The closest I get to cycling during this latest total lockdown is looking at photographs. I came across this set of snaps from a ride to Paya Indah Wetlands.
The Paya Indah Wetlands – Paya Indah means Beautiful Swamp – is a man-made wetlands area that was created on land heavily degraded by tin mining and sand dredging activities. The excavations left by the mining works were converted into lakes which are now home to fish, lotus plants and water lilies, and some other more exotic species. More on those in a minute.
The R@SKLs rode to the wetlands just after the first Movement Control Order was lifted in May 2020. We couldn’t get in at the time because public parks, including Paya Indah, were still not open to the public. Paya Indah opened in June 2020, and we rode there again to see those exotic species.
On our way from Rimbayu.
As is so often the case on R@SKLs rides, the first order of business upon arrival is food and drink.
Here is one of the exotic species I mentioned.
Baby and Lily are the stars of the show at Paya Indah Wetlands. They are a gift from the government of Botswana.
Geetha drove there with her very excited children.
The kids loved the hippos.
And the crocs.
After viewing the fauna we explored the park. We found this lookout tower.
We convinced JS to clamber up the tower.
Then it was time to ride back to Rimbayu.
I fear it will be a while yet before we can do a similar 65km cross-district ride.
Old Roots, New Routes 