Orientation Camp, Endau Rompin

On the 24^th and 25^th of August, the Sky Adventure Club had their Orientation Camp which was organized by own Player and Aladdin. Held over the span of two days, the aim of the orientation camp is to encourage bonding between the new probationary recruits and the current members of the Sky Adventure Club. The camp was held at the Endau Rompin National Park in Johor, a three to four hours drive from Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus.

Early in the wee hours of the morning, 34 members of the Sky Adventure Club gathered at Taylor’s University and a majority was dressed in red and blue, colors of the club’s official shirts. Bags of all shapes and sizes were packed and ready, with last minute provisions being bought at the on campus 7-11 store. Chatting away, both members and recruits alike were mingling in anticipation while waiting for the bus to arrive.

Members in red

At approximately 4.50 a.m. in the morning, the chartered bus eventually arrived and all orientation camp participants eagerly boarded the bus. Despite the odd hour, the atmosphere was filled with energy as per normal when it comes to the Sky Adventure Club. Members and recruits were playing cards and laughing over jokes. It was as if sleepiness was never a part of the club’s vocabulary. However, as predicted in almost every bus trip, both members and recruits eventually fell to sleep one by one as they reach ever closer to the exciting adventure that lies ahead.

After a short stop at an R&R station, the bus continued its journey to Endau Rompin. We eventually reached the National Park Guide’s office in Johor and unloaded our belongings. Next stop was the Endau Rompin National Park itself, an hour-long 4WD journey to our designated campsite. With all camp participants riding in ‘pick-ups’ and Pajeros, the bumpy ride was quite an experience for some and we soon arrived at our campsite.

A convoy of 4WD

Our campsite consisted of two shacks, one for cooking and eating and the other where our guides slept in. Proper toilets were provided too for both men and women. The campground was a nice open space located next to a river and surrounded by the foliage.  A sign warning us of a 10 feet depth in the river at certain parts was seen as we set up our tents.

Hybrid is happy to have survived the bumpy ride

 Our main guide was Mr Adni, dressed in an orange polo t-shirt and long pants while sporting a worn out khaki cap. He would be our main guide accompanied by another two of his co-workers. After a quick briefing, we had a little downtime while the lunch team started preparing lunch for the club. By around 12pm, lunch was served and the boys who were playing around with a water gun and a homemade bowling alley stopped to collect their portion. The lunch team had prepared our Malaysian favoured, Mee Goreng. Boiled to soften and fried with sauce, a spicy and non-spicy version was offered for lunch accompanied with some sliced onions.

Flora helping Missy chop the ingredients

Bellies full with warm food, the first on our itinerary were survival lessons headed by Mr Adni and his co-workers. We were divided into groups and were then taught how to set up a hammock should the need arise, with only a few small chopped tree trunks to use as the hammock stand. We were then also shown how to make a makeshift shelter for ourselves in the jungle, using easily found objects that can be found in the jungle such as palm leaves, and tree branches.

The demonstration of how they set up a hammock

Missy volunteering to try out the hammock

 Mr Adni then led us to the big boys, traps, ranging from a snare to a mini wooden cage that can be used to capture small animals like a baby deer or a squirrel. Elaborately made and using only the resources available in the jungle, the contraptions shown to us only proved just how experienced our guides were in the art of survival. However, a caught deer is only so useful without a fire to cook it. And so, our next lesson and perhaps the most important in jungle survival had begun… Making a fire in the jungle.

Some of the tools that are used to make a fire

Mr. Adni's assistant slowly making a fire

Oddly enough, one may think that making a fire would be as easy as striking a rock against another rock to form sparks. But more often than not, that is not the case. Using basic tools such as a magnifying glass in a swiss army knife or a simple flint built with a  small plastic torchlight, we were shown the ways to start a fire in the middle of a jungle. Perhaps a most favourable method shown was using a bark of a tree that is cut in half and scraping the inner part of it with a machete to form  the fire starter. Done properly, fine saw dust and dry peeled bark will be available, making it an easily accessible and useful  resource as a fire starter. Before the end of the fire making lesson, Mr Adni demonstrated to us how to boil rice using only leaves, a small plastic to hold the rice, a piece of tree branch, a stone and a fire. The rice, kept in a transparent plastic bag and filled with water is folded and kept in a bundle of palm leaves. With layers up to 8 to 10 leaves, more water is then poured into the bundle of leaves and folded into a bowl like shape before being tied to a piece of tree branch. It is then left to cook over a fire, anchored into the ground by a heavy piece of rock.

Aladdin making sure that the fire will cook the food

While the rice cooked, the end of our fire making session was followed by a competition among our groups to make a shelter in the jungle using nothing but a piece of canvas cloth and the infinite resource that the jungle has to offer. After a good two hours or so, all groups had their shelters ready for show. Despite the proud inventions created and displayed, Mr Adni eventually announced a winner. No group had won. Mr Adni cheekily and wisely said that all of us were a winner and our teamwork had shone through to gather the building materials and put up our shelter.

The first team with their shelter

The second team with their very unsafe shelter

The third team with their simple shelter

It was getting dark and the teams were tired. We headed back to our campsite for some downtime while the dinner group, led by Windsor, prepared the evening meal for the Sky Adventure Club.

