MYCAT CAT Walk: THE WALK

Part 3. The sooner I get it over with, the better. Because everyday is a new day and I don't want to be stuck in memories forever. (Whoa... Such a song lyric over there!) 

THE WALK.

CAT Walk stands for Citizen Action for Tigers Walk. At first I thought the purpose is only to find traces of poachers. But then Man explained that other than that, by doing this (jungle trekking), we are trying to show our presence to the poachers. Presence as in there are other people going in and out of the forest. So when there are people going in and out of the forest, this shows that they (illegal poachers) have a chance of being caught. Other than that, we also get to help MYCAT (Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers) check the camera traps. Hehe... There are camera traps in the forest too, okay... Hehe...

One of the best experience started just that morning. We (Tita, Siddiq, Audrey, and I) got to sit at the back of the 4WD. The wind gushing, rushing, going against our face. Certainly not angin sepoi-sepoi bahasa! Flap flap flap flap flappppp! By the end of the truck/ 4WD open air ride, I couldn't feel my right cheek. Oh.... This soft baby cheek couldn't stand the wind, huh... Ahahah!

This was at the petrol station before reaching our destination. It was actually quite far, okay... I think about 15 minutes? 20 minutes? Audrey sat on the floor instead of on the board because she said it was safer that way. Well we young people wanna feel the wind.... Hahahah! But we really, really have to hold the railing because the road is like S S S S S S.....

This is me, on the way back from the CAT Walk. See how windy it was? Hahah... Can't believe I'm actually uploading this! Oh well. Sekali-sekala kan. Besides, this picture is real. There back there you got the Kg. Merapoh sign, the road, and the wind effect.

There were only 4 volunteers (Tita, Siddiq, Audrey, and I), 2 guides (Shah and Jaya), and 1 MYCAT representative (Man). The first few minutes, Tita and I were chatting along, giggling happily, bimbo-ing around 'Tak sangkanya kita kan! Tak sangkanya kita kan! Ingat tak masa sekolah dulu? Ingat tak......' Chatting, chatting happily... Jalan santai... Until moments later... 

Hiking up, up, up, and up.... Up, up, and up... Heart rate increasing... Senyap. Breathing heavily.... That was when I realized; I AM NOT THAT FIT. And.... WHY DO I CHOOSE TO COME HERE??? WE SHOULD JUST GO WATCH MOVIES INSTEAD.... Well basically I was questioning this decision. But there's no turning back. Remained silent, thinking... Until we reached one spot.

CANTIK. The view was beautiful. We took a group picture. And I wonder when I get to see it. Been going to MYCAT fb page now and then but it wasn't up yet. Maybe I should just ask from Man.

This was taken at another spot. Gua panjang and gua lagi panjang at the back. Yes yes yes memang nama gua tu macamtu... Pants tucked in the socks as to avoid leeches. Black and orange because of Harimau Malaya (both tigers and the football team). Imma footballer oh yeah. There were other colours but I just like the feeling of getting into the mood. We're saving tigers, right? So yeah. By the way, I had on another layer of socks underneath it.

So, 7 of us walked into the forest and nearly halfway through the journey, Audrey fell and hurt her hand. We couldn't see clearly how bad the cut was but Man sent her out of the forest. One down. He walked with her out of the forest and came back in alone. ALONE. Well, he did have a GPS but still... 

We waited for Man at a river. Sungai cabang dua. We were just about to leave when we heard a whistle. Man! He made it! I was impressed, really... Being in a small group, we became closer I guess. No choice... Hahah! The walk was fun. We stopped at a few places to take pictures. Since there were only two girls, and best friends, too, we had a lot of time to take pictures. Heheh... 

We found a big tree stump that looked just like a throne and decided to take pictures. Shah the guide made a crown out of roots. Hahah... Looking at the picture I was obviously embarrassed and a bit shy to pose like a queen in front of everybody. But oh well, I'm a girl and besides, this might be the only time I come here.

The journey was something like this; kebun, hutan, kebun. First we passed by plantations, then we got into the forest, then we passed by plantations again, then we came out by a roadside. So basically it was blazing hot, a bit shady, then OMG SO HOT... And finally, vrooom vroom.... Cars. That was when I realized..... We made it! My bestie of 20 years survived being together in the forest!

Soccer socks, fancy socks, Adidas kampung.