Ca Mau – South pole of Viet Nam

Ca Mau is the province located in the south pole of Vietnam, with the coast of 307km and three sides bounded by the sea. It is bounded by Kien Giang in the North, Bac Lieu in the Northeast, East Sea in the East and the South-East, and the gulf of Thailand in the West and the Southwest. When arriving at Ca Mau, it’s indispensable for visiting Ca Mau Cape – an unique place on the land of Vietnam, where tourists can enjoy sunrise in the East and sunset in the West of East Sea.

Ca Mau cape belongs to the region of Mui hamlet, Dat Mui commune, Ngoc Hien, and is more than 100 km from Ca Mau. In Ca Mau Cape, the sea, and evening clouds which loom on the vast sea-sky.

From Ca Mau cape, you can look at Hon Khoai island cluster on the sea, which is about 20km from the land. This is a beautiful island cluster including Hon Tuong, Hon Sao, Hon Kho, Hon Lon, Hon Đoi Moi. Hon Khoai is the biggest and highest island, with the area of 4km², 318m in height, and the lighthouse which is very important in East Sea region, gulf of Thailand.

(Collection)

Khai Long sea tourist area

This sea area is located in the South-east of Ca Mau cape, here tourists will be attracted by wild and unusual beauty with the pure and blue coast of which four sides are covered by ecosystem of mangrove forest.

Khai Long is with the area of 150 hectares and the special location given by the Creator. Standing on the coast, when the sunrise is just dawning, tourists can see the sun as round as a large basket brim and dazzingly bright red rises in the east, and in the decline of day, we can look at the sun with blazing yellow slowly sets the sea surface in the west. Khai Long has an immense sand beach with 3km in length, and yearly the sand progressively encroach towards the sea as if it wish to be connected with Hon Khoai island.

Departing from Ca Mau city, it only takes about over one hour to Khai Long by motor-boat. A market on the river will be the first interesting thing for you. Here, you can prepare everything for your trip from bottles of spring water, soft drink... to fresh or dried food items. In this market, there are all commodities similar to other big markets’. In addition, with varieties of tropical fruits, your trip will become more interesting. On the way, you can see the arms of mangroves along the two riversides directed to you as if they wanted to keep and invite you for a visit. In the distance, it’s appearing and disappearing alternately with shrimp fields, flat top roofs, which is the signal of rich land given by the nature. Coming to the mangrove forests closer, we will see jolly-boats used to shrimp and fish or harvest aquatic products from weirs on the river...

You can stop at any house along the river to buy specialities to enjoy. The inhabitants shall satisfy your wish. With a plate of boiled crabs, or pot of plotosus sour soup, several small spits of grilled shrimp, you can enjoy cups of bubble and limpid rice alcohol and hear the sound of whistled winds under the tree canopies of the primeval forest.

While you are still acry because of acrid alcohol yeast, stepping on an even and extensive sand-bank will bring a pleasant feeling to you. Calm waves crash onto the riversides as though soft hands cuddle the faithful strip of sand. How poetic and attractive! But it will be more exciting when you choose your trip on moonlit nights, and at ebb-tide time the coast will become longer. Clusters of clouds under moonlight will bring you the sense of seeing the time when the legendary dragon was born formerly. By camp-firelight, when looking towards the sea, you will see the lighthouse on Hon Khoai island with light spots created regularly as if they looks for and invites your stop, and you can enjoy the poetic beauty of pebble beaches on this miracle island, moreover, you will have oppotunities for climbing mountains, crossing forests, and enjoying directly a primeval forest floor which is extremely valuable and rare in our country with more than 1,000 categories of plant and hundreds of primitive birds and animals.

(Collection)

Thi Tuong Reservoir – A picture in the middle of the delta:

Thi Tuong reservoir is an original and natural attraction that is located in the middle of two districts, Tran Van Thoi and Phu Tan, Ca Mau province, and should be protected and developed. Here, ecologic environment has wild beauty and cultural features associated with many historical and legendary feats of arms, which attracts a large number of tourists yearly.

This reservoir locates in the middle of the immense delta, and the four sides of its are covered by green nipas. It is formed by 3 main reservoirs, Đam Trong (In-reservoir), Đam Giua (Mid-reservoir) and Đam Ngoai (Out-reservoir), in which Mid-reservoir is the biggest one. It looks like a bulgy ball. The reservoir is about 2km in width and more than 10km in length, and the water surface area of its is approximately 700 hectares. On the reservoir, there are many rows of big or small houses on stilts built scattered, and they are spaced about 100m, and this distance is the bound between households operating in fishery exploitation here. Each group of houses looks like as a “small village” on the vast water surface, and there are enough fish traps, casting-nets, fish-pots ... there.

