zooboy28
Well-Known Member
Day Six:
While most of Singapore is a modern urban jungle, there are a few small areas that have not become concrete-dominated and still resemble a pre-industrialisation way of life. One such area is a small island off the north-east coast, Pulau Ubin. To get there, we took the MRT east as far as possible, and then a bus to the coast at Changi Point. Changi Point itself is quite an interesting little village and quite different to the other parts of Singapore we had visited. Among the many large trees were a number of birds, including many Long-tailed Parakeets, and a few Oriental Pied Hornbills, which were very exciting to see.
We headed down to the ferry terminal, which is less a terminal and more an old jetty. Here, we caught one of the small, rickety bumboats that can carry 12 passengers to Pulau Ubin, but only do so when the boat is full. Fortunately, we turned out to be the eleventh and twelfth passengers, so paid our $3 each and departed immediately. After a ten minute ride across the choppy water, we arrived at the island’s main village where we rented bikes and set off to explore. Pulau Ubin has few roads, and most are gravel, so we biked on these mostly, as we went around the eastern portion of the island.
The trail took us past a few homes and plantations, and then through some tall rainforest, before we arrived at our first stop - Chek Jawa Wetlands. We parked our bikes, and walked down to the Visitor Centre, which contains apparently the only working fireplace in Singapore and a range of natural history displays. Just down from here is a long jetty with views back to Singapore and along the coast. Amazingly, we spotted a large, loud family of Smooth-coated Otters swimming and watched them feeding and playing. Definitely a major highlight.
The rest of this area is a boardwalk that first loops along the rocky shore, before passing over the intertidal mud flats, through the mangroves and finally returns through coastal rainforest to the start. There was a fair bit of wildlife here, including heaps of (unidentifiable) swifts circling above. Noticeably absent were seabirds, especially gulls. There was a small shorebird, I think a Common Sandpiper, but proper ID would be appreciated (photo below). Other birds included Oriental Magpie Robin and White-bellied Sea Eagle. We also saw Water Monitors, Long-tailed Macaques and a small herd of Wild Pigs.
After cycling back to the main village where we had lunch, we set off to explore some of the trails in the island’s centre. This was less forested and featured several abandoned quarries that are now lakes. Although there were many Grey Herons through here, and the occasional feral Red Junglefowl, there wasn’t much else of interest. We headed back to the jetty, and returned to Singapore. It started to rain as we approached, so we didn’t look around much, just went back to the hotel. This was our last full day in Singapore, so we organised our gear before heading into the city. This was also New Year’s Eve, which meant we got to see Singapore’s impressive fireworks display, and welcomed in 2016.
Photos below show: bike rental on Pulau Ubin; two of the Smooth-coated Otters feeding off Pulau Ubin; unknown shorebird (maybe Common Sandpiper); boardwalk at Chek Jawa Wetlands; fireworks at Marina Bay as Singapore welcomes in 2016.
While most of Singapore is a modern urban jungle, there are a few small areas that have not become concrete-dominated and still resemble a pre-industrialisation way of life. One such area is a small island off the north-east coast, Pulau Ubin. To get there, we took the MRT east as far as possible, and then a bus to the coast at Changi Point. Changi Point itself is quite an interesting little village and quite different to the other parts of Singapore we had visited. Among the many large trees were a number of birds, including many Long-tailed Parakeets, and a few Oriental Pied Hornbills, which were very exciting to see.
We headed down to the ferry terminal, which is less a terminal and more an old jetty. Here, we caught one of the small, rickety bumboats that can carry 12 passengers to Pulau Ubin, but only do so when the boat is full. Fortunately, we turned out to be the eleventh and twelfth passengers, so paid our $3 each and departed immediately. After a ten minute ride across the choppy water, we arrived at the island’s main village where we rented bikes and set off to explore. Pulau Ubin has few roads, and most are gravel, so we biked on these mostly, as we went around the eastern portion of the island.
The trail took us past a few homes and plantations, and then through some tall rainforest, before we arrived at our first stop - Chek Jawa Wetlands. We parked our bikes, and walked down to the Visitor Centre, which contains apparently the only working fireplace in Singapore and a range of natural history displays. Just down from here is a long jetty with views back to Singapore and along the coast. Amazingly, we spotted a large, loud family of Smooth-coated Otters swimming and watched them feeding and playing. Definitely a major highlight.
The rest of this area is a boardwalk that first loops along the rocky shore, before passing over the intertidal mud flats, through the mangroves and finally returns through coastal rainforest to the start. There was a fair bit of wildlife here, including heaps of (unidentifiable) swifts circling above. Noticeably absent were seabirds, especially gulls. There was a small shorebird, I think a Common Sandpiper, but proper ID would be appreciated (photo below). Other birds included Oriental Magpie Robin and White-bellied Sea Eagle. We also saw Water Monitors, Long-tailed Macaques and a small herd of Wild Pigs.
After cycling back to the main village where we had lunch, we set off to explore some of the trails in the island’s centre. This was less forested and featured several abandoned quarries that are now lakes. Although there were many Grey Herons through here, and the occasional feral Red Junglefowl, there wasn’t much else of interest. We headed back to the jetty, and returned to Singapore. It started to rain as we approached, so we didn’t look around much, just went back to the hotel. This was our last full day in Singapore, so we organised our gear before heading into the city. This was also New Year’s Eve, which meant we got to see Singapore’s impressive fireworks display, and welcomed in 2016.
Photos below show: bike rental on Pulau Ubin; two of the Smooth-coated Otters feeding off Pulau Ubin; unknown shorebird (maybe Common Sandpiper); boardwalk at Chek Jawa Wetlands; fireworks at Marina Bay as Singapore welcomes in 2016.
