Review: D'Dusuntara Jungle Retreat

After a Skype conversation with TC last Thursday, I found myself tagging along for a 1-night getaway to D'Dusuntara in Batang Kali.

The initial plan was to go to Bentong Sanctuary, but somehow the location got changed to D'Dusuntara instead.

So we met up on Saturday at Millennium Condo in Section 14, Petaling Jaya with the rest of the people and drove in convoy to Econsave Batang Kali where Kamal, the owner of D'Dusuntara was waiting for us.

Because the road leading to D'Dusuntara is rough and tumble, only 4-wheel drives can go in. So TC parked his car in Econsave and we hopped into one of the other 4-wheelers.

Takes about 30 minutes to drive from Econsave Batang Kali to the jungle retreat.

Peaceful pond that greeted me upon arrival.

If only the water would have been slightly clearer ...

Towards the end of the pond are air-conditioned timber chalets with bunk beds.

I sneaked in to take a look and was particularly impressed with the washroom ...

First time I'm seeing a washroom in the middle of the jungle that is this nice and clean.

Just a short climb towards the top of the hill is where all the action is.

A pool in the middle of the jungle is a sweet surprise, especially since the weather was humid as hell.

After we bored ourselves playing Jenga and marveling at the card tricks of some of us, we started jumping into the pool.

Nice blue pool complete with jacuzzi. The pool contains salt water (surprise, surprise), so there's hardly any taste of chlorine that you'd fine in most swimming pools.

Beside the pool is a small building ...

I bet even a shortsighted person would be able to see the red stair railings. And that's a good OSHA thingy, isn't it? ;-)

At the bottom of the stairs is a neat little kitchen ...

... where the staff prepared our delicious BBQ dinner ...

... and served them in chafing dishes.

We had fish, chicken, lamb, sausages, pumpkin, fried mee hoon, salad, cut fruits, and potato wedges (my fav) for dinner. 

I didn't take any pics of the food cause we swamped down on the grub the moment the lids were removed. Don't mess with a bunch of hungry people who had just burnt lots of calories in the pool!

After dinner, we cleared the tables and chairs so that we can boogie woogie. Soon some of us started jumping into the pool again.

I shall not post photos of anyone here cause people drinking while dancing and goofing around in the pool don't make nice pics ;-)

After all the crazy fun, some of us started heading to our tents towards the wee hours of the morning ...

Before the trip I was told to bring a sleeping bag cause we were going to be sleeping in tents. But these tents had mattresses, pillows and quite comfy. So I didn't have to bring sleeping bags after all.

I asked TC to buy insect repellent for fear that we may be swarmed with mosquitoes. But no mosquito bit me and I was pleased.

This is the tent which I 'chop' for TC because the poor fellow was already passing out by the pool.

Me? Well ... I 'strategise' my drinking, so I usually don't end up getting bloody drunk :-)

The grand dame of this jungle retreat has got to be D'Dusuntara Villa which is made entirely of timber (oh no ... screams the environmentalist!).

Apparently the interiors of D'Dusuntara Villa is so lovely that someone offered to buy the villa from Kamal and his wife, Hawa should they decide to sell it.

Kamal and Hawa have had this 3 acres of land for 17 years. And they built up the place bit by bit to what it is today. Of course Kamal's experience working as a contractor when he was in Perth, Australia helped a lot too.

Is that my name I see there?

D'Dusuntara is a lovely place to chill for groups of max 30 people. If you're thinking about organising events for bigger groups like team building activities, then better look elsewhere. But Kamal did tell me that he's planning to add more rooms at the top of the kitchen. 

The other dissatisfaction I have is the cost. We paid RM180 each for the whole 1-day getaway which included a 1-night stay in the tent and 3 meals (dinner, supper and lunch in that order) only. We had to bring our own wine and beer cause these were not included. 

I think RM180 is quite a lot to pay considering the fact that we didn't sleep in air-con rooms and neither was dragon's meat served in any of the meals. 

Despite those little dissatisfactions, going to D'Dusuntara was a good experience for me. The trip was not only a good weekend getaway from the city, but also a good getaway from my usual weekend routine of chilling at home and being unproductive :-)