Given how developed Langkawi appears to be at first glance, I was quite surprised at the amount of wildlife I got to see 'up close and personal' during my stay, without really even trying. All of the pictures here were taken in an around my hotel.
On the first afternoon, I was a bit tired from getting up early to leave Penang, so I decided to just explore the hotel and spend some time around the pool. Of course, by the time I reached the pool it had started to rain.
A small bird sharing our umbrella during a rain shower
However, as others dashed back to their rooms, being the old Southeast Asian hand that I am, I knew it wouldn't last and decided to wait out the storm under one of the umbrellas. Whilst sitting watching the rain fall, I was joined by a small bird, who posed for a picture even though he obviously didn't look his best.
I also spotted a large monitor lizard making his way up from the beach trying to find someplace drier. He reappeared every day in the early afternoon.
A pair of hornbills dining on one of our hotel's palm trees
One evening, on my own way to dinner, I spotted a small flock of black and white hornbills eating the best of the many berries growing on a couple of palm trees right next to the hotel building. There were at least four of them, flitting between two or three trees.
A young monkey dining near the ferry terminal
Along the road from the hotel to the ferry terminal and Kuah town I would often see monkeys picking at the seeds fallen from the trees, or up in the trees going after fresher fare. The monkeys didn't seem to pay me much attention, although it was clear they were keeping their eye on me. I know from many previous dealings with wild monkeys that it's best to give them a wide birth. They can do quite a bit of damage if provoked.
Although I mostly saw monkeys foraging in the trees around the hotel, I did see a couple of younger ones who seemed to have developed a taste for what they could find in the ferry terminal's trash bins.
This page just covers the wildlife I saw around our hotel. To see even more, including eagles, take a day trip to the mangrove forest on the north side of the island.