Sime-ply enjoyable

Fresh air, light breeze, chirping cicadas...that was the atmosphere in the Sime forest at 7.30 am. Although I almost couldn't haul myself out of bed this morning, I didn't regret the decision to join a bird-watching trip there. We learned so much about the different bird and animal species, and spotted more than 15 different species of forest birds from a lookout-tower in the middle of the forest, including the greater racquet-tailed drongo, blue-tailed bee-eater, banded woodpecker, pink-necked pigeon, dollarbird, and Asian fairy bluebird (the few names I could remember *sheepish look*).

The shared interests, and sense of community, were palpable within the group. Each of us would point and motion excitedly whenever a new bird or forest-dweller was spotted, while the others hurried over and pointed binoculars and telescopes in the same direction. Most of them even passed their binoculars around to others who did not own a pair (lucky me :), while they enthusiastically flipped through bird-guide books to identity the creatures.

The weather was pleasantly cool, although it had started to rain when we trekked back to our starting point at MacRitchie Reservoir. Luckily for us, we'd done most of our bird-watching by then. Now I can actually say that I've trekked through a stretch of primary forest in the rain! The leaves of the canopy were so thick that very little rain actually fell through onto our footpath, although we could hear the loud patter of raindrops on the trees above.

Appreciating life outside the concrete jungle, the experience was truly amazing... and simply enjoyable.