1 September (Sat) - Free guided walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves

This March, the Naked Hermit Crabs are specially organising a very special nature walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves on 1 September, Saturday. This is a FREE nature walk on the mangrove boardwalk at Pasir Ris Park.

Sign up now on Eventbrite! Don't miss the opportunity to see some wildlife in action! Pasir Ris Mangroves is conveniently located 10 minutes away from Pasir Ris MRT station. We only do Pasir Ris Mangroves a couple of times in a year, so don't miss this opportunity!

There are many creatures look out for in the mangroves, such as mudskippers, tree-climbing crabs, snails, herons and monitor lizards. The best part of the nature walk is at the end when we get to the small jetty over the river. There is a lot of animal activity in the evenings. We have seen young monitor lizards crawling into their nests as they settle in before nightfall. Sometimes, you may even spot kingfishers, jellyfishes and water snakes! It really is quite exciting for the children to be able to see these animals in the wild.

Otterly fun time at Chek Jawa!

 We were delighted to have 45 visitors join us for the walk at Chek Jawa. It was a beautiful day, with large clouds drifting above us in the sky and a cool breeze tickling our faces. We also saw really amazing creatures today!

Photo by Ria Tan

Before we started the walk, we saw three wild boars and monkeys at the shelter! They were most likely attracted by the fruiting rambutan trees.

Photo by Ley Kun

The visitors were very excited to see them!

Photo by Ria Tan

There was also a Common flying dragon (Draco sumatranus) on the tree nearby.

Photo by Jonathan Tan

Jonathan was explaining to the visitors how they have flaps on the side of the skin which they can extend to glide from tree to tree!

Photo by Ria Tan

With a great start to the walk, all of us proceeded down towards the mangroves. The climb up the Jejawi tower was tiring, but the view was worth it!

Photo by Liz Lim

We were also treated to a display by the Oriental Pied Hornbills, who flew in to the durian trees a distance away from the tower. Participants were extremely happy to see these huge birds in their full glory!

After coming back down from the tower, our sharp-eyed participants managed to spot many tree climbing crabs and mudskippers in the mangroves.

Photo by Ria Tan

One of the visitor favourites is the Giant mudskipper, which can grow to be about as big as your foot!

Photo by Dayna Cheah

Some visitors were very excited, and wanted to take a closer look at the critters in our mud!

Photo by Ria Tan

One group was lucky to see a Paradise Tree Snake! This aboreal snake can flatten its body out to glide between trees.

Photo by Jonathan Tan

As we admired the Bakau trees, visitors were entertained by the Fiddler crabs who were out in full force!

Photo by Dayna Cheah

With a cool sea breeze, we enjoyed a slow stroll along the coastal boardwalk. 

Photo by Liz Lim

Photo by Liz Lim

Because it was low tide, we could see the pillars underneath the boardwalk with interesting animals living on it. We saw barnacles, oysters and ascidians!

Photo by Liz Lim

Further out to sea, we spotted a Great-billed Heron fishing in the distance. It is the largest heron we have in Singapore!

Photo by Dayna Cheah

We also saw a few Water monitor lizards, and one group saw one digging for crabs in the mudflat!

Photo by Jonathan Tan

One group was very lucky to have been able to see a lone Smooth-coated otter!

Photo by Dayna Cheah

Otters are usually quite shy, but this otter swam right up to the boardwalk, dipping in between the waves.

We ended off this amazing walk at House No. 1, where the children drew amazing drawings of the animals they had seen or would liked to have seen!

Photo by Ria Tan

After the walk, the guides and their friends decided to stop by Ah Ma's drink store for some cold drinks and fresh rambutans from Ubin!

Photo by Ria Tan

Here's a precious group photo of the guides and their friends with Ah Ma and Ivy!

Photo by Ria Tan

As we were slowly munching on our rambutans, we saw a fresh delivery of rambutans come in! Yum yum!

Photo by Ria Tan

Right beside the drink store is a rich mangrove, with many birds, fishes and rare mangrove species! We took a little walk there to see what we could find.

Photo by Ria Tan

Thank you to the guides Ria, Ley Kun, Sumita, Jonathan, Liz, Xiang Tian, Alyce and Dayna for making this walk possible! Big thanks to Ria, Jonathan, Liz, Ley Kun and Dayna for their photos as well.

Look out for our next walk in September and please do join us for a day of fun!

19 Aug (Sun) - Free guided walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

Join us our regular Chek Jawa Boardwalk outing on 19 Aug, Sunday. Come explore this very special and beautiful corner of Singapore mangroves with us. Just gather your family and friends, and have someone do the signup on behalf of the group. Best of all, this nature walk is free! Register on Eventbrite here.

Chek Jawa is rich in biodiversity, and with the help of our volunteer guides, you should be able to see lots of interesting plants and wildlife. Even though we are not going on to the shore, there is still much to see and enjoy. There are monitor lizards, fiddler crabs, spiders, rare plants, wild boar, mudskippers and lots of fruit trees. If we are lucky, we might even spot the Oriental Pied Hornbill, White-bellied Sea Eagle and the giant Atlas Moth.

Date: 19 August 2018 (Sunday)
Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Meeting time: 9:30 am
Duration of walk: 2 hours
Fees: No charge for now, but small donations are accepted
Sign up here.

For more information on what to expect at our Chek Jawa Boardwalk outings, and when preparing for your visit, please make sure you read our post specially written for you.

More photos in the next section.