Silvered leaf monkeys
Gentle monkeys that come close to visitors.
Leonard Reback — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Leonard Reback — CC BY-SA 4.0 · *angys* — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Leonard Reback — CC BY-SA 4.0
A historic hill at the mouth of the Selangor River in the town of Kuala Selangor, overlooking the Strait of Malacca, with Sumatra visible on clear days. Malays built a fort here in the sixteenth century, and Selangor's first sultans strengthened it, until the Dutch stormed it in 1784 in a reprisal campaign; the remains of Fort Melawati and its old cannons are here today. The hill has an old lighthouse and the graves of three of Selangor's earliest sultans, and it is an official site for sighting the new crescent moon, so officials come here to look for the moons of Ramadan and the Eids. What visitors, and children above all, love most are the gentle silvered leaf monkeys that live on the hill and come close to people. The hill is free and open in daytime; visitors walk up or take a small tram. Minutes from town is the village of Kampung Kuantan, where night boat trips on the river show thousands of fireflies glowing in the mangroves, a magical experience for a separate fee. It is about an hour and a half by car from Kuala Lumpur. An ideal plan: Bukit Melawati in the late afternoon, a seafood dinner in Kuala Selangor, then the fireflies after sunset. Do not feed the monkeys human food; it harms them.
Gentle monkeys that come close to visitors.
An official site for sighting the Ramadan and Eid moons.
Thousands glowing on the river at night.
Kuala Selangor, at the mouth of the Selangor River, about 65 km north-west of Kuala Lumpur
Shortly after sunset on dark nights, ideally away from full-moon nights and heavy rain. Book the boat when you arrive at Kampung Kuantan, and do not use flash photography.