Sungei Buloh: a wetland, yes we have those too in Singapore

Recently, we’ve been checking out the nature reserves here and enjoying some ‘forest bathing’ as well. Apparently, that’s the term for slow forest walks that we do.

One of those bathing sessions (hahah) brought us to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Yes, a proper wetland in metropolitan Singapore! We just found out that we actually have a few of those here.

Sungei Buloh is a 202 ha wetland reserve in the northern part of Singapore and can be easily reached by bus, taxi, or private car. Forest bathers (is there such a term?) and other outdoor enthusiasts could start from the main visitor centre (Kranji Carpark C) where Eagle Point is located. It could then be followed by the Coastal Trail, a 3 km long boardwalk, along Straits of Johor, the narrow body of water that separates Singapore and Malaysia.

Visitors would then end up on the other end of the reserve where they could do the Migratory Bird Trail which is 2km long, and the Mangroves Trail.

We started our late afternoon walk at Eagle Point. We quickly understood why it’s called such. We did see a couple of white-bellied sea eagles gliding above (check out the short video).

The Coastal Trail (3km) was closed at that time so we just drove to the other end of the reserve and parked outside the Wetland Centre. From there we did the Migratory Bird Trail which goes around the Buloh Tidal Ponds.

We stopped at almost all the observation points (like the one in the photo below) where bird enthusiasts await the migratory birds.

We found ourselves lucky to be in the bird tower just in time when several flocks of the birds were flying into the reserve to rest for the night. Here’s a short video of that…

We continued walking and saw a couple of squirrels, some spiders, bats and some fish as well. But no crocodiles. Others swore that they’d seen some either in the water or crossing their path.

We will surely visit Sungei Buloh again. We still have the coastal and mangrove trails to explore. xoxo

Sharing some websites that will give more information:

Nparks website for direction, park hours and details on birds that make their pit stop in Singapore.

VisitSingapore website

Little Day Out website for tips when you visit the reserve

Forest bathing benefits