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Tea Plantations
A Buzz with the Bees
We got out of the bus, and stepped into the greenhouse. Butterflies hung to the sides everywhere! I must reiterate: everywhere! Their cocoons were hanging on a vertical block of wood. On the other side, there were cages with other creatures. They had massive walking sticks the size of your head! They also had rhinoceros beetles (or stags), which were about the size of my palm. Then there were lizards, having a tasty breakfast of crickets. So were the scorpions. The crickets would try to climb up to the leaves of the bushes, so that they could eat. Also, there were big bullfrogs the size of my face.
Then we visited an insect that uses nectar and pollen from flowers to make honey. We had a buzz with the bees as they went inside their hives and back out. One lucky bee even managed to escape a spider’s web. Amazing!
Afterwards, we got some great pictures of tea. We did all this at Cameron Highlands, a place known for tea, bees, and butterflies. Don’t forget the strawberries, which you can pick yourself, and have a delicious smoothie made out of! We had a great time! Honestly, I keep vacillating between the bees or strawberries. I don’t know which one is my favorite! They were both great. Who says you can’t have two favorites.
Cameron Highland Tea Fields
Spider – the bee barely escaped this web!
Scorpion
Lizard
Miles of Tea and an Orange Stream
We crossed over the orange stream, which was not dyed orange, but it was orange because it had orange mud. It smelled. Next we crossed a larger river. I jumped from one rock to the other. I almost missed! I found myself tottering above the small waterfall, saved only by the guide’s hand. He wasn’t there to show us the way, he was there to save our lives! Then I nearly fell again. Later, when we were crossing a rock with a trickle of water running down it, I tried to walk across, but slipped! I managed to cross by crawling sideways! Near the end of our hike, we crossed a river with a big gap between two rocks. I tried to jump, but missed! I fell in the water down to my waist! Quickly I scrambled onto the rock I had just been on. I jumped again, but this time my right side fell in the water! Then I just walked across a submerged rock. I have to admit, that was scary, almost dying four times in one hike!
The next day we saw some very pretty tea. Miles of tea, rolling up to the mountains with trees and bushes spotted here and there. It was also fun to see a machine make the tea leaves into the stuff you see in tea bags. They were cut four times, dried, and ground. The tea, though – that stuff was glorious! Good thing they actually made something, instead of turned into a tourist attraction!
The finished tea
Trees in the tea
Listening to a talk about tea
Miles and miles of tea!
The cutting process
I got soaked!
The Orange Stream
The view of the wildlife preserve from the tower
Before I fell
Catching tea
Getting help across the river
Lots of stairs!!
After I fell
Round the World Kid 