Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

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J.Janssen
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Joined: September 16th, 2010, 3:03 am
Location: Netherlands

Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

Post by J.Janssen »

Hi all,

As of April I will spent a couple months in Malaysia and surrounding countries and am keen to do some herping while I'm there.
I'm not sure how much time I will have but i will definitely spent most of my time in and around Kuala Lumpur and a couple weeks on Borneo/Brunei. I also really would like to visit the Cameron Highlands.
As my time for herping might be limited I want to see what options are available in terms of guided herp tours. I would especially be interested to see some skinks. Does anyone know someone in Malaysia that offers good guided tours? I already searched the forum but could not find any.

My second question is about field guides, I already got the latest field guide to Thailand and bought the book 'Lizards of Peninsular Malaysia...' by Grismer (too heavy to bring to Asia). So if anyone has some tips for good field guides that are not 700+ pages, please let me know.

Cheers, Jordi
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TJA
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Re: Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

Post by TJA »

I was in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, last year. I picked up three reasonably slender field guides -- "The Natural History of Reptiles and Amphibians In Sabah" by Robert F. Inger and Tan Fui Lian, "Lizards of Borneo" A Pocket Guide by Indraneil Das, and "A Photographic Guide To Snakes and Other Reptiles of Borneo" also by Indraneil Das. These are not complete lists, of course, being pocket/field guides, but are definitely pack-able. And one more, which I purchased while there, is "A Field Guide To The Snakes of Borneo" by Robert B. Stuebing and Robert F. Inger. It's a slightly larger book, but still not too heavy.

I was there for a macro-photo workshop (in Tawau Hills Park), then spent a few days in the Danum Valley. We saw plenty of herps, even while looking for bugs.
tasmaster
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Re: Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

Post by tasmaster »

I was there at the end of last summer. On peninsular Malaysia, the best herp guide around is Kurt "Orion Mystery" G. You can look him up with that name. I have become very good friends with him—he's the nicest guy on the planet. Not to mention he knows his herps and the best spots. I think he's even starting up a herp guide business with his friend. His email is on his site. Just tell him what you're looking to see, when I was with him we found some amazing frogs and lizards. Good luck! :thumb: :D
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Antonsrkn
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Re: Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

Post by Antonsrkn »

I have spent something like 7-8 months in Borneo over the course of 2 field seasons on a project I worked on, its amazing! I don't know of any herp specific tours but I can vouch for the guides (people not books) from http://www.stickyricetravel.com/ Knowledgeable about all kinds of wildlife and a pleasure to be around. I'm sure they could arrange something to your tastes if you got in contact with them, I have no idea what their prices are like though.
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Jeroen Speybroeck
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Re: Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

Post by Jeroen Speybroeck »

I would pick Bukit Fraser over Cameron Highlands...

This is what we did last year...
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/index.php?id=77
Without guides, except Kurt (who you've probably tracked down already).

groetjes,

J.
J.Janssen
Posts: 23
Joined: September 16th, 2010, 3:03 am
Location: Netherlands

Re: Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

Post by J.Janssen »

tasmaster wrote:I was there at the end of last summer. On peninsular Malaysia, the best herp guide around is Kurt "Orion Mystery" G. You can look him up with that name. I have become very good friends with him—he's the nicest guy on the planet. Not to mention he knows his herps and the best spots. I think he's even starting up a herp guide business with his friend. His email is on his site. Just tell him what you're looking to see, when I was with him we found some amazing frogs and lizards. Good luck! :thumb: :D
Thanks! His website was one of the first I found, I will definitely contact him!
Antonsrkn wrote:I have spent something like 7-8 months in Borneo over the course of 2 field seasons on a project I worked on, its amazing! I don't know of any herp specific tours but I can vouch for the guides (people not books) from http://www.stickyricetravel.com/ Knowledgeable about all kinds of wildlife and a pleasure to be around. I'm sure they could arrange something to your tastes if you got in contact with them, I have no idea what their prices are like though.
Thanks! Will keep them in mind.
Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:I would pick Bukit Fraser over Cameron Highlands...

This is what we did last year...
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/index.php?id=77
Without guides, except Kurt (who you've probably tracked down already).
Thank you! Your tripreport was one of the first things I found. Looks like it was an amazing trip!
Jannico_k
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Joined: November 14th, 2014, 1:07 am

Re: Guided herp tours Malaysia + good field guides?

Post by Jannico_k »

Get in touch with Kurt Orion over facebook.
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