MacRitchie Nature Reserve Singapore

I absolutely adore this park, it is one I visit every other day. I am fortunate enough to live at the doorstep of this magnificent tropical reserve.

Things to do at MacRitchie:

Trek, walk or jog

I always set off either at dusk (4-5pm) or early morning (7am) when there are little people and the sun's light is soft.

There are multiple trails at this reserve, some of which lead to Bukit Timah Nature Park or the Windsor Nature Park. I recently completed the full 11km circuit trail starting at Sime road. At the pace I went (with minimal breaks), the full course took me 2.5 hours. Unfortunately due to Covid-19, the popular TreeTop Walk bridge had been closed, as well as the Jelutong viewing tower.

Crab-eating macaques hanging around on the boardwalk, be careful not to taunt them or stare them in the eye, it initiates survival instincts and they could attack

The jungle trail at 7am in the morning

The views offered to hikers at early dawn were spectacular. Due to the high volume of visitors now flocking towards the reserve at all times of day, finding wildlife is a rare occasion- a former frequent event to me. Nonetheless, Crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis) typically roam every corner of the park, a common sighting along the trails.

This is the Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) I see in the same spot every time I visit, by the golf-link trail next to the Singapore Island Country Club

The trails are muddy, damp and overgrown at times, so I recommend taking sturdy sport shoes or hiking shoes. The last thing you want to be doing is walking the trails with the soles hanging off the back of your shoe like I did. Make sure you apply insect repellant, dengue is a rampant disease in Singapore - occasionally dangerous. Bring enough liquids too, the tropical heat is no comfort.

There are food establishments, toilets and shelters throughout the entirety of the trails. So don't worry about getting stuck in a tropical jungle storm with no shelter. I've also tried out the "Paddle Lodge", a kayak rental shop that allows the public to kayak on the water. I highly recommend this experience, it was very calming, affordable and enjoyable.

Blue hour over the reservoir at around 6:30pm

Wildlife photography

As an avid chaser of all kinds of wildlife to photograph, one animal I long to capture is a snake -preferably non-venomous like the Reticulated python. Although I trek at quieter times of day, every now and then I come back home with an image of a bird I've sighted thousands of times. It is definitely a case of good luck, timing and weather when it comes to shooting in a jungle or by the water.

Kingfishers, Herons, Greater racket-tailed drongos,Great egrets, Crab-eating macaques, Malaysian monitor lizards, Common sun skinks etc. are among the species I have spotted around the reserve. There are endless more to be seen.

Crab-eating Macaques

Here are some Macaques I've photographed at the reservoir:

Malaysian Water Monitor

I see these fellas everywhere around the park, they can grow up to 3 meters in length.

Snakes

Living a stone's throw away from the park means we get a lot of wild visitors: macaques, monitors and snakes! We've seen around 4 snakes in our garden since moving here 5 years ago, of which only two were venomous I believe.

Here is an image of a snake's shed skin I found near my pond (water helps snakes shed their skin more easily). They actually shed because they are growing. After scrutinising the snake's shed skin, I concluded it was non-venomous! Thank god.

If you are lucky, you could also capture some of the endemic species that are rather elusive. Some animals I haven't been able to find to date are reticulated pythons (longest snakes in the world and can reach up to 9 meters in length!!), Raffles banded langurs (of which only 60 are left in Singapore), lesser mouse deer, colugos, leopard cats, venomous coral snakes and a whole lot more.

For sunset photography: the light gleaming down at golden hour over the reservoir are alluring and exquisite. The light starts dimming over the water and if good weather permits, all hues from blue, lilac all the way to deep reds can be seen over the park's waters.

This is best done with a tripod and long-exposure as sometimes the colours aren't as vibrant with normal camera exposure settings.

It's truly an exotic place amongst a jungle of concrete here in Singapore.

#Singapore #Tropics #Jungle #Hiking #Photography #Nature #Wildlife