Wednesday, April 29, 2020

A rejuvenating spring hike in Aberdeen Country Park filled with scenic views and critter spottings (Photo-essay)

If I were to go by the weather alone, this is a good time to be in Hong Kong.  To be sure, the temperatures have gone up a bit in recent days but the humidity levels still aren't all that high -- so one is not sweating buckets when out hiking.  With a fourth consecutive day of no new reported Wuhan coronavirus cases (and for the sixth time in ten days now), there also are far worse places -- like, say, the USA or UK -- in the world to be in terms of the global pandemic situation.

Sadly though, the political situation in Hong Kong looks to be getting worse by the day.  And it really says so much that not only did yesterday mark the one year anniversary of an anti-China extradition bill protest that I attended but that, in contrast to what happened on April 28th, 2019, the police saw fit to break up a small, peaceful protest in a luxury shopping mall in Central last night.  

In all honesty, there have been so many days and nights in the past year when my heart threatened to break and I got to feeling for a time that there's no hope left for Hong Kong.  And then things happen to get me hopeful again.  Or I just go out into the peaceful and beauty Hong Kong countryside to temporarily get away from it all; and return feeling far more rejuvenated than I would have thought possible, and convinced that Hong Kong really can be a lovely place to live...

Minutes after beginning yet another hike in Aberdeen 
Country Park, I spotted this colorful emerald dove
 
With the sun beating down strongly, I was glad to be
under foliage for a good part of the hike
 
But of course I also welcomed those sections of the trail
where I was treated to unblocked scenic vistas :)
 
On trails like this, I can't help but stop to admire the views that show 
how close to the country parks the city can be (and vice versa!)
 
 Click on the above image to really appreciate
this panoramic view from Bennet's Hill :)
 
I know it's a bee but how can one be scared of it
when it looks so cartoon-like?! :D
 
A pair of white rumped munia which showed soon after
I took this photo that they can fly really fast!
 
The sight of squirrels often get me thinking of my alma mater,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi There,

Ah, you went on the eastern side. That side, especially in the woods close to the catch water, are home to spiders. I had had quite a few 'face' encounters with their webs while following the Lady Clementi's Ride going down slope in parallel to the catch water.

T

YTSL said...

Hi T --

I've not had notable encounters with spiders in Aberdeen Country Park (unlike, say, over on Lamma or Lantau islands). But the woodeded and catchwater area you mentioned was where I've had memorable snake snake spottings, including the one and only cobra I've seen to date in Hong Kong, and a large snake swimming -- with its head up, making it look like the Loch Ness Monster! -- in the catchwater!!