Jungle adventure!

On Sunday the whole gang went to Santubong for a short 5 min hike up the side of the mountain to reach a small stream. Sis no.2 has been there before and claimed it wasn't such a tough trek! Well, the 5 mins became more like 15 mins with 9 kids in tow. Some of the smaller, sissy ones (Eva) had to be carried, almost the whole way.

The path was easy initially, a bit slippery though, with a plank walkway provided. When the walkway ended, the tree roots and rocks made the trail very uneven and holes under upraised roots were scary for the kids. It seemed a bit rough at first, but I suppose we were just not used to it. A few more trips and I think the city-softened kids will get to feel more at home in the jungle.

Well, we reached the stream without any casualties. Most of the kids were wary at first, sitting on the slippery rocks and not daring to move. After a bit of warming up they started to enjoy the cold water and got busy building dams and catching fish! Timothy managed to catch a small fish which we kept in a mineral water bottle. This is not an advisable thing to do, as I ended up drinking from that same bottle! No, luckily I did not swallow the fish, though I must have swallowed some fish poo along with stream water!


The stream was nice and quiet. We brought along some food so we had a picnic on the rocks. There were no amenities like public toilet, so the kids had to 'shee shee' a bit further downstream! Fortunately no one needed to do the big one. Eva never really got into the groove of the whole jungle/nature thing, so she was hanging onto me the whole time, after changing clothes early, refusing to sit on the slimy rocks. Claire must've worked up an appetite sitting in the cold water, as she tried stuffing a whole egg into her mouth!

All in all I think it was a good experience for the kids (and good exercise for the adults too). I remember catching guppies in the drain when I was a kid. Now, Eva coughs and gags just walking past a smelly drain! They don't even like stepping on grass without shoes on! Yes, we must definitely plan for more outdoor activities in the future.