Swiftlets' Madai Caves - Tawau

Day 5 – 8 August 2011 / 1 Night

Madai Caves is located between Tawau and Lahad Datu, about 90km from Tawau town. It is just a few km after Kunak town.

It is said to be the largest and most important archeological site of the 25 limestone caves in the area. It raises 250 meters from the forest floor and is popular for the supply of bird nests. You see, Madai Caves is the habitat of the migrating swiftlets (called 'burung layang-layang' in Malay).

Walking up to the cave ...

Every April and August (bird nest harvesting season), the swiftlets hibernate in huge numbers to Madai Caves to build their nests. The nests are where the birds lay their eggs and newborn babies are nurtured to fly.

Rishi ready for his adventure..the road behind him is steep

During the harvesting season, once the babies take flight, the nests’ are scrapped carefully from the ceiling of the cave. At times, the nests' drops, so what the men do is, get their young children to wait at the bottom of the rope with a net to collect those that drops.

The bamboo ladders

There are also others (immigrants from Kunak town and other places) who come and wait around just to collect the nests that drops. It seems the current market value of one kilo of these nests is RM2200! And just one nest alone can fetch about RM15-RM19. Many locals who go into the cave during harvest season hope to go out with a few nests at least.

I am not sure why there is such fascination with birds’ nests’though?

The cave as we neared it

And to think that homes of tiny birds are taken away to make soup or some exotic dish seems so cruel. The main consumers are the Chinese as they favour this delicacy. The Chinese demand for birds’ nest comes from as far as Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the best are exported there. It seems it has medicinal values.

That’s the sad reality, the bird nests are expensive and much in demand. As one elderly Idahan man put it to me, it is akin to searching for ‘harta karun’ (treasure).

This birdie was alive but unable to fly..it was lying helplessly on the cave floor

Actually I was quite traumatized after the visit. I saw many baby swiftlets either dead or unable to fly lying abandoned on the cave floor. Sometimes the nests are removed even before the babies learn to fly and take off. There was one small hut we came across that housed so many of these still alive and struggling and frightened babies.

Birds unable to fend for themselves

The villagers have tried to rescue them but will they survive without their mommies? The guard who sleeps the nights in the cave told us as night falls, the swiftlets become noisy, they fly around in huge circles making loud screeching noises like the sound of an aeroplane engine. Could these be the mommies wailing as they are unable to find their nests or babies? I don’t know. One guy told us if this trend continues, the swiftlet population will dwindle.

To control the theft of these nests, the state govt has licensed the Idahan people (who live at the foothills of the cave) as legitimate collectors.

These men risk their lives climbing to the roof of the cave using long rattan ladders, poles and ropes to collect the nests. Seems the Idahan people have held the rights to Madai Caves for over 20 generations! In Malay they are the ‘pewaris asli’ (original heir).

The Idahan village

Good move to control the bird nest collection, but there are also hired men and other outsiders who come in to collect as many of these nests for quick money.

More of this after I retrace our travel story, ya…
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From Semporna, we reached Tawau Sabindo Bus Terminal at about 10.30am.

We had planned to rent a car for a day for easy mobility. So we asked the ‘van for hire’ guys who were stationed at the terminal about rent. We were told that there are no car rent services other than the ‘expensive’ car rent companies in Tawau.

One guy offered to rent his MPV for RM300 for a 24 hours' use. Another guy offered RM200 for his old Proton Iswara. We checked out the Iswara, N said it is not worth it. This proved to be a sound decision later.

 

One of the hotels that I had listed in Tawau was visible from where we stood, so we took a walk. We soon found out that there is a whole row of hotels in that area ( we are now in Fajar area of Tawau new town). So again off I went to check hotel rates. I decided to take the one that could arrange a Kancil Perodua (cheapest car) for RM90-RM100 for a 24 hours' use. And we found one, it was that easy!

The room we took came with a King Size bed and a view (window), had attached bath and shower and most importantly contact for car rent. We told the reception to arrange a car by 1pm so that we could drive to Madai Caves.

Soon, we had a call from the car rent guy. He took us for a ride into town, got us to sign a sort of agreement for RM90 (24 hours' rent), took a mobile shot of N’s Identity Card for security and left.

The Perodua Kancil that we rented

It was so relieving to finally be on our own and in control of where we went. N first had to re-fuel (fuel tank was empty. aren't they always?). We cruised around town, stopped for a quick lunch (char koay teow and bee hoon) and enquired about the routes. And off we went.

A stretch of small shops in Kunak Town

We stopped awhile in Kunak Town to get some local souvenirs – keropok ubi and amplang. The children bought some drinks.

A packet of 'amplang' (made of fish) and 'keropok ubi' (potato crackers)

At about 4pm we reached Madai Caves.

The road sign for the cave

We parked about 200meters away from the cave as the road leading up to it was steep. We passed the Idahan Village and some locals reminded us to get a flashlight. We bought one for RM12. As we entered the mouth of the cave through a flight of steps, we felt a cold chill. We spotted some neatly arranged bamboo poles tied together as ladder. We were on time, August is the harvesting month!

