Fireflies

When I was younger, a little firefly somehow got all the way to my house. We stared in awe at the little light it was emitting. (Fascinated, like how the caveman were when they first discovered fire!)

I finally got the chance to see the fireflies in its habitat. Kuala Selangor is famous for the fireflies (kelip-kelip in Bahasa Melayu). Tourists thronged down there just to catch a glimpse of these flickering lights and eat local seafood.

We were brought to eat seafood before the ride at Firefly Park Resort. The food was cooked for the bus loads of tourists; so go figure how it taste. The dishes consists of something like vegetable soup, fried squid, steamed fish, sweet-sour crab, butter prawn, fried vegetables and etc.

It cost RM12 for an adult for a supposedly, 30 minutes long boat ride along the river.
At the little jetty, a crowd was already swarming there from local tourists to foreigners from overseas. We were given number 41 in a hand drawn paper. They were only calling number 4.
I noticed that some foreign tourist at the front of the "queue" were demanding the numbers people held before they let them go through to the front. Obviously, they have been waiting for sometime and there was no proper system in calling out turns except a holler from the front. The Japanese group looked puzzled when they were stopped by the ah moh's group who was right at the front.

Fortunately, we came in a group under a company trip so we were given a go after 10 minutes since we already booked earlier. Therefore, we escaped the wrath of those foreign tourist who looked puzzled and wondered what kind of company we were from to be given such special privilege to go first.

As we took turns to enter the boat(which was battery powered to avoid making loud noises to startle the fireflies), I noticed it was a little bright that night, even though I couldn't see the moon. Thankfully, the rain had stopped and only made the jetty wet and slippery. It didn't spoil the night for us.

The magically ride started and a tree was lit up like a Christmas tree. A few whispers behind commented it was faked. Sort of spoil the mood.

Few minutes down, more trees were lit up by the fireflies. They really looked like little yellow lights on the Christmas trees at night. I noticed it was silent as the battery operated boat purred silently on the river. A distant blinking light from the other boat showed another sign of life on the river.

After a few minutes, the magic was gone and inconsiderate passengers started chit-chatting behind the boat. Sigh.

I tried to recaptured the magic and imagined if there were little fairies living in the darkness. Their enchanted kingdom were lighted with these fireflies, who occasionally escaped to earth to forage some other food and create an attraction in Kuala Selangor. :P


The boat turned around and I started to look into the darkness of trees. The grayish water was still. Someone commented if there were crocodiles in the river. At a distant, I can see the small jetty with loud voices as they tried to create order at calling the turns. A loud ruckus of squabbling monkey near the jetty disturbed the silent of the night. Must be a household squabble, I thought. ;)

The magic was definitely over. I find it rather sad to wait and "fight" for your turn to experience the boat ride and only enjoy a few seconds of the magic. As we alighted from the boat and left the jetty, we noticed a tree with the fireflies.

To think the crowd were cramped in the little jetty to go out into the river to see the fireflies when there they were, up in the tree just next to the jetty. How ironic and naughty they are! Like little pixies in fairy tales.

Alas, I think it's an experience you must experience once. Perhaps if you want to savour the magical moment, try a smaller boat ride offered by some resorts, who will leisurely row up the river for you instead of this commercialised service. :P

Do take note, that fireflies are endangered creatures here.
I wonder, when will they create a cartoon character called Firefly! Instead of our low-budget carrier Firefly.