Twinkle, Twinkle Little Firefly
It was a last minute invitation from eldest sis to join her for an excursion to Kuala Selangor. It was 5 years ago the last time I was there with Darling and two other friends.
First, we stopped by Bukit Melawati since my parents haven’t been there before. I remembered on our previous trip, we boarded a tram to bring us up to the hill. I don’t see anymore tram now but visitors drove all the way up. Kind of scary because the road is very narrow and parking space is very limited. Up on Bukit Melawati, you can see the Straits of Malacca and all that is left of the forts on Bukit Melawati is a couple of cannons and foundation stones. Jonathan boy was happy camwhoring with Gong Gong and Po Po.
Several families of Silver-Leafed Monkeys and Long-Tailed Macaques hang around here for peanut handouts from visitors. What fascinated me this time is the Silver-leafed Monkeys which I don’t remember seeing them on my previous trip. The Silver-leafed babies have golden fur as compared with the adults of dull-ashen grey. As the young ones grow older, their hair will slowly changes colour to dull-ashen grey like the adult monkeys. So you will see some young ones having black hair on their head but the body with golden fur. The monkeys roam around freely and looks quite tame. They don’t attack the visitors but graciously waiting for food especially peanuts from the visitors. But we still have to be careful as they are wild and wild animals tend to be erratic sometimes. This was Jonathan’s first time seeing a real monkey from quite a near distance.
We then headed to a seafood restaurant to fill our stomach. Can’t remember the name of the restaurant but all restaurants in Kuala Selangor were full with people due to the public holiday. The waitress warned us that we have to wait for at least 1 – 2 hours for the food. Jonathan boy missed his late afternoon nap so he was quite cranky during dinner time. We finished our dinner at almost 9.00pm.
Lastly, the highlights of the excursion is watching the firefly colonies of Kampung Bukit Belimbing which lived on the berembang trees that grow along Kuala Selangor’s riverbanks. As expected, it was a long queue for tickets. It was a public holiday and the fireflies are best seen on the 1st – 3rd day of the lunar calendar when it is not a full moon. We have put on the safety jacket but there is no baby size.
We get on the boat only at almost 11.00pm. By then not many fireflies flying around. I guess they are all too tired and has gone to bed. The best time according to the boatman is around 8.00pm. I was so afraid that Jonathan will make a fuss on the boat but good little boy was behaving well. He did not get too excited over the flickering lights but whenever I asked him where is the light, he will point to the berembang trees which are full of the twinkling fireflies. The fireflies are rarely sighted nowadays. When I was young, we can still see at least one firely flying around our house.
We reached home at 1.00am. It was a good trip. For those you have never been there, you should before the fireflies extinct. But never go when the moon is full and bright and not on a public holiday unless you are the early birds.
Angela says:
wow…it has been 5yrs d since we last went together. Prob need to wait at least another 2 more yrs b4 i can go there again with my baby. :)So our last trip there has more fireflies than ur recent trip? How much is the entrance fee now?
mistymom says:
wow – that must have been tiring for the little one but definitely a good experience. we wanted to see the fireflies some few years ago n even then, we were told that it wasnt guaranteed so we didnt bother. i think they are very close to extinct esp in the city area. poor things…
littlelamb says:
Looks like a great family outing..
I’m glad Jonathan enjoyed…
Happy Memories…
Caroline says:
Wow … that is awesome!!! Jonathan actually get to see those fireflies and behave well when he was on the boat. Yup, the life jacket actually looks very big on him but glad that he actually let mommy wear that on him. What a wonderful day you have there 🙂 🙂
HN says:
Whoa .. you all are so adventurous! Especially the firefly trip late at night on a boat 😀 Have tried several restaurants in Kuala Selangor,generally most of them are very good and rather cheap 🙂
Merryn says:
i wonder what good the life jacket does on jonathan.. no baby size! but nevertheless.. he looks soooooo cool in that oversized jacket!
bravo to u guys.. i’ll never have the energy for an outing that late at nite..
most importantly, it looks enjoyable.. good good.. and jonathan boy looks sooo very the man ody!
Ann says:
Oh, what a grand outing!!!
Good that he was a good boy in the boat! Can’t imagine having to settle a cranky active boy in a boat with darkness all around.
anggie says:
I been there … ya, nice place.
But wow u bring ur boy along also hor… so nice he behave good. cos was a bit long on the boat lei, somemore dark and alot of mozzie. I wandering Jeremy can behave good or not *-*
andrewjune says:
so nice! wah, you guys reached there at 11pm and reached home at 1am? wow…must be a long, tiring trip…
will try it out next time…but not during a full moon and also during hols season ehhh…
btw, havent seen golden monkeys before…
Julie says:
Angela – I still prefer our previous trip. We could get so much closer to the fireflies and it’s a lot more than now. The entrance fee is RM13.
Mistymom – You should go if you’ve not seen it before they extinct. Remember my advise on when and what time is the best time to go.
Littlelamb – I hope when Jonathan is much bigger, those fireflies are still there so he could go there again.
Caroline – After we put on the life jacket for him, we think it’s too big and won’t really help, so we took off cause it’s really hot for him.
HN – No choice. We came all the way from KL for that so have to wait lor.
Merryn – Once a while of late night outing is fine. You should consider bringing Ethan there.
Ann – I was praying hard that night that he won’t cry and scare all the fireflies away or capsize the boat.
Anggie – I’m sure Jeremy can since he is so much older now. Yeah, got lots of mozzies.
June – I’ve not seen nor heard of those monkeys before too. It was a good encounter.