A wild adventure

Yesterday Ade and I went to Palua Ubin – an island off the north coast of Singapore halfway to Malaysia.



I had found a link to a walking tour which was happening on Saturday on the internet so signed up for it, not really knowing what to expect. Our guide turned out to be Grant Pereira, Head of the Green Volunteers Network and a fascinating man. The island is his passion and he is working hard to ensure that it remains undeveloped by Singapore so that the native birdlife and important mangrove swamps are kept as well as to raise awareness about the environmental impacts that “progress” also brings.



I digress. To get to Pulau Ubin, you go to Changi Villege Jetty and catch a bumboat (for $2) across to the island. Once there, your only transportation is on foot or by bicycle. The walk was called a Sensory walk for a reason, there were loads of plants (medicinal and for food) to smell and strange fruit to see. We even saw a rare horn billed bird which had been absent from the island for a long time and has just recently returned. After doing the walk, we rented some bikes and went in search of the first of what I’m sure will be many beaches.



In the evening we decided to head towards the Singapore Zoo and do the Night Safari. It was thoroughly enjoyable though, my favorite were the flying squirrels which we saw in full flight! (Picture nicked from the zoo website as they discouraged the use of flash photography so no pictures)

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Then home to play my last game of Mahjong.