Singapore - Treetop Walk

[slimboyfat]

After seeing what the tropics looked at the Eden Project in Cornwall a couple of months ago I decided to have a bit of a trek with the family to the Treetop Walk located a 5 km walk away into the jungle via MacRitchie reservoir.

It gets a bit warm in this part of the world so we left home at 0700 to avoid the heat of the day.



^ This is the new MRT station which is located just below our block of flats. Marymount Station as it will be called is part of the new Circle line which will be taking me to work from May 30th this year. Handy and pretty good for our flat price too!

The roads are fairly quiet at 7am on a Saturday morning



Five mins walk up Marymount Road and we came to the underpass which leads underneath Upper Thomson road and to MacRitchie Reservoir which is a very popular place for joggers, tai chi-ers, canoeists, artists, fishermen etc







If we had turned left from here (as we usually do) then we could enjoy a pleasant walk with our dog along the reservoir, have an ice cream at the cafe and maybe get attacked by monkeys. Today we turned right and were in previously unexplored territory, going into the jungle.

We weren't too far from the water for most of our walk though.



Actually the path is well used by joggers and other walkers and the 5 km walk to the Treetop Walk (sponsored by HSBC) was fairly easy. Certainly those people who were in full hiking gear looked a bit ridiculous.

The plants were almost as good as at the Eden Project.

[slimboyfat]

Just before getting to the Treetop Walk there is a ranger station to have a rest, refill your water bottle and even have a crap if you want.

We just had a sit down and some Opal Fruits (or Starbursts if you are New School).



So anyway, to the Treetop Walk. Basically its a suspension bridge kind of affair stretched across a valley, so you are walking up in the canopy of the rain forest. And quite interesting it is too.













^ Some woodpecker type of thing





^ Nothing but trees around, hard to believe that you are right in the centre of an island city state.





^ The only indication that you not too far from civilisation - some flats in the distance.



^The view from the end of the bridge.

[slimboyfat]

After that the path leads 1km back to the ranger station through the valley below.









At the ranger station everyone was feeling a bit tired so we decided to take the shorter (2.5km) route out of the nature reserve to Venus Drive where we could take a bus back home.







In the end only mrs sbf and my son took the bus home. My daughter and I fancied something to eat so we walked to The Roti Prata House at Upper Thomson road and then home.

The Treetop walk was completed in 2004 and it has taken us 5 years to get there. Oh well, better late than never.

National Parks website page on Treetop Walk
National Parks Singapore - Parks and Gardens

[Marmite the Dog]

Similar to the one I did in Perth about 4 years back.

[dirtydog]

So was it more realistic than the Eden project sbf

[plorf]

Nice thread, thanks, I must admit I am more and more intrigued by working in Singapore. Might have to check with my company some time !

[Muadib]

Cute kids.... Thanks for the pics...

[Rural Surin]

Nice piccies....love the jungle!

[robuzo]

Thanks for the pics, another thing to do in Singapore, a city I like more each time I visit. The bird might be a hoopoe.

[cimboc]

Similar to the one I did in Perth about 4 years back.

Kings Park in the city or the one down south?

Without highjacking your thread SBF this reminded me of our trip around the SW of WA back in 2005. It's funny looking back at the kids so small... anyways here's a few snaps (hope you don't mind)









Here's the website Department of Environment and Conservation - Valley of the Giants

[Marmite the Dog]

Kings Park in the city or the one down south?

The Valley of the Giants. Same one as in your piccies.

[ggshawn]

Hey slimfatboy, thanks for the pictures and the clear description, I'll be bringing my parents over there too!