Small this island may be, I have yet to run out of places to head to for nature walks and hikes.
Of course, it helps that I've got Melvin, my Singaporean friend who's my sidekick when it comes to nature-tripping activities. I'm really grateful to have met him through our common friend Francis because the guy has been showing me the "wild" side of Singapore every now and then.
Last Sunday, we had our monthly "green" activity.
We agreed to head to the Bukit Timah Hill Summit once again.
The only difference this time is we're going to hike via the trails at the Dairy Farm Nature Park.
From what I read, the 63 hectare nature park at Dairy Farm Road was formerly a cowshed. Now, it houses the Wallace Education Centre and the Wallace Environmental Learning Lab. The Wallace Trail is also found in this nature park. The Wallace mentioned here is Alfred Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin who made significant contributions to natural science through is exploration of the Singapore in the 1850s.
Based on some of the other things I've read about the park, Dairy Farm Nature Park, compared to other hiking areas here in SG, has flat trails which is suitable for newbie hikers, kids and the elderly.
Okay, from the hike that Melvin and I did over the weekend, I can definitely say that we did not take any of the flat trails. Half the morning of Sunday was spent making our way up to the Bukit Timah Hill Summit through thickly forested area. The other half was spent for the descent back to flat terrain. Haha!
Though challenging, the good thing about the trail is that there are a number of huts along the way where you can take sit down and rest for a few minutes before carrying on with your trek. You would also find maps along the way to make sure you don't get lost, and to give you options on which trail to take.
For our trek last Sunday, we decided to take the "gentle" (which wasn't really gentle) climb up but was much longer. Melvin has never taken that path before, which is why we agreed to do that trail.
Along the way, we saw a number of interesting creatures - a green Oriental viper, a giant ant, a monitor lizard, some monkeys, and birds. Melvin being Melvin, he would get excited whenever he would see certain animals/creatures.
When he excitedly exclaimed "Ooohh! Snake, snake!" at least, this time I didn't jump out of fear. The first time he did that during a previous walk, I wanted to clobber him for scaring me. Haha!
We finished our walk just a few minutes after 11. It was just right. We started our ascent at 9AM, and we were back at the Dairy Farm entrance by 11. Though it's just for two hours, I was definitely exhausted.
From Dairy Farm, we headed to Jelina Vegetarian Garden at Cheong Chin Nam Road for lunch. Our road trip continued to Siglap Road, which was on the other side of the island, for dessert at Udders.
I've been wanting to try Udders for some time now, and I'm glad Melvin was kind enough to drive all the way to Siglap for dessert. Haha! We got the very sinful waffle with a scoop of Cookies N Cream and Chocolatey KitKat. Woohoo!
Really glad to have been able to try a new hiking trail over the weekend.
If you're interested to go to Dairy Nature Farm Park, you can take SMRT 700, 700A or 966 and alight at bus stop along Petir Road between Chestnut Ave and Dairy Farm Road.
Bring a change of clothes, insect repellant spray and bottled drink. :-)
Enjoy!
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