I have been wanting to see fireflies (or kelip-kelip in Malay which means twinkling lights) in action since I was a kid. I only realised the dream recently during a two-day trip to Kuala Selangor with my family.

At first, we decided to stay at Firefly Park Resort and take the fireflies tour offered by the resort but we were told that we could only check-in at 2 pm. We were there around 12.30 pm and decided not to wait. We drove around the town looking for another hotel and then I remembered that there’s De Palma Hotel in Kuala Selangor. We followed signboards (there’s one misleading sign a few meters away from the hotel, though, that says turn left instead of going straight and turn right) and checked in the hotel. There were rooms available and so we did not even have to wait until 2.00 pm. I like the environment and the rooms are all in the form of chalets.

And orange in colour. I love.

Watercolour on Moleskine watercolour book

After having a late lunch/early dinner at Pantai Jeram, we headed for a cruise at Kampung Kuantan Fireflies Park. This park is managed by Majlis Daerah Kuala Selangor with the sponsorship of Tenaga Nasional. Tenaga Nasional has thus far been a major monetary contributor to preserving the firefly colony in Kampung Kuantan. But that goes beyond monetary value as the effort has also proved to provide a sustainable livelihood to boatmen whose income is derived from tourism activities.

Yassin at the entrance

The park opens from 7.30 pm until 10.30 pm and after we purchased our tickets of RM40 for one boat, we headed to the jetty. The queue was quite long as there were many groups of tourists.

We finally boarded a wooden dinghy boat operated by a friendly boatman. The usage of small boats will also avoid sound and smoke pollution that can disrupt the firefly’s habitat. The boatman explained to us that most of the species found here are the Pteroptyx tener type. He told us the difference between kunang-kunang (Photuris) and kelip-kelip (Pteroptyx). According to him, there are hundreds of kelip-kelip in a group to compare with kunang-kunang which only has about 5 or a little more in a group. Furthermore, kelip-kelip emits rhythmic light, unlike kunang-kunang which emits spontaneous light.

When he paddled, we saw kelip-kelip lit up Berembang trees along the river!! The view was magnificent and if I were a litle dragonfly lost in this area, I would find my way home.

Very hard to take pictures in the dark. These are the best we could.

The boatman also told us that the best time to see fireflies is when there isn’t any moon. The darkness will let us see them. He then took us near the trees and let us see kelip-kelip up close and personal. We had some on our palms and then let them fly back to their group. Catching kelip-kelip is prohibited and would cost you RM1000 fine.