Wild sanctuary

I made an accidental discovery of a new sanctuary in the wild last Saturday. Thanks to nature's call, I thought we could use the washroom facilities at the nearby Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve for free (just like Botanic Gardens visitor centre). Unfortunately, it was located beyond the visitor centre entrance and we had to pay $1.00 park entrance fee, even if it's just to answer nature's call. Since we've already paid 2 bucks, I thought we might as well take a walk in there.

Within the 130ha of nature reserve, there are 3 routes and a mangrove boardwalk for you to choose in exploring nature. Route 1, approximately 3km passes through the mangrove habitat and takes 1-2hours to walk. Route 2 is about 5km and is also the reserve's longest boardwalk, requiring 2-3hours to explore. Route 3 is the longest at 7km (4-5hrs walk) and brings you to the freshwater habitat. The mangrove boardwalk is a mere 500m or 30min walk.

While at the visitor centre, I spotted a huge iguana swimming in the waters next to the visitor centre. I felt so 'sua-gu' as I've not seen a swimming iguana at such close range before. We did not take any of the routes as we were not in proper attire. We entered the reserve through one of the boardwalks and were taken in by the beauty of the greenery before our eyes. Beneath the boardwalk is flowing seawater with lots of different fishes swimming against the current. To the left of the boardwalk is an endless river with trees and mangroves lining the sides. To the right, you could see Johor even as the seawater flows out to the sea.

Passing the boardwalk, we came to a bird observation hide. The view before me reminded me so much of Africa safari. I never knew such beautiful place exist in Singapore. There were no concrete buildings in sight, no sounds of modernity, only nature at its very best. Different birds sang different tunes yet they were so harmonised, it was music to my ears.

We walked a little further after the bird observation hide. There were signs warning visitors of crocodile sightings in that area. I felt vulnerable as I was wearing sandals. We did not see crocs but saw 2 iguanas. One was a baby sunbathing next to our path. The other was probably a teen. It was a bonus that we caught it in action. It had swam out of the river with a fish in its mouth. To think that I wanted so much to see hunting scene in Africa (which I never got to), yet I saw it in our very own nature reserve.

Too bad my handphone camera is unable to take zoom in video. I took this post lunch picture of the teen iguana. See if you can spot it and the baby iguana in the foreground.

The sun got a bit hot around noon time and we decided to call it a day. It was an unplanned trip in the first place and we were not in the right attire. But I'll surely go back again with my walking shoes, hat, sunblock, water, mozzie repellant, axe brand ointment, walking stick (in case of crocs or other predators).