Adam has been asking me daily to 'make fire' and go fishing. He wants to make fire in front of our house! It's about time we take that boy camping. So last week we did. We went to
Kem Lambaian Danau, an outdoor camp that usually organises outdoor courses for big groups. The owners are my uncle and auntie, and the camp was empty at the time so we had the place all to ourselves. The camp is at a beautiful location, out in the wild and right next to a big lake.
*bear with me this entry's full of pictures
Adam making our tent with Tok Busu and Tok Auntie
This is the book that inspired this trip. Back when we were in the UK, I found this book second hand at a market. The title is 'The curious boy's book of Adventures'. I was planning to give it to him when grows up, maybe 7 -10 years old? All kinds of interesting things in there for curious boys from camping to hunting to making rockets and writing secret morse code. But Adam found this book and it has been one of his favourite book ever since.
When the tent is all set up and the fire started, we went fishing at the fish pond next to the lake..
Adam and his diy fishing pole
we caught 4 fishes and my husband got the biggest one - 2 kilos ikan patin!
Adam spent hours tending to the fire. He's been dreaming about this for a long time. He didn't get bored and never even asked for his toys or ipod.
In the late afternoon we went on the boat around the lake. In the picture Mia is holding some 'monkey pots' plant (periuk kera) that grows wild over the lake. In the background is my cousin who grew up around the camp and is the ultimate 'lake boy'. He was our guide when we were there.
These trees are big with big trunks but the trunks are hollow and the trees, big as they are, grow floating on the water like lilypods. My cousin said if you're stranded around water this tree is good to find as they make good rafts.
Then we went swimming! If this isn't 'wild swimming' I don't know what is. The water looks murky because the floor of the lake is mud and there are lots of water weeds floating around. But the water is clean and lovely to swim in.
there are a lot of treasure to be discovered. Here's an escargot, breeding wildly on the shore. They also found and caught some little prawns there.
the boys went on a canoe trip
That night we had a barbeque! those two big fishes covered in foil are the fishes we caught that day...ikan patin..huu sedap! and so fresh. the rest of the fish we kept for masak tempoyak pulak later..pergh..Adam insisted to be the chef. He refused to leave the bbq until all the food's been cooked.
The next morning we went on the four-wheel around the wilderness surrounding the camp. There are 7 lakes around the back, they used to be mines. From one of the laks you can view Gunung Ledang. We stopped some interesting places along the way. The tranquil lakes made me feel like diving in for a swim! According to my cousin in one of the lakes there's a spot where local village boys climb trees and jump into the water! Sounds like the kinds of childhood I want for my kids. Oh my.
One of our stops was to the 'Canyon'. This is a natural canyon shaped my moving water. Those holes you see are homes to thousands of little blue birds - Tiong Pasir. This was an amazing experience for us. The place is huge, full of bird holes everywhere. We even found some hatched eggs!
Mia next to pokok senduduk, picking the flowers and fruits. This plant grows wild around the canyon. You can eat the fruit and it'll make your tongue purple.
It was only a short trip and soon we had to go, very reluctantly! Adam was crying for a while because he didn't want to leave. We promised to come again, soon! Such an adventure we had. Thank you so much Pak Busu, Auntie and Iwan for your hospitality! can't wait to go again...
