Local Encounters

I remember when I used to hike national parks and wild places in my travels, there was always a thrill of encountering wild animals. (My last hike overseas was something like 15 months ago *gasp*!!) Sure, there would be always a small fragment of fear, but more often than not, excitement prevailed. The feeling was extra acute when I went Alaska - I would fervently wish that I would encounter a bear, knowing full well that the danger was real. But my wildlife encounters were pretty mild - an Ezo deer in Hokkaido Japan, some sort of elk in the Canadian Rockies, a mountain goat in Spain etc.

Well, now that travel would not possible for the year or more, I had to content myself with local hikes and walks in Singapore. Sure, there are unexplored parts of Singapore, but I hated the hot weather conditions and the memories of my army training in our humid jungles didn't exactly leave good impressions. And encountering wild boars seemed not very exciting somehow. But hey, still better than circuit-breaker stuck-at-home right?

So there I was walking along a trail in the Central Catchment area, listening and looking out for birds - a relatively recent interest. "Birding" allowed me to have something additional to do aside from just walking/hiking, and I'm learning something new every week. And suddenly, there was some serious rustling sound ahead of me. I stood stupidly looking at some sort of animal foraging across the vegetation. I happened to have my mobile on-hand and quickly tried to take a video. It... it looked like a ... deer!

That got me really excited. But of course, the rest of my walk was quite uneventful. Until late evening when the light was really dim and I was hurrying along the trail. Again, there was sudden rustling and this time, I activated my mobile quickly, but the animal was quicker, so everything was really blurry. It looked like a hare hopping away. 

Back at home, I scrutinised my videos, and it looked like a *family* of deers. Googling revealed that we have Sambar deers in our forest (though the search results are all sad news of our deers being killed in accidents). In fact, a few days later, there were news reports on the Sambar deer sightings as well (including very nice videos!)

So the following week, I went back again, hoping for another encounter. And guess what? I caught a glimpse again, but yet again, my reaction time was just retarded. So week after week, I went again, hoping to stalk the deer. But alas, it was super uneventful, not even any birds spotted.

My last trip though, did yielded something. I was dejected that it was another uneventful walk and the light was getting really dim. A sudden rustling sound alerted me to something in the shadows - the "hare" from several trips ago but this time though, it didn't bolt. It stayed where it was and I slowly activated my camera(s). It was actually a Lesser Mousedeer!! Unfortunately, the light by then was really low, and I dared not move too much to take out my tripod and torchlight and frighten the mousedeer away. So I took what I could.

There are two kinds of mousedeers in Singapore - the Lesser and the Greater Mousedeer. Looking through the videos, I believe it's the Lesser. This was probably my most exciting encounter reminiscent of my travels, which was so lacking in the past year. Needless to say, photos and videos wise leave alot to be desired but hey, actual travels is still a long way off yah? *snicker* . Hope to capture the Sambar deers next!

The Bicycle Diaries

I lay on the ground, legs stiffened and face contorted in an ugly grimace. I massaged my thigh vigorously and finally managed to coax the muscles to relax. It was a good 10 minutes of cramps sitting on the road beside a highway and this was my most pathetic cycling experience yet.

Not much of a cycling fan, I only had a couple of cycling excursions during my travels. A nice summer jaunt in the rolling hills of Biei and Furano in Hokkaido; A wine-on-2-wheels cycling tour in Mendoza; An exploration of the Lijiang countryside in autumn; Here in Ezulwini valley in Swaziland, I joined a fellow backpacker on a cycling day-trip because, well, it sounded interesting.

We were to visit the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, and apparently, it could be visited on bike - perfect for folks without private transport. The idea of cycling through a wildlife park in Africa sounded refreshing. Of course, there is no Big 5 in this reserve, otherwise, I have doubts anyone could peddle away quickly enough with a lion hot on his back.

My years of inadequate usage of my cycling legs came quickly to bear after the 10km of tar-road, and 3km of off-road peddling to reach the park. But luckily in the park itself, the frequent stops for nature appreciation dictated a leisurely pace.

We knew we had our first encounter when we saw a group of people congregating around an area. In the middle of the river, like a personal small island, a huge crocodile lay basking in the sun. I mounted my biggest lens, and proceeded to find my angle. A jeep soon rolled by, with a family and their guide in it. The guide beckoned to me, and in a calm robotic manner, warned me off the water's edge. I did not grasp the full extent of his well-intentioned warning until he pointed to a ripple in the water. Barely 10 metres away was another crocodile lazily swimming across the water's edge!!

Huge crocodile basking in the sun

Only when I remounted my bike did I see the sign - "Do not stay too close to the water's edge"! On hindsight, that crocodile was really uncomfortably close, but well, ignorance was really bliss!

The rest of our encounters were alot less intimidating, though, no less interesting. In particular, we were chugging along when Sarka, my cycling companion, caught sight of movement in the trees just 30m from our cycling path. Almost blending behind a blind of trees trunks, grazed a couple of zebras, probably shying away from the open. We crept nearer steathily, but they moved away cautiously, easily detecting our intrusion.

I see you!

We caught sight of other wildlife - deers/antelopes of various kinds, birds of the ibis/heron variety. And then we came to the "Hippo Pond". Alas, the hippopotamus did not make their appearance. And it was one of those animals I had wanted to see in this sanctuary...!

I hovered around the pond area while Sarka went ahead to further explore the park. I knew my return journey back to the hostel would take twice as long, and so had decided to leave earlier. On the way out though, I again caught sight of the family of zebras (ok, it could be another set, but indulge me). This time though, they decided to come out into the open, and sauntered right pass me! THIS is what I call a zebra crossing! ;)

I finally managed to stand up, gingerly picked up my bicycle, and started pushing. Unless there was a downward gradient, I was literally walking and pushing my bicycle all the way back. It was indeed my most pathetic "cycling" trip..... but certainly one of the most interesting!