Chek Jawa is not a zoo

After a busy week of registrations and last-minute cancellations for our monthly walk, we were pleased that we had a good turnout of about 55 visitors on 9th of April. So between the 3 of us, CH, Ivan and myself, we each took about 15 to 20 visitors to show them our favourite Chek Jawa trail.

Here's a picture of Ivan briefing his group at our meeting point, the Chek Jawa Information Kiosk.

Our first stop was at the Jejawi Tower. On our climb up the 20-m high tower, we spied 2 fresh nests made by red weaver ants on a mangrove tree. The nests are made of fresh leaves weaved together into a ball shape with an opening at the bottom, serving as entrance to the nest within. It was a hive of actvity. It is said that the ants could build several satellite nests on a tree, but effectively the satellite nests belong to the same colony.

Free walk on 9th April 2011 - Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Join the Naked Hermit Crabs for their monthly guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk this April 9 (Saturday).

There is plenty of native flora and fauna to observe from the safety of the Chek Jawa Boardwalk. No need to get your feet wet. We should be able to observe interesting creatures like mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, fiddler crabs, weaver ants, kingfishers, etc. Sometimes when we are REALLY lucky, we get treated to spectacular aerial displays by the White-bellied Fish Eagles. We have also spotted the Oriental Pied Hornbills on many of our trips. These are animals in the wild, and Chek Jawa is not a zoo, so the sightings are never guaranteed. But that makes an outing to Chek Jawa ever so exciting simply because you'd never know what you get to see!

So come and see for yourself. Signup by writing to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com. We welcome small groups of family and friends. If you are planning a corporate or organisation outing, we urge you to pool your money to hire the professional nature guides.

Date: 9 April, 2011 (Saturday)

Time: 9:30 am

Duration: about 2 hours

Meeting Place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin

Cost: The Crabs do not charge for the trip but you will have to pay for the bumboat and taxi rides to get to Chek Jawa.