The last Saturday, Sunday and Monday (20th, 21st and 22nd November 2004) has been really busy for me. And a bit tiring too.
There are a few natural spots in Singapore which has been preserved so that the Singaporeans don't grow up not knowing what a forest or a lake looks like (no offence to the Singaporeans though). The ones that are frequented by the tourists are Sungei Buloh, Macritchie Central Catchment and Nature Reserve, an island called Pulau Ubin and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. I was told by the locals here that the places reserved for the National Armed Forces are even more dense and beautiful. But, of course a tourist cannot visit those places. For those of you looking for more information on these places, visit www.nparks.gov.sg
Well, now to the reason why I was busy and tired. I visited three of the nature reserves on those three days and that's why.
On Saturday I went to Sungei Buloh with my brother and a friend of his and I was completely surprised. I never imagined that Singapore would be housing such a beautiful natural forest. It was close to what you can get in bigger countries. Apparently lot of effort has been taken by the government to maintain its pristine nature. It is a mangrove forest and home to a rich variety of flora and fauna. I shall not bore you with my botony and zoology. If you are interested then visit the site. They have laid a few trails for people to walk around. I was surprised by one thing though. It is a mangrove wet land trail and you don't get an opportunity to wet your feet!!! Me and my brothers like hiking in rough places a lot and this was a bit of a disappointment. They had laid wodden planks for most part of the trail and neatly laid pathways to walk around without getting your feet wet. But all the same we enjoyed it well. We could not cover the complete trail since we reached there late afternoon and the place closes by 7 pm. The sad part was we did not take our camera. I am planning to visit that place again soon and this time I won't miss it.
Then on Sunday we (me and my brother) visited Macritchie Nature park. This was a step above the Sungei Buloh both in its beauty and size. This also happens to be the Central Catchment Area of Singapore. Recently they have constructed a hanging bridge which is called the tree top walk and it is quite interesting to walk across it. To reach that it is quite a long walk. You have to be prepared for a bit of slush and a nice hiking boot would come handy. We hiked for about three hours and as usual we were talking about doing it every week which never happens by the way.
We took some pictures here I shall post them separately. It would have been nicer if pictures could be included as part of the message but for some reason Blogspot does not allow it.
On Monday it was a trip to Pulau Ubin with my friends from school, Arun and Sreevatsava. This place is a rustic island and it depicts a Singapore in the 1960's. Nothing spectacular in this place but it was a change to take a boat ride to this island and look around the place. We rented bicycles and we pretty much covered the entire island. Apparently this is the only inhabited island apart from Sentosa of Singapore. There are a few villages with houses of old Chinese and Malay architecture. The name Pulau Ubin supposed to mean Granite Island (Pulau in Malay means Island). The main business in the 1970's used to be the granite quary and fishing. Now all the quaries are closed and most of the locals have left the island. The existing locals thrive on fishing and tourism. One should try the local coconuts here and if you are lucky you can chance upon some wild fruits.
Well that summarizes my three days of visits to nature reserves. I intented to go to Bukit Timah today but I guess I will be pushing myself too hard. Moreover I was called to help the new students who are arriving for the November batch to settle down and get to know the place.
I shall upload some of the pictures here and the rest I will publish it as an album on the ofoto site. So long, then...
There are a few natural spots in Singapore which has been preserved so that the Singaporeans don't grow up not knowing what a forest or a lake looks like (no offence to the Singaporeans though). The ones that are frequented by the tourists are Sungei Buloh, Macritchie Central Catchment and Nature Reserve, an island called Pulau Ubin and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. I was told by the locals here that the places reserved for the National Armed Forces are even more dense and beautiful. But, of course a tourist cannot visit those places. For those of you looking for more information on these places, visit www.nparks.gov.sg
Well, now to the reason why I was busy and tired. I visited three of the nature reserves on those three days and that's why.
On Saturday I went to Sungei Buloh with my brother and a friend of his and I was completely surprised. I never imagined that Singapore would be housing such a beautiful natural forest. It was close to what you can get in bigger countries. Apparently lot of effort has been taken by the government to maintain its pristine nature. It is a mangrove forest and home to a rich variety of flora and fauna. I shall not bore you with my botony and zoology. If you are interested then visit the site. They have laid a few trails for people to walk around. I was surprised by one thing though. It is a mangrove wet land trail and you don't get an opportunity to wet your feet!!! Me and my brothers like hiking in rough places a lot and this was a bit of a disappointment. They had laid wodden planks for most part of the trail and neatly laid pathways to walk around without getting your feet wet. But all the same we enjoyed it well. We could not cover the complete trail since we reached there late afternoon and the place closes by 7 pm. The sad part was we did not take our camera. I am planning to visit that place again soon and this time I won't miss it.
Then on Sunday we (me and my brother) visited Macritchie Nature park. This was a step above the Sungei Buloh both in its beauty and size. This also happens to be the Central Catchment Area of Singapore. Recently they have constructed a hanging bridge which is called the tree top walk and it is quite interesting to walk across it. To reach that it is quite a long walk. You have to be prepared for a bit of slush and a nice hiking boot would come handy. We hiked for about three hours and as usual we were talking about doing it every week which never happens by the way.
We took some pictures here I shall post them separately. It would have been nicer if pictures could be included as part of the message but for some reason Blogspot does not allow it.
On Monday it was a trip to Pulau Ubin with my friends from school, Arun and Sreevatsava. This place is a rustic island and it depicts a Singapore in the 1960's. Nothing spectacular in this place but it was a change to take a boat ride to this island and look around the place. We rented bicycles and we pretty much covered the entire island. Apparently this is the only inhabited island apart from Sentosa of Singapore. There are a few villages with houses of old Chinese and Malay architecture. The name Pulau Ubin supposed to mean Granite Island (Pulau in Malay means Island). The main business in the 1970's used to be the granite quary and fishing. Now all the quaries are closed and most of the locals have left the island. The existing locals thrive on fishing and tourism. One should try the local coconuts here and if you are lucky you can chance upon some wild fruits.
Well that summarizes my three days of visits to nature reserves. I intented to go to Bukit Timah today but I guess I will be pushing myself too hard. Moreover I was called to help the new students who are arriving for the November batch to settle down and get to know the place.
I shall upload some of the pictures here and the rest I will publish it as an album on the ofoto site. So long, then...
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