Singapore being a highly urbanised island, has long lost most of her natural habitats to buildings and roads. Many would have thought there isn't any fun exploring the thin jungles and woods here. However, there is still much to find out and learn.

jungle is occassionally broken by the passing of the monkeys and sometimes, the heavy breathing of a morning jogger through the jungle trails. On a sunny saturday morning, three energetic guys, including me of course, walked down the seasoned trail that leads into the heart of the Nature Reserve.

The walk is rather smooth with the occasional bumps and slippery rocks aged with moss and algae. Before long, we broke track and made our way down a mini ravine (photo above).A thickly vegetated slope stops abruptly at a shallow pool with rocky bottom. The soil here are almost entirely of flourite material, reddish and clay-like. We spotted several large T-Barbs and Rasbora elegans here. Betta pugnaxs, forest half beaks, harlequin rasbora and other common barbs are also in abundance in the water here. You can also see one or two catfishes occassionaly in the dark corners Fish nets are prohibited here, and thus, we didn't have any photos on fish specimens.

Following the small stream, we trek on to be welcome by a fast flowing stream. The water is generally shallow, reaching about 3cm depth at certain spot. The barbs and rasboras darted away in small groups as we move on wadding and splashing.

True aquatic plants are rarely to be found here. Most of the plants are boggy or the various ferns and shrubs that are typical to the jungles here. The water is extremely cool, perhaps attributed by the fast flowing rate and rather thick canopy over hanging.

The deeper parts of the stream are where you can find the bigger fishes, usually the T-barbs and the Rasbora elegan. These usually neglected native species are exceptionally beautiful, agile and at home here. You really need a long and spacious aquarium to observe their swimming patterns and behavior, few can do it.

The stream stretches for about another 80 - 100m before it got too thick and swamping to explore. The aquatic species are more or less the same, but there could be other species such as loaches, shrimps to be found if one search closer.

Meanwhile, enjoy the photo trip to the wild part of Singapore.