BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
THE LIGHTS were out at 10 p.m. as Rabu, one of the Iban people who served as our boatman/ guide, reminded us that night creatures deserve their time to shine; quite literally for the firefly which decided to spend a good 15 minutes of its evening routine to stay by my window showing off its ability to illuminate the whole room with its built-in, biological lamp.
I was inside a long house made of bamboo, and I swear I heard the mosquito captain instruct his army. “Attack that human being. It is the best source of blood for our survival,”
I imagined the pesky insect say.
I was castigating my-self the whole time for forgetting to bring my mosquito repellent.
I had a 50 ml bottle of the Human Nature brand prepared but my brain forgot to fulfill its function of remembering this essential.
From a four-day stay and touring around Bandar Seri Begawan, the five of us—the tourism honcho, the lawyer, the accountant, the engineer and I, technically a journalist but loves to pretend that she is a beauty queen—and our friend Azmi, realized our plan to spend the night in the jungle of Brunei.
We booked the “adventure” with AZ Back to Nature Tour Services.
Two Filipino staff picked us up at the Airbnb and then drove us to the jetty terminal.
From the jetty terminal in Bandar Seri Begawan, we took a 45-minute boat ride to Temburong District. The boat can fit 20 people. If you have traveled from Cebu to Bohol (and vice versa), this “boat” is one-fourth the size of the fastcrafts sailing the Cebu-Tagbilaran route.
Even the smaller fastcrafts plying the Cebu-Tubigon route (and vice versa) is bigger than the boat we were in.
A van met us in Temburong and from there we traveled another 25 minutes to get to the mouth of Apan River, where our jungle adventure commenced.
AFTER conquering the 60-meter canopy walk
Two shallow-draft long boats with four men waiting for us to board. It was a 15-minute ride before we reach base camp.
We were going against the flow of the Apan River.
The current was furious as if telling us that ourgiggling selves were not welcomed in the national park.
But that impression changed when we reached base camp.
We later learned that Rabu and the others, who were running the camp, are from the Iban tribe.
They are warm people who made sure that we felt safe and well taken care of.
Arriving in the camp meant leaving our shoes by the foot of the entrance, an open house with wooden floors
. To the left is a two-storey structure; the first floor being the site for lectures and coloring activities for children while the second floor was where meals are served.
Further up north was the bamboo house and another structure which can also house happy campers.
To the right of the bamboo house was another two-storey open structure dotted with tents. There were three families— each family with an average of two children–in the camp.
After settling down in the bamboo house, where JK, the lawyer became my roommate, Rabu called us to proceed to docking area because we were off to our first adventure trek of the day.
The destination: A waterfall
I have to be honest, we are non-swimmers.
We told our guides about it and the perplexed looks on their faces told us how much of a disappointment we all are for living in a country with 7,641 islands and we do not even know how to swim.
It rained when we arrived at the base camp so walking to the falls was slippery ordeal. JK fell and semi-injured her wrist. But what is jungle adventure without a minor accident?
We reached the falls and “swam” for a bit.
The falls is not as majestic as Kawasan or Aguinid in Cebu but because of the company I kept in Brunei, the falls transformed into a magical playground of friends.
Dinner that night was chicken cooked in various spices, grilled fish, rice, a vegetable which resembles tofu and noodles (like pancit bihon sans meat).
There was unlimited coffee and choco-malt drink.
I had several cupfuls of that choco-malt drink, the most I had since I was seven years old studying at Saint Alphonsus Catholic School in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
We had a short night safari tour to supposedly look out for frogs, snakes and monkeys.
But it rained so we onlymanaged to see two frogs and a certain type of wild lizard.
The long boat journey in pitch black environment sufficed that night.
We were told to sleep early because we had to leave camp by 5:30 a.m. to start our trek to the canopy.
I used to climb mountains wearing slippers and cheap rubber shoes in my teens and 20s.
Three kids after, I try togo camping and trek as often as possible but I have been a lazy writer who preferred plains and valleys over mountains and hills.
The trek was a test of endurance, patience and strength.
The accountant in the group is a mountaineer; the engineer a runner. I tried to keep up with the pace.
It was slippery, dark and cool.
We had headlights but when you’ve spent four years rarely using the stairs, navigating a muddy jungle a thousand miles away from home is more painful than the time I labored for 26 hours with Child No. 3.
The promise that Rabu kept telling me was a 60-meter tall Canopy Walk where I can see the forest from a bird’s eyeview. So I pressed on.
But reaching the canopy walk meant climbing a set of stairs of about 1,200 steps on a hill 950 meters high.
By the time we reached the “top,” my head swirled.
I announced I was going to puke.
All three cups of choco-malt drink out in the open.
Rabu said snakes, insects and birds in Temburong will now bear my DNA
I love how they cared for my well being but did not hover.
Feeling better after puking episode, I went ahead with the canopy walk.
The entire climbing journey, I questioned why in the world did I agree to do this and why, at 31 years old, I allowed myself to be pressured by
my peers.
But all self doubt vanished into the fresh Temburong air when, at the highest point of the climb, I saw the forest in its vastness.
This is something that can be done in the Philippines and yet, why haven’t we done this?
Brunei does not have the skyscrapers and biggest shopping malls in the world but 75 percent of the country is still covered by virgin forests.
And that sight … dear Lord.
The descent was a lot manageable as we went back for breakfast, rested for a bit before taking the long boat again to visit another minor falls where a natural fish spa exists.
You just stand up in a certain space and the fish comes to tickle/eat your funny feet’s dead skin.
We went back to base camp to swim some more. But I decided to learn more about the tribe and asked permission if I could cook lunch with them. I later learned how to cook bamboo chicken (ayam pansuh) from them, a recipe that will now go to the Casa Ruffolo Cocina recipe book.
Before 1 p.m., we boarded the long boats for the last time on the occasion of this first jungle adventure in Brunei.
I looked up: the sky was blue, the clouds hovered with calmness and serenity.
It looked at my friends with smiles plastered on their faces; the kind of smiles that store immortal memories.
We were only there for one night but it felt like the river had us in an enchanted spell in the spirit of friendship and
adventure.
Not bad, Brunei.
Not bad at all.