Gua Kelawar, Batu Kurau, Perak

Batu Kurau is an isolated limestone outcrop, near Anak Kurau in Perak.

My first visit to Batu Kurau was in August 1998. On that trip we surveyed Gua Kelawar, which is the biggest cave. It is 157 m long. To reach the cave you have to walk through the river

This entrance is quite small and hidden by vegetation in 1998

We used this entrance in 2007

The main feature of the cave is the bats. Lots of them.

The eye shine of the fruit bats can be seen on the bats

The main chamber was amazing. It was packed full of bats. The floor had a semi-solid lake of liquid guano. It was brown when stirred.

There was an incredible heat given off - I've never experienced this before. The noise of the bats was also new to me, as noisy as a steam train whistling. The bats were packed solidly on the roof. Their eyes were quite bright. They are probably all fruit bats. Even the Bat Cave at Gunung Tempurung doesn't seem to have the heat of this chamber. Needless to say we couldn't survey very accurately here due to the stench and the fact we weren't going to cross the guano lake! There were cockroaches on the walls.

There is a nice shaped 'window' leading to the main chamber

Looking out from the main chamber

Bats in the smaller passage

Evans wrote about the Batu Kurau caves in 1920 but doesn't seem to mention this particular cave.

Gua Kelawar register number Prk 59/11.

See more on Batu Kurau barber shop.

© Liz Price No reproduction without permission

Gua Kelawar, Langkawi, Malaysia

Gua Kelawar or Bat Cave is a popular show cave on the holiday island of Langkawi, in Kedah, Malaysia.

To reach the cave you have to go by boat, and it is a very scenic journey.

As our boat headed up a tributary of the Kilim River, we could see a wooden boardwalk running alongside a cliff face and disappearing into a cave entrance.

A wooden jetty led to a shelter with an information board. The cave is actually a tunnel through the hill, and despite the large numbers of human visitors, is still home to a sizable colony of bats.

As soon as we entered the cave, we could hear the squeaks of the bats and the rustle of their wings. As far as I could see, the bats were all insect eating bats.

The population in Gua Kelawar wasn’t so big, and according to the locals there are less now than in previous years. Maybe the human visitors have taken their toll after all and the bats have moved to other quieter caves.

The cave was quite dry although I could see it would get wet in the rainy season. The boardwalk means visitors don’t have to step into the mud or the guano on the floor.

I saw a gecko that had lost its tail

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Boat trip to Gua Kelawar, Langkawi, Malaysia

To get to Gua Kelawar on the main island of Langkawi you have to take a boat. There are around 100 islands in the Langkawi group off the coast of Kedah in northern Malaysia. They have been listed as a Geopark. The main island is called Langkawi and has a lot of limestone and caves.

Gua Kelawar is situated a tributary of the Kilim River. To reach this, it is a scenic journey by boat, past mangroves and limestone hills.

My friend Dr Ghani had arranged a boat for us

We started in a small stream which led to a bigger river.

On the main river

The limestone hills are quite majestic

There are many sea eagles and tourist boats feed them with scraps of chicken.

Some of the hills are round, others have pinnacles

See Gua Kelawar.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Gua Kelawar, Sg Siput, Perak

Gua Kelawar is a nice cave, it is an archaeological site, though better known for its charcoal orang asli drawings as well as the beautiful formations inside.

Walking to the cave

I first visited the cave in 1992, and surveyed the cave in 1993 with some German cavers. In those days the land in front of the cave was planted with tapoica and the entrance was easy to see from afar. Today it is hidden by trees.

1992 and 2011 views of the entrance, and below, looking out of the entrance in 1992

From the entrance, a ladder leads up into the main cave

Kelawar means bat, but there are not very many in the cave

fungus

The chambers inside are quite large and full of spectacular formations - stalagmites, stalactites, curtains, gours, helictites. And the stal come in various colours.

This chamber was very dusty

Such a pity about this red sign and graffiti. I am always amazed that people bother to carry paint into a cave in order to do graffiti

Some fine helictites

Many of the formations have been broken. But it is good to see that some are regrowing, showing the cave is still alive.

Please take note and remember - if you ever visit caves, please DO NOT touch the cave formations and DO NOT break them. They take thousands of years to form, and can be broken in seconds.

Gua Kelawar register number Prk 50/02.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission