The astounding urban jungle in Kuala Lumpur

Where European cities have their beautifully manicured parks, Kuala Lumpur has wild jungle. There are several green areas within the city, some running to hundreds of hectares in size. This past weekend we headed out to Bukit Gasing, just 20 minutes drive from the city centre, and smack bang in the middle of some of the most densely populated areas of Kuala Lumpur.

Stepping into the jungle from the car park, which is surrounded by residential streets, you are immediately swallowed up by this huge forest.

Trees tower above you and lianas hang down. Hard to believe the city is just a stone's throw away!

The reserve is over 100 hectares, with trails cutting through it. This was our first time in the reserve and so we walked a little at random, mostly following the route of a river that we stumbled upon fairly early on. We didn’t see a map at any point, and the path divides multiple times, so you can really get yourself lost if you want to!

From time to time we passed other walkers, but generally we were alone. We could hear the sound of cicadas and some bird calls. Aside from that it was quiet.

The reserve is managed, but not to the extent of making the paths perfectly smooth and easy, which I like as it gives you more of a sense of being out in the wilderness. And although we had a bit of trouble finding our way back, I like the fact that direction signs are barely existent, at least in the part where we walked. However, you will see some evidence of human intervention, for example, these sticks that have been placed where new plants are shooting up.

At some point we were forced up into the higher jungle away from the river. It had been raining recently so these steeper paths were more slippery. The humidity in this dense jungle was higher, or seemed higher, than in the city (where it's bad enough). It might have just been that we were sweating from the exercise! You definitely require good shoes - this is not a Sunday afternoon stroll around Hyde Park!

The size of the trees and plants is something amazing to a European, where things generally are smaller. The trees soar up into the air, with huge palm fronds waving against the sky.

It looks like someone's been having nibbles from this massive leaf.

The ants were bigger too!

I think this is a carpenter ant, but I'm only guessing based on finding this log (below), which it looks like something has been chewing through. At first I just assumed this was termites, but then I found out that termites actually eat the wood and so they don't leave the little piles of wood dust that you see here at the entrance to each tiny hole, and on the ground below. Carpenter ants apparently do leave these little piles of dust, as they just want to excavate out the wood to make nests. They're considered useful in forests as they help with wood decomposition, but I wouldn't like to find one in the woodwork at home.

Once we adjusted a little to being suddenly in the middle of this dense jungle, we started to notice the little details of nature around us. For example, this young fern. I've always loved ferns - I find them so elegant, especially when they are just opening up, like a swan's neck unfurling.

Mostly as we walked along we were surrounded by greenery but from time to time a bright flower would peek out amidst the fronds – and they were bright! Hot pink, sunny orange and bright red.

This plant below caught my eye. I like how its dark green fingers reach out to those white tips. It has an aquatic look to it, like it should be waving underwater.

At some point the path opened up into this little clearing. That bridge is just as unstable as it looks! Just as well the water is not deep.

Finding our way back to where we had entered was not completely straightforward, as it was hard to times to figure out which path we had arrived from. We had to double back on ourselves at least twice when we realised we'd taken a wrong turn. At one point we were passed by a very brisk walker, arms swinging, who called out to us, brightly, on seeing that we were foreign and therefore probably lost, 'just keep on this way'! He was well out of sight before we'd turned the corner, but he did save us from yet another wrong turn.

Sadly I found out that part of this reserve has already been destroyed to make way for yet more housing. I sincerely hope that the destruction stops here, because this piece of jungle in the middle of Kuala Lumpur is a beautiful place to explore, to reconnect with nature, and to leave the city behind, just for a while. I would hate to see it disappear.

_{All photos by @ freewheel}