SCB-ASIA POST-CONFERENCE FIELD TRIP TO TAMAN NEGARA

Dates: 23-25 August 2014

- Feedback from participants

Franziska.Kerstin.Harich

Aug 27

Dear Jen,

thank you for the nice trip! And I wanted to say a big thanks for getting my bag back! I forgot in the car and was so surprised to see the driver waiting with it at my hostel when I came back from dinner.

Thank you so much, that was fantastic!

Best,

Franziska

======

Arjun Srivathsa

Sep 4

Hi Jen!

Hope you are doing well. I just got back to India 3 days ago. Needless to say, I had an absolutely wonderful time in TN. A minor issue I had was with the large number of other tourists. It would have definitely been better if there were fewer people (other than our group!). The Gua Gunanngg and the last day's trip to the waterfall were therefore much better I felt. But I guess since it was peak season there wasn't much you could do.

Thank you so much for all the help and suggestions even after the TN trip. I managed to spend ample time in KL, Port Dickson and Pulau Pangkor. And also managed to come back to KL for the parade in Dataran Merdeka :)

Will surely share the pictures once everything is sorted.

So, for being such a great guide, Xié Xié and Terima Kasih :)

Regards

Arjun

======

Marilyn Connell

Sep 5

Morning Jen

Arrived back home last Sunday and now back into work.

I thoroughy enjoyed my time in Malaysia, it is a very easy country for Australians.

I enjoyed my time in Taman Negara. Your emails before our trip were informative, although nothing really prepares you until you are there and experience it.

I think the only thing I wish I did was to take my headlight on the 4WD safari ride, especially as my headlight is very strong. I don't think we would have seen any more wildlife, but it would've been another light for members of our group to follow.

I hope Geoffrey enjoys his time with you and at Taman Negara as much as I did. However, being part of a small group where we all had common interest, made it much better.

Maybe you would like to follow our community conservation project on facebook: Mary River turtle project - Tiaro Landcare. You will see some photos from Malaysia after we left you.

thanks

Marilyn

======

Debbie Brischke

Sep 7

Hi Jen,

Thank you again for organizing a great tour to Taman Negara. I found the many steps a bit of a problem, only because of my lack of fitness, but am glad that I pushed on. My only concern was walking back from the waterfall, when I was the last person from our group, that you maybe should hang back more with slower people, in case of a trip or fall.

Kind regards.

======

Lydia Betz

Sep 9

Dear Jen,

It was a bit difficult to get back to office work after that nice trip to Taman Negara.

Usually I rather like to explore countries on my own. This time however I did not had time to collect information where to go and how and to organise something, thus this trip was a comfortable option to explore a bit of Malaysia's beautiful nature!

I really enjoyed the nice mixture of different activities (caves, forest at night, canopy walk, boat trip...) - for such a short time we did quite a lot.

During the canopy walk it was unfortunately a bit crowded, would have been nice to spend there more time in silence just to observe, but this is clearly out of your control.

The only thing that was not so perfect was the food on the floating restaurant (and this is not because I felt sick that one afternoon. I still have no idea what was exactly the reason for this). I got the impression that most of us did not really enjoyed it. Maybe one of the other restaurants would be a better choice?

I really liked the guide who joined us into the forest. Apparently he had a profound knowledge about the forest and the animals in there (and I got the impression that he was quite happy to guide all this crazy biologists.... ;-) )

You as well shared quite a lot of information about the country and its culture. Thanks for that! Malaysia seems to be so rich and diverse (not only nature wise), I would love to come back for a longer stay (or research...) to explore more of it.

After the trip I reached my hotel in KL well, had some dinner and went to bed early. Next day I went a bit lost somewhere in Chinatown and finally ended up in a very nice little place where I enjoyed one last cup of kopi and some tasty snacks before I had to leave for Germany.

Thank you for the nice excursion!!

Regards from Germany,

Lydia

======

Takehiko ITO

Sep 12

Hi Jen,

Thanks a lot for tour guide and arrangements to Taman Negara, and sorry for late reply.

I enjoyed the nature and culture of Malaysia very much.

Your guide was so good that I did not feel any difficulties in the trip.

I attach some photos of you in Taman Negara.

Next day after we came back to Kuala Lumpur, I visited Batu Caves and Zoo Negara.

I hope to come back to Malaysia in near future and see you again.

All the best,

Takehiko Ito