Fireflies in Kuala Selangor – Malaysia
Escape the busy city life and enjoy a boat ride along the riverbanks of Selangor River to have a close look at the colonies of fireflies (or kelip-kelip in the Malay language), which are regarded as some of the biggest in the world. Watching Kuala Selangor fireflies is a mesmerizing experience, there is nothing like cruising along the river at night to capture the beauty of the twinkling bugs that seems like stars dwelling a fingertip away.
The mangroves trees, or so-called “berembang trees”, grow along the Selangor River providing home and food for these bugs. During the day the fireflies retreat to the grasses near the mangrove trees, when night falls they will feed on the nectar of the leaves and attract mates with their synchronized flashing green light.
The two popular locations where visitors can see fireflies are Kampung Kuantan and Kampung Bukit Belimbing. The best time to catch the scene is after nightfall at approximately 7.30pm/7.45pm, without a full moon or evening’s rain. Late night is not a favorable time as the fireflies have stopped twinkling after having attracted their mates and, without question, you won’t want to miss such a magnificent experience. Please take note that you are not allowed to use cameras with flash to take pictures during the cruise as this will disturb the habitat of the fireflies; a night vision camera and binocular will come in handy in this situation.
