Mango season at the Inn

The inn is home to two large and beautiful mango trees. They are estimated to be about 80-100 years old and provide a bounty of fruit every year. Looking at them, they are the sort of tree, Totoro might want to play the flute in at night.

Ibrahim and Kamariah kept the trees when they were constructing the inn, and had to painstakingly monitor the contractors,  to ensure that they didn't damage the trees on the land.

Every day brings a bag or two of mangoes to the inn, which Kamariah transforms through culinary magic into mango chutney,  sambal, jams and mango fruit tart !

Hornbill sighting

It has been a week of Hornbills. They have come to visit Teluk Iskandar Inn in pairs and even larger groups all week. They can be recognized by their distinctive calls and are lovely to see.

This pair was spotted on the wood shed, about 50m away from the inn.

Grainy pictures taken with a 3X zoom camera. Had to resort to digital zoom.

Wildboar Sighting -)

Its a good sign of biodiversity.

When Ibrahim and Kamariah first set up Iskandar Inn about 12 years ago there were hardly any street lights and most of the area was still somewhat wild.

Today, its a vibrant community dotted with nice houses, inns and places to eat.

Its a good sign to see hornbills and wildboars still among us ! Nature is still with us !

Happy New Year and a Prosperous 2009 to all !

(contrary to popular belief wildboar don't charge people at random. They are quite shy and stay away from people)

Great Hornbill Sighting

Today we spotted a hornbill on the verandah of room #6.