The paradise of Singapore

I walked in a rainforest yesterday. It was heaven.

I was very badly prepared, in slippers and with only half a litre of water. I hadn't realised, as I looked at the brochure, that the Tree Top Walk in MacRitchie Nature Reserve was 5km from the bus stop.

There was loads to photograph. Plants, trees, flowers, butterflies, birds... I saw two small lizards and one medium-sized one. The medium-sized one was sitting in the middle of the road and I didn't notice it before it escaped to the undergrowth. I crept nearer; there it was, sitting peacefully on a log. It's body was at least 30cm long and the tail another 30. I took out my camera and shot like a maniac.

Birds were impossible to capture. They were impossible to see if they weren't moving, and if I did see them they didn't stay still long enough for the camera to focus.

My favourite were the monkeys. The first lot was sitting on a fallen branch right beside the road. They were literally four metres away from me, and I wouldn't have noticed them if they hadn't made so much noise. There were three grown-up ones and a baby. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen and it made everything - the trouble of finding the place, tricky to get to by public transport - worthwhile.

The second lot was sitting some 10 metres away when I noticed them. There was a female with a baby dangling from its belly fur and a male (I presume) hanging about in a tree. As I was shooting frantically (camera, of course), the female gracefully got up and walked past me - barely a metre away! I was astonished, couldn't move. It was the best thing that happened to me in Singapore.

I was frustrated that I only discovered the existence of this nature reserve so late. I can't believe I spent a whole day on Sentosa, instead of wandering in the rainforest! Now I only had half a day to explore, when I could have spent an entire week there.

Then I met someone who seemed like the nicest person in the world at the time. He was driving one of those golf cars (the trail edged a golf court towards the end), laden with ice-cold drink. "You very thirsty? This is for you." And he handed over a water bottle. For free. No payment, nothing. I drained half a bottle immediately.