That jungle bushcraft experience

 

A jungle fire simply a must

Many years ago, I started following this thing called 'bushcraft'. Having watched too many episodes of Ray Mear's bushcraft series, I would sometimes try to start a fire in the jungle usin a bow drill! Like many things, I eventually grew out of it. Bushcraft became repetitive. Its usually revolves around the main same topics....shelter, fire and knives. These 'topics' are the basics of any jungle trip. Just a matter of how hard you want it to be.

The jungle bushcraft experience

This is my jungle bushcraft experience setup

The thought of having a jungle bushcraft experience with just a parang to build shelter, make fire and possibly procure food did cross my mind many times. But seriously I don't think would be able to do it. I probably pack up and walk out of the jungle. Whatever chance I have left to do jungle camping, it has to be a balance of both bushcraft, comfort and good company. So, for the jungle, my hammock, parang and a jungle wood fed fire is a must. These things completes the entire experience. So far, JC is my best jungle camping buddy. We somehow click very well when it comes to camping. 

A shelter for the fire

Only recently did a shelter for the fire became an important component of my camping trip. Weather is all over the place now and the Malaysian Met Services has consistently been naccurate based on my personal experience. Hence being prepared is the only path to follow. The importance of a fire in the jungle is probably second only to jungle safety. The smoke helps keeps the animals away and the fire cooks the food and give warmth. To quote old friend Paul, the fire is like the jungle TV. We could stare at it for hours and say not a single word. 

A shelter for my fire

Large palm leaves are the best to make a shelter for the jungle fire. Stack enough of them on each other and the shelter would do really well to keep the fire from going out in case it rains. However, the shelter needs to be wide and high enough to b effective. Otherwise the roof is gonna catch fire in no time. I went all out jungle camping with JC this time. I even hauled in a spare 3mx4m flysheet as a common space just by the fire. This means we get to chill by the fire even if it rains. It was a splendid setup. 

Camping food

Our camping food varies but it generally follows a similar pattern. Early breakfast at a coffee shop and tapau (take-away) lunch. Our jungle camping meet up time is typically around 830am or 9am. With JC, being on time is part of who we are. We may be late sometimes but we would always let the other person know. I have in past waited for up to an hour plus for a friend. Needless to say, I don't invite that friend for any of jungle camping trip after that. Showing up late without even the courtesy of letting others know is just plain sleazy. 

Fresh food is always a bonus

This time around, I brought in all fresh food for dinner. Potatoes, onions, carrots and a whole marinated chicken! Into that big pot and placed high above the fire. It took around 6 hours to cook completely. The pot was made of thin stainless steel but that did not stop me from putting coals on the lid. Turned out ok imho. 

Turned out ok for the two of us

Obviously we couldn't finish the entire bird. There were left overs, enough to feed me for breakfast. In the end, I was very thankful I took the extra effort with the food. Worth every bit of sweat!

What next?

A different backpack, ditch a few more items to make things a bit lighter and keep the same menu. This year end will busy work wise, so jungle camping may have to scale back a bit. The arrival of the new parangs is screaming for a jungle workout and that has to happen fairly soon as well. Heck...maybe one or two more camping trips before the year end. Surely it can happen.