Dinner group making preparations

By the time dinner was served the sun had already set and the campground had already darkened to the point where torchlights were needed. The sound of cicadas emerged as camp participants gathered at the canteen. Food served was fried chicken marinated in 'kunyit' and fried vegetables with 'Nasi Goreng Cina Perisa' with rice. At this point all members and recruits were ravenous after such a long day of travel and survival skills preparation and dug into their food gleefully.

Night time at Endau Rompin is an eye opener for the city dwelling students that the bulk of us were, the clear night sky was filled with many stars accompanied by a full moon that lit the camp site as it cast its moon light on the tents. A certain sense of serenity and peacefulness could be felt that cannot be found back in the city. With beautiful skies, our guides then took us out a night trek into the jungle. While trekking, we were told to stop and to switch our torchlights off. Embedded in darkness and with only the moon and the stars as a source of light, the guide pointed out various tree barks that glowed in the dark. To add to the experience, a few fireflies were even seen during the trek.

We reached our campsite after an hour or so of trekking. The guides then gave us a set of equipment for each team. Each set consisted of two traditional fishing rods, a fish spear, some rice, and a bunch of banana leaves. It was time for our night cooking. Three members from each team were in charge of catching fish in the middle of the night while the others were to build a fire and cook the rice. Although easier said than done, all teams managed to have their fires built and started to cook the rice by following what we were taught earlier in the day. The others gathered around the fire, sharing tales with each other and some even exchanging opinions of life and other deep thoughts. Perhaps it’s the fire, or the company, but when huddled together around a fire, one can't help but feel part of a bigger family that is the Sky Adventure Club.

Warming ourselves up around the campfire

Members taking turns to make sure the fire stays intact

As it got late, we were eventually told to put out our fire and reveal the results of our 'cooked' rice. Unsurprisingly, none of the teams had managed to cook their rice properly, and was inedible. No fish were even cooked that night as most were released back into the river. It was indeed quite the experience for many of us.

All camp participants were given different timing to keep watch at night, and shifts were rotated throughout the night around a bonfire. Tired from the long day, many jumped into their tents to recuperate for the activities that were to come the next day.

Breakfast was served the next day by the breakfast team. With Poe Poe in charge, scrambled eggs were served with bread followed by a refreshing fruit salad. We quickly consumed our breakfast and washed up, ready, for the next activity.

Mr Adni gathered us around, and told us to prepare ourselves as we were going on a hike to a waterfall in the jungle. The hike starts off easy at first, with walking over stones, tree roots and whatnot. However, at the later leg of the hike, the difficulty level took a jump. We had to cross pretty steep terrain and although a guide rope was provided, a slip would mean tumbling down the side of a mountain. We had to climb up steep surfaces that were at some points difficult to get a proper grip with the shoes. 

Taking a break from trekking 

Eventually, all of us made it to the waterfall. Surrounded by trees, there were in fact two waterfalls, with a smaller one located on a higher ground. Being told that the water was safe to drink, a few of us took some healthy gulps of fresh water while the others jumped off a rock and into the cold water. It was truly refreshing and a sight to behold.

SAC with the waterfall in the background

The beautiful waterfall

We hiked back to our campsite after spending time at the waterfalls  to have a water tubing activity. Unfortunately, some of the tubes did not have enough air the air pump was not working. Regardless, unforeseen circumstances like this do happen, and the adventure has to carry on. To make up for it, we had instead a different kind of smaller activity yet still fun carried out at the campsite. We were given a chance to practice our blowpipe skills used by aborigines at targets set up by our guide. 

While this was happening, lunch was made by and we were fed fried mee hoon along with scrambled eggs and vegetables. While doing this, we had the chance to challenge our IQ by trying our hands on some puzzles made of rattan by Mr Adni. They ranged from level 1 to level 3, varying in difficulty respectively.

Smiley making sure that the flies don't eat the eggs

Trying out the puzzles made out of rattan

It was late afternoon, when we were given the instructions to take down our tent and pack our bags. It was time to head home. Smiles on our faces, we dumped our bags into the 4WDs and jumped in for the bumpy ride back to town.

How the campsite looked like before we took down the tents

 Exhausted, many fell asleep despite the less than smooth drive, dreaming of the abundance of fun and the unforgettable memories that were made during the last couple of days. Orientation Camp was  fun and enjoyable one and only made possible by the organizing chairperson, Player and his assistant, Aladdin. A big thanks to them for their hard work in making it all work out. Bonds were made and strengthened and it was indeed an experience that will forever be a part of the Sky Adventure Club.

Family

Review

         A very large majority of camp participants indicated that the Orientation Camp held on August was an enjoyable one. Furthermore, the poll set up has also indicated that the camp participants found the staff members that were out guides to be generally very friendly as well.

Members who went for the camp have also found the cost of the camp to be generally worth the price paid. Not only that, but a very large percentage of camp participants have also found the staff members of the camp to be knowledgeable in their field of work.  However, the camp fell short in meeting some of the expectations of the camp participants. Despite this though, a relative bigger majority of participants found that the camp had met their expectations.

It is worth noting that certain issues that were raised by participants during the post mortem were the relative lack of more thrilling activities and the slight abundance of ‘free time’.

Below are the average ratings of various aspects of the camp given by the participants through a poll.

Enjoyableness:  4/5

Affordability: 3/5

Service: 4/5

Overall: 3/5

For further enquiries, you may contact them here;

Endau Rompin Park

Tour Malaysia

Signing off,
Emcee.