29 April - 1 May 06 - Mawai Eo Camp

I went on a trip to Malaysia with Jay and a group of friends to Mawai Eco Camp organized by Edu Outdoor Activities Pte Ltd. We lived in the middle of the jungle where panthers, elephants, hornbills, wild boars, monkeys, the infamous mosquitoes and houseflies live.

Day 1
We set off from Singapore in the morning and arrived at Eco camp in the afternoon. We had to cross the river to reach the Eco camp. Raj told us that this river that we crossed have crocodiles and giant cat fish. If we fell into the water, our life jackets might not be able to save us.

Suhari gave us a briefing on the history of Mawai Eco camp, the dos and don’ts and the programme for our 3 days 2 nights stay. He also recommended a cheap and good rubber shoes at S$6 each that is suitable for trekking in swampy and hilly places. Many of us brought it. It was indeed a worthy buy after testing the shoes for these few days. After lunch, we set up our own canvas bed after the demonstration.

We went on a swamp walk with our humorous nature guide, Suhari. He shared with us how to survive in the jungle. Certain plants can be eaten, and some have healing properties which we can use when we are injured. We can find many ‘answers’ in nature. Prior to the swamp walk, Suhari shared that the defence industry gets their inspiration and innovative ideas from nature to build up their military prowess.

Are panther and leopard the same? Yes. The panther has spots too which can be seen under the light but because of its pigmentation it looks different from a leopard.

Late at night, we went on a cruise along the river to watch fireflies. We were disappointed because we only saw a few fireflies.

We had a sing-a-long session. We sang a lot of oldies. I do not know more than 70% of the songs. Some of us belong to a different generation ;p

I had a hard time falling asleep because of the mosquitoes, snoring and nature cries. I missed the comfort of my bed back home.

Day 2
We set off for Tunjuk Laut, a hill that is about 400m high. We had lunch at the summit. Not a very interesting walk up as most of the pathway was cleared by the bull-dozer. Nothing interesting to see. Nevertheless, I had a good workout ;p

In the evening we had camp-fire and sing-a-long. It was fun. The group that we had were fun-loving and spontaneous. We had this Nigerian lady who told us several jokes and even taught us a Nigerian song about giving thanks for God.

Another sleepless night.

Day 3
After breakfast, we had choice either to go for a Audeline Trail Walk to see the 2nd World War relic or to play the Water Obstacle course. I did neither of them because I was too tired. Jay joined a group of them to play the water obstacle course. I just stayed somewhere close by with Phoebe to watch them played and took some photos. It was fun to see them played.

After lunch, we went to a plantation owned by a Singapore. It was a great plantation where we saw many different species of plants. Mr. Tan shared with us the properties of various plants and trees and we were so amazed at how all these plants can do. Do you know that fig leaves and sugarcane drink is good for diabetic person? I plucked several limes, one starfruit and two lemons. All of them are organic. We had a feel of the latex from the rubber tree too.

Overall, it was still a good trip despite the sleepless nights.

More photos here and there.