There’s plenty of family friendly eco-attractions in Selangor, and here’s one that I think you would enjoy if you want to spend time with your family without blowing up your pocket.

Paya Indah Wetlands, located in between of Cyberjaya offers fascinating wonder to all nature lovers around.Paya Indah Wetlands is a man-made wetlands area built in 1998 on land which had been heavily degraded by tin mining and sand dredging activities. The excavations left by the mining works have been converted into lakes which is now a home to exotic creatures and beautiful plants.

Reaching Paya Indah Wetlands is not that tricky if you use Waze to navigate there. The place is
located about 15 minutes drive southwest of Putrajaya-Cyberjaya.

The main attractions here is of course, the wildlife inhabitants. Divided into a few sections, Paya Indah Wetlands houses animals like hippo, crocodiles and many more in safe enclosure for breeding and documentary purposes.

Two hippos, originally from Botswana, live in the Hippo Pond enclosure.

The best time to see them is feeding time 10am – 10:30am.

They spend most of their time daily being semi-submerged in the lake to prevent their surprisingly sensitive skin from getting sunburnt.

Crocodile Feeding Time at Paya Indah Wetlands

Crococodiles in their lake, during their feeding session.

The crocodiles are fed at 11am – 11:30am on Saturdays and Sundays.

According to the Jabatan Perhilitan officer, the fierce-looking crocodiles were transported to Paya Indah from Langkawi.

If you want to catch a magnificent foresty view, just head over to the Paya Indah Wetlands Observatory Tower. During my previous visit with Tourism Selangor for #TSDayOut2016, the tower provided a 360′ degree view of the whole area and we discovered that there’s much more to Paya Indah Wetlands than just the hippos and crocodiles. There’s horse’s stable where they houses some beautiful horses, a Laman Fauna where there’s porcupines and tortoises, and of course, the place where big and small birds lives.

Stable housing some beautiful, healthy horses

Horses in Paya Indah Wetlands

Porcupine spotted.

Porcupine making an appearance in Paya Indah Wetlands

Porcupines are mammals with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that protect against predators. They are actually huge and the ones living in Paya Wetlands are almost as big as a dog. The porcupines are nocturnal, and no, they are docile creatures and not dangerous. Contrary to the made up fiction and myths, they can’t shoot their quills at you.

Tortoises

Tortoise spotted at Paya Indah Wetlands

Check out the video of the tortoise

It is interesting to note that in Paya Indah Wetlands, the group of tortoises co-habited with the porcupines and heartwarming inter-species interaction between the tortoises and the porcupines can often be seen, where they often share feeding time and takes shelter together.

Ducks spotted at Paya Indah Wetlands

Ducks swimming at Paya Indah Wetlands

Ducks swimming happily in the lake at Paya Indah Wetlands

Pelicans

Pelicans Swimming at Paya Indah Wetlands

The great white pelican is also known as the eastern white pelican, rosy pelican or white pelican is a bird in the pelican family and breeds from southeastern Europe through Asia and in Africa in swamps and shallow lakes.

Apart from the wildlife inhabitants, other interesting thing about Paya Indah Wetlands is that they also provide bicycles for those who would like to cycle in the park.

The bicycles can be rented for RM5 for 2 hours. Tricycles are provided for children under 6 years old at RM3 for 2 hours.

Other notable facilities is Surau for the Muslims to pray.

And not to mention there’s a playground for young children to play too.

The Department of Wildlife & National Parks (Jabatan Perhilitan) has done a good job over the years in regenerating an abandoned mining site into a family friendly eco-tourism attraction . There’s even accommodation offered at Paya Indah Wetlands.

If you would like to spend a day or two back to nature in Paya Indah Wetlands, just check in for one of the park’s 29 Chalets. They offer double beds and are air conditioned for RM120 per night. Dormitories and a camp site are also available at RM 9 per person/site/night.

For more information on Paya Indah Wetlands, refer to their official website HERE.