1/2 Day Trip to Kuala Selangor

Key Facts about Kuala Selangor

• Located in the West coast of Peninsula Malaysia
• Lies 42 miles (or 67 km) northwest of KL on the banks of the Sungei Selangor River
• Mainly visited for Kampung Kuantan's Firefly Park Resort
• Also visited for the Taman Alam Nature Park

I usually send out a weekly email inviting AIESECers, Trainees and Expats in KL to join me in exploring Malaysia. It's a great way for me to learn more about the country, while getting to know more about locals and other people from all over the world.

The half day trip to Kuala Selangor was a memorable experience. We were an international group of 4. Simon is from New Zealand, an expat here in KL with a Civil Engineering background. He works in the aviation industry with an English company that designs runways. He lived in the US for 1 year, graduated from a university in England, and has been in KL for about 2 months. Toon - (pronounced 'Tone')- is from the Netherlands, also an expat working in KL. He's lived here since October as a logistics manager. Abhinav is from India, currently doing some contract programming work with us at MindValley. He has lived in Malaysia for over 15 years, studied at Purdue University in Indiana, and lived in Japan for 4 years before moving back to KL.

The 4 of us traveled by car to our first destination, Fort Tajong Keramat. This fort was made during the reign of Sultan Abrihim, Selangor's 2nd sultan. Later became Fort Utrecht during the Dutch occupation. Lastly, the Japanese used the fort for training troops during WWII. This fort symbolizes a few of the countries who had a hand in the bloody exchange of owning Malaysia before its independence.

It wasn't well kept as you can see from the pictures above...mainly a grassy area with 5 or so cannons and an old sign explaining when and who it was used by.

We were lost trying to find the other fort, so we decided to skip it and move on to our second destination. Plus the hot sun was baking my skin and mosquitoes were having a Filipino feast on my arms and legs.







The second destination was Kuala Selangor Taman Alam Nature Park. Along the way, we stopped to see monkeys that were walking along the electric wires. I actually got a great mini movie of these monkeys walking along the wire, sliding down the pole, and running across the street in front of us.



A group kids on their bicycles stopped to say hi. We asked him how to get to the Firefly resort and nature park. He answered by speaking really fast in Bahasa Malayu and throwing his arms in all different directions. I thanked him for the advice and we sped off, not understanding a thing he said. =)



Luckily we found Taman Alam. It's said to be the home of silver-leaf monkeys, have over 150 species of birds, and the only site in Malaysia to have the spoonbill sandpiper.

Canopy Bridge @ Kuala Selangor Taman Alam Nature Park

We cooled off with an ice tea and paid our RM2 (53 US cents) entrance fee before we started to walk along the nature trail. By the end we saw 2 species of birds, tons of monkeys, and no insects except the mosquitoes that bit me. But I still enjoyed walking along the short trail through the nature park. Watching monkeys play in their natural environment is always interesting to see, rather than in the US, where monkeys can only be seen in the cages of your local zoo.

Next we drove towards the river to find a place to eat. I suggested that we eat at one of the restaurants along the river. To my surprise the restaurant was on stilts situated ON the river, not just beside it or looking over it.

Me digging into some yummy chilli crabs


I dared all the guys to eat a fish eyeball...


and of course they listened. =) Eat up Simon!

We ordered chili crabs, salt & pepper fried prawns, steamed fish, tofu, Chinese Broccoli, and steamed rice. All the seafood was freshly caught and cooked just right.

Actually it was perfect! The best Chinese food I ever had, the location and the view of restaurant, the company of friends, the sun just beginning to set, and being able to cool off the day's heat with some fresh coconut water...What more could I ask for?


The view of the Sun setting from Restoran Selangor, the Chinese Seafood restaurant on stilts

Finally we made our way to Kampung Kuantan's Firefly Resport, where we're suppose to pay RM10 ($2.63 USD) to ride in an electric boat up and down the river to see one of the world's most numerous population of fireflies. But as we arrived, it was pouring down rain.

Oh no! I thought, this was supposed to be the highlight of our trip. We decided to wait it out as we entered a nearby restaurant. I sipped on some Chinese green tea allowing some time to pass. Afterwards, we walked out to see that fortunately the rain had stopped. The air was muggy and humid - Perfect for insects I thought!

We queued in line, put on our life vests, and quietly hopped into our boat. The stars were twinkling brightly against the dark sky. We began our silent boat ride along the narrow river of Sungei Selangor as we can easily see the fireflies along the banks. These fireflies also known as kelip kelip, flicker at a rate of 3 flashes per second.

Imagine riding on a boat with 15 other people, up along a river, and all you see are stars and fireflies! It's amazing! They were everywhere - along both sides of the river. Groups of fireflies would light almost simultaneously. I've never seen so many. Several locals told me that about 5 years ago there were many, many more. Maybe due to development of nearby areas or changing weather, I'm not sure though.

All I know is that it was amazingly beautiful to see. A perfect romantic scene - (date not included in boat ride, that's another fee that I've already paid for back in Atlanta).=)

So all this done in half a day's time...It was an exciting cultural experience I'll definitely remember.