MacRitchie

A very high proportion of the European place and street names in Singapore are of Scottish origin.

The MacRitchie reservoir is apparently the oldest in Singapore.  Most of it is surrounded by jungle clad water catchment reserve, and that provides green space access opportunities. 

There is formal park for those who prefer their green spaces to be orderly, but there are also many kilometres of jungle track (well made and cleared of vines for the most part), some steps and stairs, and board walks around the water edge and in places over, across, through, traversing swamp land protecting wetlands from human footfall.

I tackled the 11.5km MacRitchie walk, clockwise around the reservoir with plans to throw in a figure 8 to visit the Tree Top Walk.  However I spent so much time sitting and watching the long tailed macaques, that by the time I got to the Tree Top Walk it had been closed for the day.  No worries!  That just means I shall go back very early in the day next week and spend most of the day watching macaques again.  They live freely in the water catchment areas and there are dozens of signs advising humans how to behave around them.

For their part the macaques seem to know they are in charge.  One, with a baby clinging upside down to her front, wandered toward me so I stopped and let her decide what was appropriate.  She simply glanced at me and walked past at a distance of about 18 inches/50cm with what appeared to be the least concern possible.  She was commuting maybe.... 

There are also signs advising folks not to release domesticated animals in the reserve.  Frogs, the sign advises, are a problem; don't know how to survive in the wild - apparently - get squashed on roads around the area, which attracts macaques to easy food, and exposes them to the risk of dying on the roads too.

Macaques are not fenced in.  They just live here, adapted to the humans that surround them, but not savvy to motorized traffic it seems.

While I walked thunder rumbled in the distance, skies darkened, breeze came in - a portent of rain - and sirens started wailing as golfcarts with flashing red and blue lights tore around the country club golf course next door to the reserve, clearing the golfers.  

'Huts' (roof, no walls) along the trail provided cover for any walkers who had heeded the warnings on various signs along the route.  Macaques aren't stupid, they too favoured the huts, but I did not have to resort to sitting out rain anywhere; the storm stayed in the west and rumbled off on a journey of its own.

The last 5 kilometres was through an area rich with cicadas or tree frogs (or both) whistling and chirruping so loudly and at such a pitch it put my tinnitus into perspective (Shingles on the right side of my head more than once over the years has given me blazing tinnitus in my right ear.  It is a very strange effect living with tinnitus in only one ear.)  Anyone lucky enough not to suffer the ringing ears effect should walk this track to get an idea what it is like to live with such a noise.

Bamboo stems about 4" in diameter (like drain pipes)