The Firefly Cruise that got stranded at the bottom of Sg Raan

As a part of our post-AGM activities, fireflyers offered a nite cruise to see fireflies at Sungai Raan the evening of the AGM.

Everyone was looking forward to this Sg Raan river cruise : fireflies, crocodiles and idyllic fishing village setting all along a tiny river by the side of a road which everybody from Miri overlooks on their way south to Bekenu or Bintulu.

We hired three boats in total, as the nite drew on, everybody's anticipation was definitely on the way up. When the boats launched off the jetty, the kids were visibly the most excited.

As we left, there were already a few patches of congregating firefly zones along the river as we moved upriver into Sg Raan. The kids were definitely excited about these little flickering creatures, we knew for sure they'll be even more excited when we reach the stretch with the highest density of display trees just over yonder. Perhaps add a crocodile sighting or two, they'd definitely be filled with adrenaline by the end of the nite.

A loud thud when the boat bottomed out at a section just after Hawaii Beach made our hearts sank, escpecially so for fireflyers ... tonite was meant to be a nite of fireflies for the kids. With the tide not showing any signs of receding, it was confirmed that water wouldn't be rising at least till midnite, we resigned to the fact that we'd be stuck in Sg Raan the nite's knee deep water.

After half an hour or maneuvering and struggling to free the boats, a strenous effort by the boatmen, we decided to call it a nite. With the "bright flickereing" stretch only 10 meters away, we decided to turn back not feeling as high as we'd initially thought we would.

The kids were excited enough about the boat ride and being stuck in the middle of the river; they'd perhaps be even more so if they'd witness the flickering of fireflies all along the river and maybe spot a couple of fickering eyes of a crocodile or two at the water's edge.

The boats finally managed to pull themeselves out after much effort and we headed back to the jetty. The display trees at the start of the streth was still flickering bright when we passed them on the way back.