Raising children..

Part of bringing up my children is allowing them to enjoy nature. And thus, we headed for yet another adventure, this time to Endau Rompin, and I can’t stop thinking about the wonderful time we had there. I miss that place. The whole vacation was just absolutely beautiful….beautiful weather, the sound of the gurgling river right beside our camping ground, the singing of the gibbon early in the morning, the funny “three tone” toad as I call it coz of it’s song…the singing of the insects…the cool weather. Magical is how I’d describe the place. Most of all, what made it so beautiful were the people who came along with us.

our campground

We were four families, living together on the same ground, sharing food and water. 10 adults and 11 VERY ENERGETIC LOVELY children. :) The first day was spent just lazing in the refreshing stream followed by a sumptuous meal of BBQ-ed stuff. What followed was shadow theatre, chit chatting and great fun and fellowship.
children doing shadow show :)

Our second day was in every way unforgettable. Based on the advice of the office at Bekok, we decided to track to Takah Berangin since it was only a 2 1/2 km walk, while Takah Tinggi was a 4 km walk. What WRONG advice it was! Later we found out that although Takah Berangin was only 21/2 hours walk, it would take the same duration as the other..total estimated time for both are 2 hours. Reason is that the path to Takah Berangin contained some very steep terrain and is the toughest track from our campground. Can you imagine us, especially 3 and 4 year old Lu and Jo doing that track? Thank GOD, we all MADE IT safely!

We got to the waterfall after a very very tiring and strenuous 3 hours, esp for the children (but which was also exciting with views of a millipede nest, elephant dung, exotic plants and insects!).

one of the many interesting sights along the way. A nest of millipedes

And yes, the waterfall was every bit worth it!!!! Beautiful and windy as it’s name-Takah Berangin! When you get to the centre of the pool you feel a very strong wind blowing, and also natural fish spa! yeap, could not get the fish to stop nibbling my feet! haha..

our guide in the middle of the falls. no photo of me in the falls

The journey back was equally tiring, and half way Jo fell asleep and poor daddy had to carry her.

Lu too fell asleep and Josh had to carry him. Finally ¾ way back, Josh unable to take the stress of carrying Lu any longer, put Lu down, and SLIPPED!!! His shouts and groans that followed were really frightening…. My first thought was that he’d broken his legs, but found out he had sprained BOTH legs! We prayed…fervently, but the guide told us to move on, as we had to get the children back before nightfall or it would get dangerous on the steep descent. We got out safely…and later when Josh finally came out with two walking sticks (GREAT THANKS to DING!) we all cheered and thanked God.

Night was delicious dinner …and the super children still very energetic despite the total tracking time of 6 hours, visited each other’s tents, had more fun doing shadow shows, playing with the torch, building sand castles at night and telling stories. There was so much laughter, so much freedom and joy…all under the beautiful Chap Goh Mei moonlit sky.

refusing to sleep they played late into the night under the clear moonlit sky... So lovely to hear the giggling and laughter of children playing their hearts out..


We didn’t want to leave on the third day and after a hearty breakfast right by the stream…

children feeding the fish before jumping in for a swim later.

we jumped into the stream and stayed every minute of the morning playing in the stream…..till the packing team shouted “TIME TO LEAVE!”.

Then with a heavy sigh and heart, we reluctantly got into dry clothes and headed home. I’ll definitely be there again…… When I asked the children “do you want to come back here again?” they shouted with a unifying “YES!!!!” Ian suggested we should stay for a month! Now I’m not sure if that’s possible! Hahaha….

We parents were definitely proud of our FABULOUS kids who made it through that tough climb to the falls. The guide told us, they were the first group of children he'd ever taken to the falls. Hats off to them! :)