Hiking in the jungle is not the girls’ first. They had tackled Rangitoto Island in New Zealand 2 years ago as well as Stanley Peak and Victoria Peak in Hong Kong last year. But this is by far the toughest ever hike for them at Ratu Rening. Â The hike to the waterfall on steep and very muddy terrain (it had rained all night) took us about 2 hours. Â The descent was about 1 hour plus. I almost wanted to give up and make a U-turn but our Indon guide had warned us prior to agreeing to the hike that there shan’t be any U-turn. He also asked me several times if I was certain that I wanted to bring Cass along as the hike is not suitable for young kids. So I soldiered on, pushed my boundaries and challenged my stamina despite being breathless each time we climbed up a steep and muddy hill. Â There were a total of 7 steep hills to conquer. Flat terrain was easy peasy for me, though muddy. What zapped away all my energy was the steep hills. Â We could make a U-turn after reaching a stream about 1km away from our villa. Hubs and I had initially agreed to go back after reaching the stream but when everyone was super enthusiastic to hike for another 1.5 hours to the waterfall, especially Cass, we joined them. Â Well, no regrets as the waterfall was a sight to behold. The water was crystal clear and icy cold. Â The waterfall area is pristine and unpolluted as I think not many people would want to venture into such a risky hike to the waterfall.
Below- about half an hour before reaching the waterfall, we had a nerve-racking balancing stunt on some slippery and rickety bamboo ‘bridge’ while holding on to ropes – crawling and climbing down steep steps towards the waterfall. I made sure I was behind Cass screaming to her to hold on tightly to the rope. And I hollered to my man to take a snap shot of this stunt for I know that the snap shots will be priceless and definitely a keep sake for future reminisce.  Am glad he obliged and despite lugging his humongous backpack and mine, he managed to whip out his phone to take a quick snap shot 😀
Below – see the man with an orange float across his shoulder? That’s our friendly Indon guide.
As we got nearer to the waterfall, the sounds of the gushing water got louder and louder… and the descent got tougher and finally, voila, we saw the beautiful waterfall!!
Below – my tough cili padi with an indefatigable spirit braved  2 hours of tough jungle hike on unforgiving tracks without a single complaint. It’s always been her wish to tackle tough jungle hikes, just like her 2 sisters. Cass missed the 2 jungle hikes that her 2 sisters did in Hong Kong last year.  Her limbs were covered with mozzie bites despite me applying thick layers of mozzie repellent and lemongrass essential oil on them but she had no complaints. She was always ahead of all of us and I think she’s a hero in her own right.
Crystal clear and unpolluted water – can you spot the fishes in the water?
Alycia soaking in the sun after a long dip in the icy cool water…
Picture perfect postcard shot of the waterfall…
Despite the icy cold water and everyone shivering (it was drizzling lightly), everyone made a dash into the cold water. We brought along snacks and devoured on them like a pack of hungry wolves after our grueling 2 hours hike and long dip in the water.
My baby girl and I…
On our hike back to the villa, we had a close encounter with these lovey dovey creatures in the midst of their love session!
I asked the girls if they would want to go to Ratu Rening  for yet another wilderness adventure stay and do another hike to the waterfall and I got three resounding YES!!  As for me, I still have reservations as my main turn-off is the lack of ensuite facilities in the bedrooms.  Well, I may consider doing this again after a few years when Cass is bigger and I have forgotten about all the inconvenience and creepiness of walking up and down slippery steps in the rain in the forest to use the toilet at ungodly hours.
Check out more updates and pictures of our villa at Ratu Rening Residency in my other blog.
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Really enjoyed reading this post. Reminds me of the days we went camping, hardcore stuff where we canoed 2 hours to the campsite and used water from the lake! One time we went winter camping, in a heated yurt but besides sleeping, everything was done outside! The kids loved it, no bugs! These days I prefer to camp at the Holiday Inn! 😄
Oh yes I did canoeing too and got my skin so burnt and red that it looked like lobster first and then so tanned that I looked like a Chindian girl, ha! We also bathed in the stream, drank water from the stream and cooked lots of yummy food next to the stream. We had to dig holes to do our business but we didn’t really complain. I would do anything to go back to the year 1987 – 1989 again to relive my camping days in the jungle and beach again… sans the kids 😀