Forest village trek at Thomson Nature Park
Date: SATURDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2019
Time: 9.00am to 11.30am
Cost: $13 per pax (adult or kid). Free for participants’ kids aged 6 years and below.
Location: Thomson Nature Park
Please note: This is an easy walk that goes on an uneven dirt path with sloping ground at certain spots, but do note that the return walking distance is between 4 to 5 km. If young kids are coming along, be prepared to carry them.
Walk Brief:
We explore the trails running through this newly opened nature park set in a former Hainanese village. The forest has taken over the remains of the village, but some of its ruins still exist, such as the spiral staircase of the house of the Fox family who were Eurasians who had lived there. Signage along the trails explain the nostalgic ‘kampong’ way of life. Fruit trees from past orchards persist, with rambutan, durian and jackfruit now enjoyed by the wildlife living there.
This park is a key conservation site for the critically endangered Banded Leaf Monkey, Singapore’s only other species of monkey. The Malayan Pangolin and Straw-headed Bulbul are two other globally endangered species who call this lush forest patch their home. And the forest streams here are crucial freshwater habitats for a diversity of damsel and dragonflies.
Hornbills and Hogs on Pulau Ubin
Date: SATURDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2019
Time: 5.00pm to 7.30pm
Cost: $13 per pax (adult or kid). Free for participants’ kids aged 6 years and below.
Location: Pulau Ubin
Walk brief:
We return to the lovely island of Pulau Ubin, this time to look for its famous resident hornbills and wild pigs. The Oriental Pied Hornbill is the only hornbill species still existing in the wilds of Singapore. Its other larger cousins, the Rhinoceros and Helmeted hornbills have both long gone extinct, as Singapore developed and its human population grew and spread. Hornbills have an incredible lifestyle. The female will imprison herself in a tree-hole nest for several months to take care of her eggs and chicks, with the male bringing food to them. As there are not many tall old trees with suitable holes, some nest boxes have been set up for them on Ubin.
Oriental Pied Hornbills live in large, loud family groups, so we’ll hear them before we’ll see them. The Wild Pig is the other iconic wildlife of Ubin. In the past, ‘wild boar’ meat was served at the food stalls on Ubin. It is now against the law to capture, kill or eat them. On Ubin, they roam the forests in search of fallen durian and rambutans. Many Ubin regulars still have fond memories of Priscilla, the piggy mascot at Chek Jawa who was always there during low tide on the mud flats. Our late afternoon to evening walk is timed to the hornbills about to go to bed while the pigs are just waking up from their afternoon siesta.
Please note: This is an easy walk that goes on the main roads and on uneven dirt trails. The return walking distance is about 3km.
Please note:
· Please register by emailing participants’ name/s, ages of kids, phone number of contact participant, and the chosen activity, to Andrew at: andrewtay.sg@gmail.com
· More details and instructions will be given upon registration
· Please do inform if after registering you cannot come for the walk, so that your seat can be passed on to another person on the wait list.
· We will only proceed with each walk if there is a minimum group size of 10 persons.
· Payment in cash or cheque will be collected in person at the activity. Cheque to be made payable to: ‘Cicada Tree Eco-Place’
· All kids must be accompanied by at least 1 adult guardian.
· Kids get info-sheets and native wildlife stickers at our walks.
