Today, when surfing I found this news… I think it is very informative, therefore would like to share with all of you here. Hope you enjoy it.

Elephant centre in Kuala Gandah attracts more visitors

By SIMON KHOO

LANCHANG: The National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah here saw an increase of 34% in visitors last year.

This one-of-its-kind facility in Malaysia recorded 81,017 visitors last year comprising 59,468 locals and 21,549 foreigners.

The number of visitors had previously increased from 38,863 in 2005 to 60,436 in 2006.

The centre’s elephant unit chief Nasharuddin Othman said that most of the foreign tourists were from Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Japan and Germany.

Noble effort: Natioanal Elephant Conservation Centre staff member Azman Izan tending to an elephant in Kuala Gandah recently.

“We attracted many visitors because it is the only place in Malaysia where visitors can observe and understand the handling and management of translocated Asian elephants.

“It offers an enriching experience by allowing visitors to participate in elephant rides, feeding and water activities such as swimming and bathing the elephants,” he said.

Under the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) masterplan, the centre was earmarked as a wildlife reserve.

Eco-tourism was one of the initiatives under the ECER, which includes transforming the centre into a world-class conservation site.

“There are plans under ECER to include our centre as an eco-tourism destination,” said Nasharuddin, adding that the Government had approved an allocation of RM2.9mil to upgrade the premises.

The centre was established in 1985 by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and funded by an annual grant of RM700,000, apart from public donations.

It is manned by personnel of the elephant relocation team which began the elephant translocation programme in 1974.

The centre has 31 full-time staff working in shifts to care for the 12 elephants, and six part-time workers to clean the premises.

It is open from 12pm to 4.45pm from Mondays to Thursdays and from 2.45pm to 4.45pm on Friday.

During weekends and public holidays, members of the public can visit the elephants from 10am to 4.45pm.

For more information, call the centre at 09-279 0391.

Well, This time I went there by car, so it is very fast and convenience. However, I find that due to the public holiday at that time, the traffic at the Genting, especially at their parking bay is not very good.

Genting Highland is actually the most developed hill resort in Malaysia which is founded in 1965. It is located about 2000 feet from the sea level. It attract lots and lots of tourist every year .

What is interesting in Genting?

There are many thing that you can do when you visit Genting Highland. Many people associate Genting with their casino, but the fact is there are many interesting things that you can do in Genting Highland even if you didn’t visit their Casino.

Genting Outdoor Theme Park

Genting Highland Theme Park is the Malaysia Premiere theme Park and there are lots of fun activities that the visitor can do here. It contain lots of facilities, here is the list of some of them:

Family Rides Categories

- Monorial

-Double Deck Carousel

-Tea Cup

-Astro Fighter

-Flying Jumbo

-Pirate Train

-Boating

-Antique Car

-Mini Train

-Crazy Space Lab

-Dinasaur land

-Matahari

Thrill Rides Category:

-Pirate Ship

-Spinner

-Super Toboggan

-Cyclone

-Rolling Thundermine Train

-Sungai Rejang Flume Ride

-Corkscrew

-Grand Prix Fun Kart

-Space Shot

-Bumper Boat

-Flying Dragon

Signature Attraction Category:

- Flying Coaster

-Rainforest Splash Pool

I think the main different between the Genting Higland Theme park and other Theme Park is that the location. Genting is actually located on top of a hill, so the weather overthere is very calm, fresh and cool. During my visit the weather overthere is only 15 C. It is pretty cool even during the midday / noon.

First World Plaza Indoor Theme Park

The first world plaza also one more interesting place in Genting Highland. There are lots of shops and facilities overhere. Some of the facilities inside First World Plaza will include restaurant (lots of it), cinema, family rides facility (ferries wheel reindeer cruiser, monorail, venice gondola). Some of the most interesting or is classified as signature attraction in the First World Plaza (actually the full name is First world Plaza Indoor Theme park) is Genting X-pedition Wall, Genting Sky Venture, ShowWorld and also Rainforest Splash Pool.

Casino

Of course casino is one more interesting place that you can visit when you visit Genting higland. Some people just visit this place when they go to Genting. Well, since I am ther, I do visit the Casino as well. There are two casino in Genting, one is in First World Plaza and another one is located near the Theme Park ( with the name of Casino De Genting). There are many games in the casino but as usual no camera is allowed, so no photo to share here…
Scenic Ride
If you happen to visit Genting Highland, i also would like to recommend you to try this. There are two facilities for this. One is the Genting Skyway. It is actually the ‘cable car’ which will bring you from the beginning of the hill to the top (to Genting Highland). It is said that more than 50 million people have take this. One of the best thing for this is that you can see the 100s years old jungle from above. Sometimes there are many birds species that you can see and sometimes there are many species of monkeys that can be seen. This skyway is the South East Asia’s Longest Canopy experiance… the length is 3.4 kilometer!

Awana Skyway is one more scenic ride in Genting Highland. It is actually the first cable car which operate here. The date is back to year 1974 and seem like it is still going strong until today.

How to go there

Public Transport:

By Bus and skyway: There are express buses from Puduraya bus station (Kuala Lumpur) and also Express Buses from Putra LRT terminal – Terminal Putra Gombak.

Their operation hour is:

Buses: 8.00am – 7.00pm

Skyway: 9.15am – 8.15pm

By Taxi: if you want to go by Taxi, it can be from anywhere… just tell them that you want to visit Genting Highland and they will able to help you out.