The boys on their way up into the cave

We followed some people further in and everything turned dark. We used the flashlight to find our way, thank goodness there was a plank to walk on.

My goodness...are these really bat poo?

On both sides were guano (bat droppings) and swiftlets’ poo. It appeared like a dark mat or carpet, and there are layers and layers of them. Your feet actually sinks when you walk on them.

The wooden plank that serves as walkway, on both sides are guano

A close shot of the guano

The boys were aware that they were walking on poo. But what actually terrified them (and me) were the thousands of corkroaches and other creepies that lived off these droppings! It's all part of the cave's eco-system.

The corkraoches..

They were crawling everywhere! Big, small, and flying ones. We walked on a little terrified (not N) while letting out screams each time one crawled on our legs.

The boys wore shoes and I was stuck in slippers, so more or less the scream came from me more. On top of that, Harish stepped on my slippers and the straps came off, so I landed my bare foot into the guano. Great, but actually the guano does not stick onto your skin, it just feels like fertiliser and there wasn't any bad smell or anything.

Ok let's stop for awhile...

In the cave, while trying to catch sight of the few men at the roof of the cave perched up on their ladders and ropes collecting nests, we were careful not to open our mouths. If say you did, the swiftlets’ poo most likely will drop in. Even while standing there watching, all of us felt the white poo dropping onto our heads, T-Shirts and hands. Interesting, hah?

Let me divert a little on the Idahan community.

Just follow me, everyone!

It seems they are mostly found in Lahad Datu. And these days there are only a few original Idahans and these are usually the elders of the village. Most young ones have inter-married either to Bugis or Suluks.

Some in the village are also immigrants from Flores Island, Timor and Sulawesi. We met one guy whose name was Fernando and he said he is from Timor, he had very curly hair. We also met the guard who sleeps the nights in the cave; he is a sweet, ever smiling fellow. He is the one who shared with us about the swiftlets' screeching at night.

Friends in the cave, the 'pakcik' on the right is an original Idahan

N with his newfound pals

I must say here that the villagers guarding the cave and the locals were very courteous and friendly. In Malay we say 'berbudi bahasa'. Though we were outsiders and tourists, they welcomed us and willingly shared stories, experiences, and helped the boys when they struggled to climb down the rocks. They also proudly showed us their bags of treasure (bird nests) collected on that day.



A bird nest on my palm, this is how it looks like



We got to examine the nest and it was full of bird feathers and felt quite solid. Seems there are two types of nests; one is black like this one, the other is white. The white nests are more expensive and can be found in an island cave off Semporna.

The other occupant of Madai Caves are the hundreds of bats. When we were in the cave, we saw many sleeping upside down above our heads. They sure weren’t bothered when people flashed lights or snapped pictures of them or the noise around them.

Madai Caves

Really one heck of an experience for us especially the kids. A good 2 hours of sheer experience spent that one can never get from just reading about it.

Yes I made it out..

At about 6.30pm we said goodbye to our cave friends and left.

Coming out of the cave..

As we reached our car, 4 young men (looked more like teenage boys) asked us for a lift up till Kunak town. We obliged and I had to squeeze in our boys in the passenger seat with me so that the 4 can take the back seat. They said they came to collect nests that fall off from the roof. Their parents were immigrants from Philippines, and that they were school drop-outs and jobless.

Harish just before he climbed those rocks and Rishi already at the top

We stopped at Kunak town and went to a Malay Restaurant for drinks. As it was time for the Muslims to break fast, we were served ‘pandan’ drinks and sweet pudding for free. Malays are known for their hospitality.

'Bubur kacang hijau' - Green pea porridge

'Daun pandan' juice (screwpine juice)

We reached Tawau town at almost 8pm and drove around looking for Chinese seafood. We found one at the Sabindo area and ordered butter crabs cooked with curry leaves, steamed prawns and Sabah vegetable. The dinner cost us RM80.

Steamed prawns

Butter crab fried with curry leaves

Sabah Vegetable with shrimp paste (belacan)

We then took a stroll along the shore (Tawau’s esplanade) and watched fishing boats. The boys on the other hand watched some illegal car racers in action. The race cars' were heavily made up and modified with lights, colours, artwork etc.

Some Tips :

1. There are no direct buses to Madai Caves; you either go in a tour package or rent a car

2. Check with the local hotels for car rent

3. Be properly geared; wear boots if you can, or shoes; bring flashlight, water

4. Smile and greet the community living there, as they are friendly and courteous; the more you ask the more you get to understand

5. If its' harvesting season, keep silent when you enter the cave

6. Be warned about creepy crawlies - insects and others of their kind

7. Do not carry anything heavy when you enter as it may hamper your movement

8. If you start a conversation, the locals usually warm up fast. They may hesitate to initiate talk.

All pictures are copyrighted. I can be reached at sivakay2009@gmail.com.