Take a nature walk. 2010 is International Year of Biodiversity!

2010 has been declared by United Nations as the International Year of Biodiversity. The main purpose is to raise awareness of the importance of conserving biodiveristy for the well-being of all humankind.

Think about it: Surely we DO NOT want to be the ONLY species of animal left on this earth? It is a sobering thought, indeed!

Coming for one of our nature walks is a good way to start this special year.

Fiddler crabs and madcap mudskippers at Chek Jawa

Ria and I had a fabulous outing with lots of families and pals at the Chek Jawa Boardwalk today. It is the Christmas weekend, and there is no better way than to spend a lovely morning enjoying the beauty of a natural inter-tidal area in Singapore. There were about 25 people who came for our nature walk today.

Trip to Chek Jawa Boardwalk on Boxing Day

The last nature walk for 2009 at Chek Jawa Boardwalk with the Naked Hermit Crabs will be on Boxing Day.

Come on down and join us. Let the kids go wild on nature during the school holidays. It is a lot of fun for the family and we can help you sneak in a story or two about the plant and animal biodiversity on our precious island.

Oh.... adult groups are welcome too! We have not forgotten about you.

Kids, Drawings and Chek Jawa

Here are the drawings done by the lovely bunch of kids who came to our Chek Jawa walk with their parents last Saturday. THEY ARE GOOD ARTISTS!

Do examine the pictures. They give you an insight to what the kids are thinking about after spending 2 hours with us exploring the mangroves.

Jabez (age: 9) was almost shouting when he wrote in block letters, "HELP THE SNAKES! or else!". You know what, he is right! Snakes have a place in our eco-systems too.

Teach the young ones

We had a most wonderful trip out to Chek Jawa Boardwalk with several enthusiastic families this morning.

We decided to hold our trip in the morning so as to avoid the holiday makers that descend on Ubin during a long holiday weekend. We were glad that we did as we practically had Chek Jawa to ourselves before the crowds started to arrive in the late morning.

See these happy faces? The kids had a great time bonding with nature with their parents. In the process, they learnt a lot about life in a mangrove, how the animals behave and the kind of habitats they live in.

We are glad that although we live in a highly urbanised city, many of our Singapore parents continue to impart a love (and respect)) for nature to their children. One of the mothers said to me, we are "stewards of the earth that is created for us".

Let's read what they saw during their trip to Chek Jawa.....

Saturday 28-Nov. Note: a change of timing

Our last Saturday nature walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk is ON! It is next Saturday, 28th November.

Please sign up with us quickly. Write to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com. We have limited places.

As our upcoming walk falls smack in the middle of the long Hari Raya Haji weekend, we are expecting huge crowds to descend upon Pulau Ubin. So, the Crabs have decided to change the timing of our walk from 3 pm to to 9 am. This new timing allows us to avoid the crowds going to Ubin as well as returning home. We also think the 9 am timing is perfect for the year-end monsoon season as you may have noticed that the storms in recent days happen in the afternoon.

Let me give you the final details of the walk ....

Chek Jawa Boardwalk with Yishun Student Care Services

It was a fine and sunny Saturday morning where the Naked Hermit Crabs had the pleasure of sharing the beauty of Chek Jawa with the families from Yishun Student Care Services. We were accompanied with many NIE friends who were around to help facilitate the walk. :-)