Countryside Adventure Tours has closed! |
---|
No upcoming schedule for this tour (request scheduling)
Tonight we're going on a nighttime adventure to look for bats around Hok Tau reservoir and fireflies near the the Sha Lo Tung abandoned village. Other typical nighttime critters include various insects, and with a little luck we run into various other animals including toads and frogs, and maybe even a snake or a porcupine.
The main season for fireflies runs from May until August, with mid/late summer the high season, with a second
shorter season in November. Different species shine their lights in different periods, depending
on their life cycles. Thanks to their lights, these little bugs are really easy to find.
Bats however are harder to spot. A special bat detector will help us find these elusive creatures, as this device helps to listen in to their echolocation calls, and tells us when a bat is nearby. Using a powerful torch we can then see them as they patrol the night skies hunting for flying insects, which are caught in flight.
Near the end of the tour we end up at a great viewpoint overlooking Tai Po and Tolo Harbour, where we can see all the lights of the highrises and the industrial estate. Weather permitting we even get to see Ma On Shan district across Tolo Harbour.
This tour takes in total about 3 1/2 hours including about 2 1/2 hours on trail. The terrain includes service roads, paved footpaths and well maintained dirt paths. Total about 6 km walk, with 200m of elevation changes.
This is a mostly easy going walk of about 7 km, with about 200m in height differences.
Bring mosquito repellant and a bottle of water, torch is provided.
If you're driving: best park your car near Tai Po Market MTR station (easy to get to by minibus from the end point), and then take the MTR two stops to Fanling to meet the rest of the group.