When:  August 2015                         Weather: Cool and lovely, 20C

Leica Q, Nikon P900,  Sony A55 70-400mm G

I have always stayed at Buona Vista bungalow on the Telecom Loop on the many occasions I visited Fraser’s Hill (FH).  IN times past, it was looked after by the housekeeper Ah Lan and her son Ben and they did a wonderful job looking after visitors who were the guests of the late Lady McNiece, a fervent nature lover. But the bungalow had aged over the years and was in need of some upgrading, evident even on my last trip 2 years ago.  Enter Stephen Hogg and his lovely family…Stephen is a nature enthusiast and is a professional wildlife photographer and videographer for the likes of the BBC.  Stephen has now renovated Buona Vista to modern standards…new flooring, furniture, hot showers, wifi, big screen TV (to show all your bird pictures at night!) etc etc.  To top it all, He and his wife Salmiah are foodies and cook the most wonderful meals using largely homegrown produce…they even make their own delicious bread!  I swear the fresh eggs from their own chickens taste much better than commercially available eggs.  It’s now renamed Stephen’s Place (SP)and you can find it on facebook easily: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephens-Place/1536048509948644?fref=ts

Buona Vista or Stephen’s Place in the mist on the Telecom Loop

You get to it by turning right at the clock tower and following the one way telecom loop till you see the double garage of SP….Lady Mcniece left it for the swiftlets to use to make their nests…

the garage under the house

A swift winging its way into the garage….

The house has 4 bedrooms to let and the living room is very comfortable with a huge 60 inch TV and wifi.   The living room looks out into the garden which is one of the joys of the place….beautiful flowers abound and Stephen is trying to create a bird attracting garden….

the view of the front garden through the french windows of the living room

The bungalow, once known as Buona Vista sits proudly on a hillock…view from garden towards the living room

French windows allow great views

female black throated sunbird in the garden…

colourful male black throated sunbird…these sunbirds were ever present in the garden so you don’t even have to leave the house if you are so inclined…

Dawn dew even on a spider’s web

hibiscus..the national flower of malaysia

purple ‘grapes’ which attracted the fire belly flowerpeckers

male fire bellied flowerpecker

female flowerpecker

wild orchids

flowers grow even in the walls next to the garage

ferns….

blue hour

Stephen’s Place is just the perfect location for birders to use as a base for all birding activities…..birds in the garden, birds on the road outside…..a warm house and great food.  But that’s not all….read my next blog post about the nocturnal activities here…

Highly recommended!

Highly recommended.