When I was first asked if I wanted to go for the Selangor Hammock Camp, my response was, “hell yeah”… and I was all really excited about it, despite actually not quite having camped in the wilderness before..

So I was over at the Sungai Sendat Forest Reserve in Batang Kali recently… it was quite some distance from Kuala Lumpur, about 30 km but when we saw the area, it was so worthwhile and breathtaking..

The water was crystal clear and there were 3 tiers of waterfall where we camped.. and we were told the water was grade 1 water, safe enough for drinking actually… though we still dare not quite risk it for fear of the unwanted problems…

The area was filled with tall trees ideal for setting up our hammocks and tents.. and I was blessed that even though I arrived a little late in the afternoon, my friends had already thoughtfully collected the hammocks and tents and had that set up for me and my girl who joined us.. it was a good lesson for her too, on how to sleep in the rough and learn some survival skills..

 

The camp was sheer amazing despite some of us feeling pretty frustrated for not having internet or phone line for 48 hours- because we are so use to updating our facebooks and instastories, and this was like errr… no updating possible, one of my friends was musing about how his instastory was still uploading 7 hours later…, yet it was a perfect just back to nature opportunity in a simple yet gorgeous setting and the fun or thrill of challenging ourselves while learning basic skills etc..

We registered ourselves upon arrival and were then given a t-shirt and mess tin, which we were to use for all meals.. before being allowed to wander around…

 

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After familiarizing myself and my daughter to our camp area, which was set up just so conveniently by the gurgling brook/stream..

..we decided to just get wet by immersing ourselves into the cold but clear water..  gosh.. it was freezing but we eventually got used to the cold and started splashing each other…

We then headed to the bathrooms to get showered and change before collecting our mess tins and heading to the make shift canteen where dinner was served..

After filling our stomach up, we headed to one of the gazebos “hall” where the first sharing happened.. a sharing by one of the former guides of Gunung Ledang on the topic “I shouldn’t be Alive” .. how he fell into a ravine, and how he got rescued and how his will power allowed him to totally recover fully when it was a touch and go thing when he fell and broke his legs,arms and ribs..

 

We learned a few pointers and after the sharing session was over, headed back to our campsite where all of us started getting busy trying to build a campfire…

It was a tedious task but after about an hour we manage to get one burning so we did not have to sleep in total darkness…

 

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The next morning, we had breakfast and headed to our first survival class which was ways to start a fire going..

It was an interesting lesson led by the “Pendekar Rimba” , a Sarawakian Ex-Commando, Sofian who tells us he has always lived with the jungle and was used to life in the jungle since he was a kid..

He taught us various ways of starting a fire from striking the granite rock with a blade, using wood, and even bamboo..

It surely was amazing how he managed to start a fire with these in just less then a couple of minutes..

 

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When “class” was over we were divided into groups, but we manage to escape and head up the upper tiers of the waterfall where the “fly and drop” activity was.. at first glance it was kinda nerve wrecking since the activity had us doing a “flying fox” across the waterfalls and then dropping down the the lower tier waterfall..

 

But after watching a few people do it, I was just excited and went on to do it too… and yeappp… it was a fun experience…

This was followed with lunch and a hands on practical experience on lighting and making our own fire with the blade and granite thingie and nursing the embers to make it an actual fire.. it was not easy but we did it…

 

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Later we had to put those skills into use as our individual groups were tasked into starting a fire with the blade and the granite, nursing the embers into being a flame and making a campfire to cook the chicken and cat fish or ikan keli the other team members had prepared marinated in salt, onions, torch ginger and lemongrass…and stuffed inside banana leaves and the bamboo…

 

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It sure was hard team work but we did it… and we got to enjoy the fruits of our labour 2 hours later..

After that, they continued with more barbecue chicken, lamb and fish..

Somehow or other, my friends and I sst around and started telling spooky stories and ghost stories which spooked the hell out of me, since my tent was facing the brook and the forest.. and I just could not bear to sleep there.. so they graciously had to let me bunk in with their bags in the tent at the top near their hammocks and closer to the road…huhuhu… but before bed, we had more supper of delicious satay and yummy chapati with sardine and rendang… thanks to the awesome people from Hammockers Malaysia…

Early the next day we untied and dismantled our hammocks, fly sheets and tents and cleaned up our area before joining in the tallest hammock challenge.. in which yours truly here totally humiliated herself since I was the one in the lowest hammock and still manage to fall off my hammock..

..huhuhu… but even though I ended up with a little bit of a scrape/skinned my arm a bit.. it was an amazing experience all the same

By the way if you are looking for a recreation park, you really ought to check out Sungai Sendat Forest Reserve.. it is a little off the beaten path and yes, the road leading there is rather narrow, just for one car but gorgeous… it is closed for now to the public but will be opened in early 2018..

Thanks for the invite to this amazing camp to En Nazmi from UPEN Selangor, and also to the HUGS project Malaysia, Hammockers Malaysia as well as the Jabatan Perhutanan Selangor or the Selangor Forestry Dept …