Pre-K Field Trip: Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

Emily's class recently went on a field trip to nearby Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. I joined Elizabeth's class on the same outing last year and I knew it would be a fun trip with Emily and her classmates.

Mangrove Boardwalk at Sungei Buloh

Sungei Buloh is located close to the SAS campus and while it covers an enormous area, the Pre-K students spent most of their time strolling along a raised boardwalk that allowed them to observe the plants and animals who call the mangrove home. Emily and her friend Kanak had a sheet displaying different animals they were supposed to look for and check off the list as they found them, such as butterflies, dragonflies, birds, monitor lizards, mudskippers and crabs.

Field Trip Buddies - Kanak and Emily

About 5 minutes into our nature walk, Emily and Kanak needed to return to the visitor center for a potty break, which probably served us well because when we returned to the boardwalk area, we were the only ones out there. In the quiet environment, it didn't take long to spot a large monitor lizard nearby. From behind, one could have mistaken it for an alligator. It was huge. The girls were quiet and we were able to watch it slowly creep through the forest for quite awhile. I love watching monitor lizards because they're such large reptiles who thankfully are also harmless.

Monitor Lizard Sighting

After our lizard spotting, we continued along the boardwalk and found a water snake, about 100 crabs in various sizes and colors and the bizarre-looking mudskippers, who are also fun to observe.

Mudskipper - a combination of fish and amphibian

After a couple hours out in the mangrove, the students returned to school in time for lunch and I was happy I was able to enjoy the morning with Emily in such a beautiful, natural environment in Singapore.