COUNTRY LIFE 03: I SAY WETLAND, YOU SAY SWAMP

[defrog]

Part 3 of a three-part photojournalism series of How dEFROG Spent The Chung Yeung Festival.

After lunch, we headed off to the Hong Kong Wetland Park, which has an interesting history in that it was built in part to give a home for a wayward crocodile that some trucker brought back from the mainland with the intention of eating it, only for the croc to escape into the Shan Pui River and grow large. It caused a media sensation here, not least because crocs are not native to HK.

Anyway, they eventually built the Wetland Park as a sort of nature preserve to create an environment where people could see the natural ecosystem of wetlands. Like so:



“Pui Pui’s Home” is where they keep the croc (who was named Pui Pui in a contest). We didn’t see her, though. She was off-duty, I guess.

We also checked out the museum where you can learn all about what lives and grows in the wetlands – with a special emphasis on frogs, which I approve – and walked around the actual wetland area. We saw a lot of mangrove crabs that day, I can tell you.

Anyway, it was interesting, though one can be forgiven for walking around the wetlands and thinking, “Dude, it’s a swamp.” Still, there’s a peaceful beauty to it, and it’s educational. Also, no mosquitoes. (I'm curious as to how they do that – maybe we just got lucky that day, but HK is very big on mosquito control, what with Dengue Fever and Japanese Encephalitis being two popular afflictions round these parts.)

I imagine certain parts of the Everglades offer a similar experience (only with way more crocs and mosquitoes the size of housecats). No wonder Carl Hiassen is so cranky about Florida property development. Speaking of which, we did see some old truck tires washed up in the mud by the bird-watching tower. This IS Hong Kong, after all.

And so much for the Chung Yeung Festival.

INSTRUCTIONS: By the way, you can click on the mosaics at any time to access the full set of pics.

It ain’t legal huntin’ alligator down in the swamp boy,

This is dF

Comments

[ziyda.livejournal.com]

I'm very struck by #8 in the set of photos ... marsh, people, buildings. Win.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I remember looking at the apartment blocks behind it and thinking, "You usually don't see those in a wetland." Kinda takes away from the ecology message. :/

[isis-lives.livejournal.com]

Great story. The croc that was almost dinner, but instead got a new, private home. Great pics. Guess I'm off to google Chung Yeung Festival.....

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

The funny part of the story is they imported an expert croc hunter from Australia (not Steve Irwin, the other one without the TV show) to catch her, but he ended up going home empty-handed. The good thing is that the mission had always been to take her alive as long as she didn't attack people. She didn't, though we were short a few whooping cranes at the end, if you see what I'm saying.