Hornbills, monitor lizards and jellyfish in Chek Jawa

We were worried that none of our visitors would turn up for the walk. The weatherman predicted "thunderstorms and gusty winds", the sort that give floods in Orchard Road, and we got even more worried when we saw dark clouds on our way to Pulau Ubin. But it turned out to be a perfect day for a trip to Chek Jawa. No rain, no thunder, no lightning, just gusty winds! And we had 16 visitors!

The intrepid visitors were Eleanor and her friends, and a bunch of RGS girls with their teacher. With us too were Sing Yee, Elizabeth, Shaun and Wei Xuan from RJC who had attended the Guides of Singapore Shores workshops for the past 3 weeks. They wanted to see some real-life guiding in action and so we invited them to join us for this trip. We split ourselves into 2 groups with Ria and CH guiding Eleanor and friends as well as the Fab Four (so named by Ria in her blog post!), while PY and I took the cheerful team of girls from RGS.

Make a date with the Crabs - Saturday, July 24th

Join us for our monthly nature walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk in July!

Learn more about the biodiversity of the flora and fauna in Singapore. After all, 2010 is declared the International Year of Biodiversity by United Nations, and we are celebrating its significance by helping to raise awareness of the importance of conserving biodiversity for human well-being. You too can be part of this. Bring your family and friends out to get away from the urban landscape and to enjoy a wild and natural place in Singapore.
 

Date: 24 July 2010, Saturday
Time: 9:30 am
Duration: 2 hours
Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk, Pulau Ubin
Cost: still free for now

Registration is required. Please write to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com

Families enjoying Chek Jawa Boardwalk

We had a good turnout at our monthly boardwalk trip in June. There were about 50 visitors, mostly families with children, a few groups of friends, and even some visitors from the USA.

Here is a fabulous photo of the Sng family on the boardwalk. They were wonderful visitors who asked lots of good questions, showing great interest in the animals and plants that we saw. And Grandpa Sng regaled us with his own stories of how he used to eat salted mangrove crabs with 'teochew muay' in his younger days. Unfortunately, this tradition of eating pickled mangrove crabs has stopped in the last 40-50 years, probably due to widespread loss of mangrove habitats and hence less access to large, economically viable supplies of these crabs.

Here is a photo of Grandpa Sng and the small durian that he found under the tall durian tree closest to the CJ Information Kiosk. Like a true expert, he gave it a shake and a sniff, and declared that there was little flesh in the durian.

26 Jun 2010 - Chek Jawa Boardwalk for you

The school holidays are ending! But wait ..... there is still one more nature walk to do before everyone buckles down for serious work in semester 2. Come and explore Chek Jawa Boardwalk with the Naked Hermit Crabs.

Date: 26 June 2010, Saturday

Time: 9:30 am

Duration: 2 hours

Meeting place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk

Cost: the Crabs are not charging

2010 is a rather special year; it is the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). There is still so much to learn about biodiversity in our little country. Chek Jawa remains a precious refuge for plants and animals thriving in its various ecosystems. If you have been following our blog, you will know that we regularly encounter mudskippers (lots of different species!), fiddler crabs, mud crabs, hornbills, kingfishers, eagles, sunbirds, jellyfishes and many kinds of fishes in the water. And if you think plants are boring, we hope to show you a couple of interesting ones in Chek Jawa.

World Biodiversity Day at Chek Jawa Boardwalk

It is World Biodiversity Day today, and many families joined us for this month's nature outing to Chek Jawa Boardwalk. What a great bunch of folks they are! For many of them, this is the first time they are exploring a nature area together with their families.

Although it takes a skip, hop and a jump to get to Chek Jawa, the Crabs are always happy to see parents making the extra effort to bring their kiddos to see a spot of nature. As usual, Chek Jawa does not disappoint.

nature walk at Chek Jawa Boardwalk - every 4th Saturday

Here are all the dates for our monthly Chek Jawa Boardwalk trips for the rest of 2010. We have fixed them to take place on the fourth Saturday of every month.

22 May (Sat) - World Biodiversity Day
26 Jun (Sat)
24 Jul (Sat)
28 Aug (Sat)
25 Sep (Sat)
23 Oct (Sat)
27 Nov (Sat)
25 Dec (Sat) - Christmas Day [Cancelled]

Meeting Time: 9:30 am
Meeting Place: Chek Jawa Information Kiosk (Pulau Ubin)
Duration of walk: approximately 2 hours
Cost: Still no charge.

Registration is required. Please write to nakedhermitcrabs@gmail.com

Chek Jawa Boardwalk - birds, caterpillars and mudskippers

A group of 14 visitors signed up for our monthly Chek Jawa Boardwalk in April, and Ria and LK were more than happy to show them around our favourite patch of mangrove in Chek Jawa. The group leader was Lynette and she has brought a group of friends from a Buddhist centre to enjoy a touch of nature away from the bustling Singapore city. "Great choice!", say the Crabs!