Treetop Macritchie Nature Trail

After a long while, we’ve decided to get acquainted with our weight issues and… nature. 

ET and I decided we will be hardworking on a public holiday and get on with a healthier lifestyle. Afterall, we’ve been battling weight loss for years (which woman hasn’t?? )

So to the famous Macritchie Tree top walk it shall be! Poor ET didn’t know what was in store for her. I deliberately kept it short and sweet. nature trail, I called it. 6km-7km and will take about 3-4 hours. I didn’t reveal the upslope and downhills, walking in mud and rain.

So at 8am, we reached Venus drive. Horror of horrors, the Carpark was full. I came to a nature reserve and it looked like a car trail of sorts. Thankfully this trail is near to my office, so we parked at my office, and walked over.

Both ET and I love nature. (But not so much the sweat and heat that goes along with it..ha!) today’s weather was good, cool and not yet sunny. 

We started off at Venus drive, where they had 3 new trails at the Windsor nature park which were so kid friendly. All 3 trails are boardwalk style and relatively short. We saw a few toddlers, none of whom were whiny, though it was a little humid. At the squirrel trail, we did see a beautiful yellow bird and a squirrel. That trail was pretty short and had lots of interesting sights for kids.

3 trails for kids – 350m hanguana and 2.2km squirrel trail recommended for 2-4 year olds, drongo for 4 and above.

Make sure you read this! It’ll come in handy later as you will see.

Meeting point and toilets before we start off

Wild orchids

Check out these wild berries 

Small stream

Big pond 

Can you see that yellow bird?

Spot the squirrel

Big cat fish and smaller fish and tadpoles

The trail soon proceeded to one that was jungle-like – dirt tracks with upslopes and down slopes. Funny how I didn’t capture a single pic of us on the dirt track. Think we were too preoccupied hopping over stones, gravels and mud. 

This was the peirce track.

The track had quite some board walk and tarmac roads still. Thank goodness.

It was still bearable even to half point where we reached the tree top trail, except that we had to climb many steps up and slowly amber up a 100-200m or so 30 degree tarmac road. We persevered. Halfway through, there was a light passing shower. I’m proud to say I have everything in my small bag, including this yellow poncho that made a temporary sauna for us. Wooo…not bad, considering sauna helps us lose more weight?

Beautiful sights awaited us at the tree top walk. We loved it that it was a road to no return, because both of us are weak mentally. Put us in a gym, and we will be out in less than an hour, hitting the streets to shop and eat. Here, we could only hear streams and birds and we couldn’t turn back anytime. Pfft…

Breathe.. you are 25m above all that foliage and wildlife. This 250m suspended bridge was steady, barely swaying. But we have had to stop quite a bit for people who were taking selfies.

The road to return was arduous. There was a nice series of steps downhill, but there were also slippery slopes and horrors of horrors more upslopes. My track shoes didn’t do well, and I almost slipped a few times. Funny how the trek I did two years back was much worse, but the same pair of shoes held up well. I must have grown heavier and clumsier.

During the whole trail, we saw a number of wildlife. This really kept us intrigued and going. Sadly, we didn’t find the singapore durian in the forest, there were plenty at the dairy farm trail I did in previous years.

Green tree snake that perched itself proudly for paparazzis.

Long tail macaques. Be very careful if you are carrying any plastic bags as they will attempt to snatch it thinking there’s food inside. These two put up a show for us as they chased each other for a fruit that I think a hiker gave them. Boy did they snarl and scratch at each other!
While this trip was mainly for our exercise, I part recceed it for suitability for kids. And I’m glad to return with a positive field report that the Windsor trail is very suitable for young kids aged 2-4. Five and above can continue on the pierce track or teretang trails which will both lead to the tree top walk, but they probably will have one or two meltdowns as your body starts to breakdown at 4-6km. Overall, I find it a wonderful experience for kids, because it takes us away from the hustle and bustle of city life, and teaches them endurance (just like it did for us). 

If the kids are goin, Pack light but bring these 10 items:

1. Medicated oil
2. Plasters
3. Disposable poncho
4. Some sweets and biscuits (dry food)
5. 1-2 bottles of water if you don’t take the water from coolers at ranger stations
6. Small towel
7. Wet wipes & tissue
8. Insect repellant
9. Hand phone (for selfies!)
10. Extra clothes which you can keep in car

I prefer to travel light n natural, which means no  sunblock even. You don’t get much sunlight in the reserve. And it’s just a few hours. And no, No caps or hats for me. It makes my head feel like on fire because I perspire a lot. I am a mozzie magnet, but trust me, the repellants will work just fine. I prefer to air my arms and lower calves. 

After the trip, you can reward them the Singaporean way – have a wonderful meal at the nearby Shunfu market. That’s what we did. And the rest is history, because I K.O-ed the whole afternoon. I was thinking that I would likely get a super bad ache, but surprisingly I didn’t! More trails to come!