Chek Jawa with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Another great day out at the Chek Jawa boardwalk for the monthly free guided walks with the Naked Hermit Crabs!

How delightful to be able to share my favourite shore with these enthusiastic ladies from RGS!

We arrived at Pulau Ubin to find it all decked out for the upcoming Tua Pek Kong's birthday!

When we arrive at the Information Kiosk, Alyce shows us a sheath of the Pinang palm (Areca cathecu). Its a plasticky thing which apparently was used to pack up food like hokkien mee!

We also learnt that the day before, on Friday 13 May, thirteen otters were sighted from the jetty near House No. 1! Wow! Here it is recorded in the Book.

Today we had lots of guides so we could bring lots of visitors! More than 50 visitors! Wow! Here's Alyce and her group.

Here's Ivan starting off with his group.

And Pei Yan and Ley Kun looking at some fruit trees with their groups. Daniel also led another group!

Here's my group with Chad, their teacher who has been bringing his students to our walks for a few times already. Chad has spotted some tiny bugs. We ponder upon their possible identity. Just before we started, we saw a family of wild boar with several baby boars!

At the mangrove boardwalk, one of the sharp-eyed ladies spotted a young Monitor lizard. We also saw small Giant mudskippers, some fiddler crabs and of course discussed mangrove trees. We saw many different spiders today. At the coastal boardwalk, we saw lots of Gold-spotted mudskippers and also schools of large mullets!

Oh dear, there seems to have been a landslide recently in the coastal forest. This is a natural part of what goes on at the shore, though.

On the last leg of our tour, Ley Kun tells us more about the fascinating study to encourage our Oriental pied-hornbills to breed by providing them with nesting boxes.

At the end of the walk, it's time for a group photo. Chad gets the ladies sorted out.

For a nice group photo with Pulau Sekudu and Changi in the background.

After the walk, the visitors spend some time to pen their thoughts in our guestbook. Thank you! Wow, some of the visitors shared all the sightings made during the trip with very good drawings!

It seems LARGE spiders have captured the imagination of some of the visitors!

Another group of visitors pen their thoughts at a scenic spot overlooking Pulau Sekudu and Changi on the mainland. Oh dear, rain clouds are building up. Thunder is heard. It's time to go home!

The guides made it just before the heavy downpour. To our favourite Ubin restaurant for a leisurely lunch. By the time we headed home, it was cool.

The jetty is lined with colourful flags and lanterns. Come for the planned festivities of traditional wayang shows at Pulau Ubin this coming week! More about these festivities on the Pulau Ubin stories blog.

More about Chek Jawa and the Naked Hermit Crabs.