Saturday, January 5, 2013

2013 - Free Chek Jawa Boardwalk trips on the 1st Saturday of each month

Hi friends! We had a wonderful year in 2012 sharing the magic of Chek Jawa with loads of interesting people. In total, we did 11 outings attended by a total of 420 visitors, guided by 10 volunteers and with 6 students in training from Dunman High. The months with high visitor attendance are in May, June, October and December, each trip recording more than 50 visitors. The other months are slightly 'quieter' averaging 20 to 30 visitors.
70 visitors at our walk in December 2012
What about 2013? We have good news for you! The Crabs are continuing with our Fascinating, Fantastic, Fabulous and FREE Chek Jawa Boardwalk trips! As the years go by, we are still enjoying the monthly outings, and showing the biodiversity of the mangroves, forests and coastal areas of Chek Jawa to our visitors. These public walks have proven to be a real eye-opener to many people who did not know that there is such richness in animal and plant life in Singapore. Keep signing up for our walks, dear visitors. Without you, these walks wouldn't be this fun!

Visitors at the top of Jejawi Tower
Talking about years, the Naked Hermit Crabs have done five and a half years of free nature walks to Chek Jawa Boardwalk, and guided around 2400 visitors! Our very first Chek Jawa Boardwalk trip was on 8th September, 2007. Take a bow, guides! You know who you are, and I am so grateful to and proud of everyone who has helped us in every big and little way over the years.

Back to purpose of this blog post... We are happy to announce the walk dates for 2013.

January and February - The Crabs take a break to re-charge!
2 Mar (Sat)
6 Apr (Sat)
4 May (Sat)
1 Jun (Sat) (school holidays)
6 Jul (Sat)
3 Aug (Sat)
7 Sep (Sat) (school holidays)
5 Oct (Sat)
2 Nov (Sat) (long weekend, 3 Nov is Deepavali)
7 Dec (Sat) (school holidays)

Meeting Time: 9:30 am
Meeting Place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Duration of walk: Approximately 2 hours
Cost: No charge

Signing Up For Our Walks: 

Use our online form to register for the walks. CLICK HERE to sign up.

If you have questions for us, write to us at nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com.

We welcome small family and friend groups. If you are organising a corporate or community project, we recommend that you engage the professional nature guides.

More Information:

Read more about Chek Jawa and Pulau Ubin, and how to get there and what to see and do on the wildsingapore website.

How To Get To Chek Jawa:

1. At Changi Jetty, now called Changi Point Ferry Terminal, (Lorong Bekukong, Changi Village), catch the bumboat to Pulau Ubin.

2. At the Ubin Jetty, you will see many drivers and their taxis (vans) waiting for passengers. Tell the taxi driver to take you to Chek Jawa.

3. You will alight at Punai Hut. Chek Jawa is just a short walk from Punai Hut. Make sure you get the telephone number of the driver so that you can call him/her for the return trip.

4. We will be waiting for you at the Chek Jawa Information Kiosk.
Meeting place and path leading to it
FAQ

Q: Suitable attire?
A: Comfortable outdoors clothes and walking shoes

Q: What should I bring?
A: Drinking water (important), rain gear. Optional: hat/baseball cap, change of attire, camera, binoculars.

Q: Age restriction?
A: None as long as the participants are prepared to walk 2 km, climb a 6-storey high tower, able to tolerate the hot sun or wet weather, and be responsible for their own well-being during the walk.

Q: How do I recognise the organisers?
A: We will be the ones doing a roll-call at Chek Jawa Information Kiosk. So, as long as you make it to Chek Jawa, you will definitely see us.

Q: What if it rains?
A: This is a rain-or-shine event. The Crabs will be there at Chek Jawa regardless of the weather. Usually we are able to resume the walk once the rain stops. Please come prepared with rainwear. You make your own decision whether to come or not in the event of bad weather.

Enjoy the rest of the photos from 2012

Oriental Pied Hornbill, December 2012
Wild boars in Chek Jawa
hooves of a wild boar
Great-billed heron, December 2012
Malayan Water Monitor Lizard
One of the many species of crabs found in the back mangroves
Mudskipper
St. Andrews spider
Golden Orb Spider
Huntsman Spider
Fiddler crabs
fishes





video of jellyfish

video of Chek Jawa coast

6 comments:

  1. Great work, Hermit Crabs : ) Your effort will surely be remembered by the many people who are not only entertained by your guiding but are also inspired by your generosity and passion. Many more good years ahead, Hermit Crabs! Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you, Joe, for your kind words and encouragement! We just want to show Chek Jawa to as many people as possible. It's quite a magical place, so full of life and diversity. See you around! LK

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  3. Thank you so much for offering these free tour. Is there any limit to the numbers of participants in the tour??

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  4. These tours are designed for family groups, so we are expecting our visitors to sign up in groups of 6 people and fewer. For your information, our trips are not designed for corporates and organisations.

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  5. We are planning to visit Pulau Ubin on 24 May, which is a public holiday. May we know do you conduct tour on that day? We are have 2 families a total of ten. Four teens and two primary school kids and 2 couples.

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Serene - lovely to hear you guys are planning a big outing to visit Chek Jawa on 24th May!

    The Crabs are not holding a public walk on this date however. It is easy to do Chek Jawa on your own, but if you really want to have a nature guide explain the habitats, plants and fauna, then I suggest you contact the professional nature guides to run a private tour for you. There is a list on the www.wildsingapore.com website : http://www.wildsingapore.com/places/organisedtrips.htm

    Wishing you a wonderful outing.

    ReplyDelete

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