too! Ok, I will draw soon. Thanks for reading 🙂
emila
Hahhaha, I think the Water Parks brings out the child in the adults. Oh mungkin Eco Park ni came later after the water park kot.
emila
Thank you! Nanti cuti pergi tau!
Mya
samalah kita kak emi.
saya hari tu pun pegi bukit merah tapi tak pegi waterpark.
dah boring kot.
so pegi orang utan island & ecopark. best!
Insyirah
I like the rabbits and the ducks because there cute, and maybe I could draw them! 🙂
Syuq
Kalau baca blog K.Em, tempat pernah pergi pun rasa macam kena pergi sekali lagi hehe
emila
Ya ke?? Seronok dapat entice Syuq untuk pergi lagi. Kak Emila snediri pun memang nak ke sana lagi.
emila
I like them too. Planning to draw the,
dysha sahhir
seronoknya…
Raimy
Are they very strict on number of pax living in a room ie: 2 adults + 1 kids. More than that will not be allowed in the same room?
emila
I am not sure because it was just the 3 of us staying there. But I think Malaysia’s hotels are not very strict like other countries which charge per head. Please call the hotel first to confirm. They are most likely to charge for extra bed.
penaberkala
i’ve been there twice
but, never visit Orang Utan Island
Hazural
Pena Berkala…. dh lma ada pulau org utan ni 😉 best sgt…
penaberkala
ada tengok tapi tak sempat nak pergi
sakan duk main gelongsor
Yukino Hinata
have been there one time ago when i was 16. i bet the place will be slightly different at the moment.
imaisha
pernah sampai tapi kat souvenir shop and tmpt mkn je.. haha.. adoi.. what a waste >.<
dah sampai pun tapi takde masa nak explore the place..
adna2029
pernah sampai tp masa tu diorang tgh renovate cian anak2 xdapat main permainan di situ..
adna2029
harga sekarang nk masuk lake town bukit merah ni berapa ya..
adna2029
harga dia mcm mn ya sama ka..