Firefly Tour in Semporna

There happened one weekend where I sat and wondered what else Semporna has to offer apart from its world-class islands. I googled and I came across the FIREFLY TOUR!!
Immediately got all my colleagues on board with me to fix a date where we are all free from any on calls.
In the process of fixing an appropriate date, we became cavemen! Every day we would judge by the clouds and the sunrise if it was suitable. Google AccuWeather has let us down a couple of times. Fortunate case, that weekend where we all agreed to have the trip was blessed well by the Sun!
We couldn’t do any DIY trip for this as it is fully operated by a tour company plus it is just too expensive to rent a boat just for ourselves. But we managed to get a good bargain at RM120 per person.
Started on a sunny Saturday at about 3.30 in the evening, my 7 other colleagues and I were picked up by the tour company's van driver from the pick-up point.
About 25 minutes later, we were at the much-awaited place. Always loved any activities to do with nature.

A double-decked boat at the pier.

Local delicacies

We were welcomed by the friendly tour host. Served with local delicacies and free flow of local tea and coffee. Just a little something to fill the tummy before the 1.5 hours of the tour. Loved the setting of the dining area. It was comfortable with the backdrop of the mangrove trees and the river.

The start of the tour

The river cruise started at about 5.30pm. We were ushered to the simple one deck boat. Unlike the typical boats where its passengers have to sit cramped together, this boat was very spacious. The chairs are normal plastic chairs and we can be moved depending on the direction that we wish to see. Brownie points!

Saltwater crocodile spotting

The journey first started with cruise at the wetlands where there were mangroves on our right and left. Slowly the boat later entered the sea. We were expecting to see some saltwater crocodile here. Nature was not in favor that day, we didn’t spot any. I tried so hard to spot at least one of them. It's alright! Nothing is certain when it comes to spotting wildlife in their hoods.

Sea tour

About 20 minutes later, we were in the middle of the sea. The salty seawater was splashing on our faces. We were brought along the waters where we got to see the base of many armed authorities from afar. But that is not the purpose of the tour. We just spotted it because it is along the way. We even saw Bukit Tengkorak and got a glimpse of how does it look like from the sea. This part of the tour is not an agenda by itself. It is just something we saw on our way back to the wetlands.

View of Bukit Tengkorak from the sea.

Mangrove tour 

About 10 minutes or so, we were back in the river surrounded by the mangroves. I am always so fascinated by mangroves for some reasons. Caught a glimpse of sea osprey or known as sea hawk. Beautiful! It flew low at one point. I caught a clear look at it! What a beauty it was! I would personally pass this part of the tour as the birdwatching session rather than just a mangrove tour.

Sunset state of mind. Calm river and the sunset.

Long-tailed macaque feeding

The boat was brought close to the wetlands where a huge group of monkeys is. It's the feeding time for the monkeys!! So many of it! They were all long-tailed macaques! Very cheeky! The boatman and the guide were doing the feeding. Spent a few minutes watching the monkeys and how fast and precise they are when it comes to food. It was almost like survival of the fittest.

caught a picture of this cheeky monkey

Proboscis Monkey  

We were on the hunt for the proboscis monkeys initially. Unfortunately, their counts are decreasing at an alarming rate. The proboscis species have a different digestive system. Plus, they are easily porn to diabetes. A lot of them died of banana induced diabetes from all the bananas the tourists are feeding them. Which happens to be the main cause of the massive decrease in the count. There are even research papers on it. Maybe there shouldn’t be any feeding in a wildlife cruise or tours in the future.

Knowledge sharing session

I enjoyed this session very much. It is always a blessing to come across new information that educates and expands our knowledge. The tour guide shared many pieces of information about mangroves and how the whole process of mangrove growth and sustainabilities in the wetlands. It was about 10 minutes of the knowledge sharing session.

Sea fishing

Once we were done with the mangrove tour, off the boat went to the sea. This time is to do sea fishing with simple fishing instruments. No fancy fishing rods here. THE only thing we were given is a plastic bottle coiled with the fishing lines and the weight. Pieces of squid were hooked as the bait. We just threw the bait with the weight into the sea and waited. Patience is the key for fishing after all right. At first, one co-tour buddy caught a tiny white fish, and another after that. Two of similar fishes. About 10 minutes later, one of them caught a big grouper!!! We were given about 20 minutes here. I waited for my bait to be eaten while enjoying the horizon. About 20 minutes later, the guide asked us all to pull the baits and weights off the sea. And guess what? I caught a crab! A huge red crab. Just a few seconds before I could get him on board, he let go of the bait! Lucky day for him. Be free and happy craby!

Was so close to catching a fat crab. 

The beautiful sunset 

While I was fishing, or shall I say very impatiently waiting for any fishes to get hooked on my bait, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets. Sabah, in general, has blessed me with beautiful sunsets and sunrises. But that day, the sky was pink and later turned a darker shade of pink and slowly transited into purple with a  hint of gold. It was so beautiful! Witnessing such sunset in the middle of the sea was the highlight of the day.

The little thing in life, like catching a beautiful sunset in the middle of the sea.

Pink sky and the moon.

Buffet dinner

The sun went down and the moon came up! It was a bright night with the full moon. We were brought back to where we had our tea earlier to have our dinner. Loved the dinner buffet. Widespread of crabs, squids, potatoes, rice, vegetables. It was filling.

The buffet-style dinner. It was  a good dinner.

A local dance show

The dinner came with some entertainment as well. The staffs who are mostly of the local Sulu boys did some singing and dancing live performances. They sang and danced to local Sabahan songs. The boys did an amazing job to keep us well entertained. Considering the huge crowd of the tourists on that day was from China, the Sulu boys went the extra mile to sing a mandarin song! It was nice to hear. Very entertaining.

Firefly tour

The whole reason I went on this tour is for the fireflies! Before this trip, I have only seen one tiny firefly in my whole life. I've been longing to see a pool of them in the longest time. So after dinner, when the sun has already set we got back onto our boat to hunt for some fireflies. 5 minutes into the tour, we spotted none. It was a bright night lighted up with the full moon. A beautiful night I would say. But it also made it difficult for us to spot these beautiful lighted up bugs. When we were all in the disappointment of not being able to spot even one of it, one tiny bug decided to show up. Shrieked in excitement. I thought my mission of the tour was accomplished. The boat went further, and a few seconds later, there it was!! A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS TREE!!! I would call it that. So many fireflies on a single tree that it looked like a Christmas tree. Excited beyond words! Unfortunately, my phone camera couldn't capture the beautiful sight.

Photography session

The tour came to an end at 8.15pm. We were dropped off at the jetty. Took some pictures with my colleagues who were equally excited throughout this trip and the very accommodating host. The Sulu boys later joined our photography session as well.

Drop off

The same van that fetched us from our meet up point in Hospital Sempoirna, dropped us back at the same point. And off we go to our respective homes with a big happy heart and an even bigger smile.