Going Eco in Langkawi

"Check all this guano out! Isn't this great?!" Jurgen's voice boomed out of the cave.

I'm not one to wax rapturously about bat dung, but I had to admit, as I dangled in mid-air from my abseil harness out of the mouth of a hitherto unexplored cave, that this was never going to make it into the usual brochures about Langkawi.

And, I thought, maybe that's a good thing.

Eco-tourism, enviro-travel, call it what you will; this form of 'experiential' holiday-making with an environmental spin has approached from the vegan, tree-hugging fringes to become THE alternative holiday choice. Malaysia, it would seem, is the natural arena for eco-tourism, and yet not much has been done to develop it - considering its potential.

Outside of our national parks - none of which are easy to get to for a weekend away - there are just a handful of recognised local eco-destinations - none of which offer much variety in terms of activities. Until a few years ago, you either committed to a 4-plus day rugged adventure into the hulu hulu, or you swarmed in large numbers to the littered beaches or razed highlands like everyone else.

Suspicion for this oversight of potential tourism has always fallen on the paper-shufflers at the Tourism Development Commission. A nice word often used to describe the TDC's wawasan turism is 'timid'.

Two years ago, something interesting happened. En. Razak, the GM at the Mutiara Burau Bay in Langkawi met Jurgen Mohd. Zharif Zimmerer, a Langkawi-based German zoologist who has become an expert on the archipelago's flora and fauna over the past decade. Both saw the potential for eco-tourism here and decided to do something about it.

With the intense and excitable Jurgen as the point-man, they drew up a plan to open up Langkawi to eco-tourism - and to deliver on the promise of adventure. The obvious advantages were easy and cheap access from KL, generally good weather, a compact rural arena that offered all sorts of suitable activities, and of course good food and accommodation for the less Indiana Jonesy among us.

What was less obvious at first was that Langkawi - like nowhere else in Malaysia - is crowned by limestone mountains drenched in waterfalls. And then there are the mangrove swamps and the scores of outlying islands, hemmed in by sheer cliffs. Cliffs that are pockmarked by some fairly amazing caves. These striking cliffs and spooky caves remain mostly unexplored and unclimbed - just 55mins from Subang...

Jurgen has been taking small groups of nature enthusiasts on 3-hour trips into the spectacular mangroves for years. But more recently, he's concentrated on day - and night - jungle trekking.

How was it, I asked, that his interest in eco-guiding has recently shifted to moderate half-day treks into the mountain jungles?

"I still do trips into the mangroves. The mangroves around Langkawi are some of the best preserved anywhere. The symbiosis between all the resident flora and fauna is really quite exciting. I try to translate what's happening into simple terms so that anyone who's with me can learn something new."

It's true, his contagious enthusiasm is tough to resist.