Kelip2 experience..

I have always wanted to experience seeing kelip2 at night. Never seen one before! I've also heard about a place in Kuala Selangor where one of the largest kelip2 colonies in the world located! I told hubby that we must go and see this place before the kelip2 extinct from that place!!! Wah.. bersemangat waja tuh! :)

Well... lately, hubby got this new hobby... melekat depan computer melayan travelbuddy . One minah salleh's friend of his from travbuddy (Victoria from Wales, UK) was planning to go to Kampung Kuantan, Kuala Selangor to see the fireflies last Saturday. So my dearest hubby pun teruja nak pegi jugak... Ye lah.. sibuk nak tenguk negara orang... negara sendiri pun belum habis cover!!

So kami pun apa lagi.... satu keluarga bertolak ke Kampung Kuantan, Kuala Selangor excitedly! The place is just about 2 hours drive from our place if we use the Bukit Tagar Highway exit. It was a pleasant drive... winding through old rubber and palm oil plantations! And we finally reached Kampung Kuantan just before Maghrib.... and performed solat Maghrib at a mosque just next to the jeti...

Senja di Kampung Kuantan... small sampans that are used to transport tourists for the kelip2 experience.

Din, our boatman for that night is a local who happened to be a friend of hubby's officemate. Hubby's friend, Rohaizad recommended Din to us when he knew we wanted to come here. So... senang sikit lah... we could skipped the tourist queues... no need to buy tickets from the Majlis Daerah... it was a personal private tour :) Kewl!! :)

The long queue at the jeti... waiting for thier turn for the kelip2 experience.

After wearing life jackets, the 7 of us (Hubby, myself, 2 kids, my mom and bibik.. plus Din) hopped into Din's sampan excitedly! Rasa cam terlebih muatan je... but Din assured us... katanya okay.. selamattt!! :) Apparently, ada 2 places aje in this world where these species of kelip2 can be found throughout the years... which are in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia and another place in Brazil... wah not bad kan negaraku ini?! Bangga wooo!! And what an awesome experience!! Cantik banget!!! Dari jauh nampak macam X'mas trees aje!!

Sarat! In our sampan... rasa macam dalam tongkang nak balik Indon je.. LOL!
Din... out boatman. Confidently steering his sampan.

From the internet I learned that the species of kelip-kelip reside only in mangrove areas. During the day, they retreat into the tall grasses just behind the mangroves. Like a bat... they are very week during daylight! And as night falls, they move to the mangrove trees (i.e pokok berembang) located along the river bank to feed on nectar from the leaves and to attract mates with their synchronised flashing. The chemical reaction in the thorax of the insect produces a cool green glow that is controlled to flash at a rate of 3 flashes per second. For optimum effect, it is best to visit the place right after Maghrib (around 7.30pm) and not later after 11pm, after which time the kelip-kelip would have found mates or mated, and subsequently the flashing would stop.

Din steered his sampan expertly to the edge of the bank so that we could get a closer look at the beautiful kelip2. Terror betul Din handling his sampan dalam gelap!! I complemented him.. and he answered... "dari kecik kak... membesar guna sampan kat tempat ni!"

Pokok Berembang - kelip2's favourite tree... see the little2 yellow thing.... that's the kelip2! Our compact Canon camera could not capture kelip2's beautiful flash in the dark... so the photos taken were not as nice as we wanted them to be.. :(

I told Izzaty to catch one of the kelip2...

Izzaty : Takut la Ma..

Mama : Takut of what??

Izzaty : Nanti tangan sakit kena api dia...

Ek enaaa... dia ingat ada api ke apa kat kelip2 tu... LOL!

When everyone was busy appreciating the twinkling of the kelip2... tiba2 Din cakap "Adik.. jangan campak selipar abang dalam sungai!!". Ehh?? Tak lain tak bukan.. si Izzat lah!! Notty betul tangan dia.. tak leh dok diam betul!! Geram betul mama ngan budak nih!!! Malu betul ngan Din... O(#^%*()^!!

In the end... ayah volenteered to pay extra RM10 for the missing slippers! Izzat... Izzat... *sigh~*. Ayah also bought a kilo of udang galah from Din's family... for only RM30!! So cheap!!! :) What an enchanting experience....

Izzaty's last pose... before leaving Kampung Kuantan...