Upper Peirce Reservoir

Recently we discovered a great little get-away-from-most-of-it place to take the family, go for a peaceful walk or cycle, or enjoy a picnic. It's called the Upper Peirce Reservoir, and the access is off the Old Upper Thompson Road, or as we like to call it; The Monkey Road. Bordering the MacRitchie reservoir there are LOADS of monkeys in the area and you often see people feeding them from their cars, sometimes even while they are parked in front of the huge brightly coloured billbaords which say DON'T FEED THE MONKEYS. Go figure.

Anyway I digress. I've been wanting to take the kids and hubby for a picnic to the reservoir ever since Mum and I discoverd it more or less by accident while I was taking her monkey spotting during her last visit. Yesterday was fine and sunny and we had no big plans so it was the perfect opportunity. I packed up some bagels stuffed with ham and salad and lots of juice and stuff into our big chilly bin (cool box), we chucked everything in the car and off we went.

Being Sunday I had expectd the place to be heaving with people but actually it was very quiet, and in some places we were the only ones there. Heaven, on a small and densely populated island like Singapore.

The reservoir was created in 1975 when the Kalang River was dammed to create a large catchment basin to supply some of the populations water need. Bordered by rainforest on all sides, the area is a wildlife haven and very peaceful. Apparently it's a great spot for eagle watching although we didn't see any yesterday; in fact I've seen more eagles and other bird life while floating on my back in the swiming pool, but it was probably just the wrong time of day. There were unfortunately a couple of packs of wild dogs hanging around - you see these occasionally in Singapore and it makes me nervous having the kids with me. While we haven't heard of people being attacked by them I've read enough news stories of children being mauled by pet dogs in New Zealand to be nervous of wild ones roaming around. Of course there are also lots of monkeys which are not a problem as long as you don't leave any of your gear unattended: they may not eat your shoes but that doesn't mean they won't carry them away or use them as a toilet!

Looking out across the reservoir itself you can see the Buki Timah Nature Reserve on the far shore and, helpfully singposted with two huge communication masts, Bukit Timah Hill. This is the highest point in all of Singapore at 164 metres. You can see it behind Niels in the photo above, amost over his right shoulder.

The side of the dam is grassed and descends very steeply down quite a distance before levelling out to a perfectly flat open grassed area, which edges the Lower Pierce Reservoir. It's perfect for kicking around a ball or letting the kids run wild. Niels loved running down the slope, screaming "My brakes are on fire!!!!" (see the last photo).

Although we didn't notice it on this trip, there is a 900m boardwalk through the forest from the Lower Pierce Reservoir through mature secondary forest, whcih is part of the central catchment area and covers 2000 hectares of primary and secondary rain forest. And you all thought that Singapore was just a city!

Being Singapore they have thoughtfully provided clean toilets and hand washing facilities, loads of picnic tables, seating, and rain shelters. It's a great place to visit and I recommend it highly, especially if you've got kids who need to let off steam. Even if their brakes do catch fire!