Another lovely day at the Chek Jawa boardwalk with families for the month free guided walks with the
Naked Hermit Crabs.
It's always a joy to share my favourite shore with such enthusiastic kids and families.
It was a lovely cloudy but dry day as we headed out for Pulau Ubin.
Mama Crab Ley Kun gives a short introduction to the families who took the time to come to Pulau Ubin so early in the morning.
Although the durian season is sadly over, the rambutans were now ripening everywhere.
This is probably why we spotted monkeys AND wild boar at the start of our walk. Where there were lots of fallen rambutans.
As long as we remain calm and don't approach too closely, the wild animals will not harm people and will go about their wild business quietly.
Oh! Dad has spotted a snake near the Jejawi Tower.
Thanks to Ivan and Alyce, we learn that it's a Painted bronzeback. It was calmly searching on the dry mud for prey. Because we were quiet and didn't disturb it, the next two groups behind us managed to have a look at it too.
Once again, I bless the fact that there are grandparents in our family groups. This grandma found all kinds of things for the kids and spotted many other critters. Thank you! The kids are also great at spotting crabs, mudskippers, moths, insects and more. And ask very interesting questions too.
The tide was high, which was great as it meant we could try to spot fishes, jellyfishes and other swimming creatures.
We ended our walk with a fun drawing session!
Alas, there are some very large trash on the shore. Like this metal-bound thing which I can't figure out.
There was also a huge styrofoam box wedged on the high shore near the Cheng Teng tree.
There was also a speedboat zooming through the restricted waters of Chek Jawa and Pulau Sekudu. There is a
formal Maritime and Port Authority Notice which announces the official designation of Chek Jawa Wetlands as an area off limits to boaters, water recreational activities including fishing and swimming. Chek Jawa is for our dugongs, otters and other wildlife. And in fact,
a dugong was sighted at Chek Jawa during the Naked Hermit Crab walk in October last year!
The guides look forward to our special treat: Pepper Crab at the Two Sisters' Restaurant. For many months, we have not had crab as the uncle at the restaurant has not had time to catch the crabs. We are fortunate that this time around, we finally had some crabs!
After the crab arrived, the naturally chatty guides were very very quiet, with only gentle nibbling and crunching sounds. We made sure to eat every bit of crab!
Like the rest of Singapore, Ubin is decked out for the upcoming National Day celebrations.
Come and join the Naked Hermit Crabs for the
next free monthly guided tour. Or find out more about
Pulau Ubin and explore it on your own.