In the morning, the reservoir is quite with limpid water, a fanciful scenery due to clusters of pink clouds, and the sun with blazing red rises progressively from the water surface and creates glittering light spots. The reservoir looks like as the picture of the charming sea region, and it becomes lively due to the noise of birds calling their flocks to welcome the sunrise made this picture become lively.

At the sunrise and the fog melted, the water surface on the reservoir is sparkling and prints in bold the shadow of houses on stilts. The wind begins to blow and create cool and fresh air along with the peaceful and quiet life of fishermans. The original on manners and customs associated with the cultural features of sea inhabitants has formed the special and rare beauty of Thi Tuong Reservoir. Here, there are also many beautiful sceneries associated with the historical vestiges and the base areas of our army and people in the two anti-aggressor resistances, e.g. Xeo Duoc base area, Liberation cultural and artistic troupe... When arriving in here, the tourists can enjoy the beauty of very quiet villages.

Unlike other tourist places, there are no restaurants, amusement parks,… in Thi Tuong reservoir. Instead of the said services, fishermans’ houses on stilts right on the reservoir surface are main rest stops for the tourists. They can understand more about the life of local inhabitants. Besides, a trip by small boats with worming way into the groves of nipa also attracts the tourists who like to discover the nature. With its particular advantages, Thi Tuong reservoir is considered as one of exploitive places for photographers, film directors, and researchers, especially ecologic tours, at present it is still characterized by wild beauty and listed as one of tourist attractions in the Mekong Delta.

(dulichtietkiem.com)

BIRD GARDEN IN THE CITY

Forest park 19/5:

Bird garden is located in Cultural Park and also named as Forest Park 19/5 (Lam Vien 19/5 in Vietnamese), belonging to Ca Mau city, Ca Mau province, about 2km from the city center toward the west. This is the bird garden in the city, a gathering place of varieties of birds. This cultural park has the area of 18.2 hectares, besides amusement parks such as statue, flower garden, thistle, group of houses on stilts, fishpond of Uncle Ho, and Forest Park 19/5, varieties of particular animals of the mangrove forest such as crocodile, monkey, varan, python, snake, trionychid turtle ... are also raised here. Specially, the bird garden is the place where attracts the most tourists. At the sunset, thousands of birds and storks have flown back the forest with the area of 2 hectares in this park for many years. Some other bird species such as teal, mallard... also choose this forest as their residence and generation. The forest for varieties of birds is expanded up 6 hectares and closed by fence as an isolated ecologic area, including water pond, forest with many leaf canopies, and luxuriant trees surrounding the pond, and it is also the place where varieties of birds gather, generate and develop more and more.

(Anh Phuong)

Ca Mau bird garden:

Ca Mau bird garden is in Dam Doi district, and about 45km from Ca Mau city to the southeast. This is the residence of bird species, especially storks. Here, varieties of birds often build their nests on high trees and spend the whole morning for seeking food. And this is an opportunity for tourists to film or take photos.

(luhingheu.wordpress.com)

Ngoc Hien bird yard:

Ngoc Hien bird yard is in Ngoc Hien district, Ca Mau province. It is the ecologic tourist place which is used to research bird species in natural and ecologic environment and protected well in Ca Mau. It has the natural area of 130 hectares and is one of the biggest natural bird yards in the country. In Ngoc Hien bird yard, there is Bay Hap river jointly flowing with a interlaced channel system and an aburdant and green vegetational cover all year round, which is a clean and natural environment, the residence and the gathering place of varieties of birds yearly, without damages caused by human.

(tourbalo.com)

National Park in Ca Mau Cape:

This is the mangrove forest ecosystem that is valuable on biologic diversity, natural landscapes, environment, culture and history; being a part of global biosphere maintenance area in Ca Mau Cape and acknowledged by UNESCO in May 2009.

(tourbalo.com)

Silver Rocky Island:

Silver rocky island locates by the west coast, belonging to Kinh Hon hamlet, Khanh Binh Tay, Tran Van Thoi district, Ca Mau province, about 50km by waterway and 42km by land from Ca Mau city. This is a group of beautiful and interesting particularly islands characterized by wild features.

It has the area of 6.43 hectares approximately and is a group of beautiful islands with three small and big islands lying together: including Ong Ngo Island, Da Le Island and Da Bac Island (Silver Rocky Island). In this group of three islands, the highest island is 50m above sea level. In filed materials, the age of Silver Rocky Island is about 180 million years (in Jurassic period mid- Mesozoic).

Coming to Silver Rocky Island, besides the deeply wild scene and the fantastic shape of the group of three islands, tourists can see numberless granitic rocks heaped up together and kneaded into unique forms by the hands of the Creator such as fairy yard, fairy well, fairy foots, fairy hands ... Specially, this is the gathering place of spirit values for sea inhabitants such as tomb of South Sea genie – where the skeleton of huge whale displayed with the mysterious story of Whale that formerly rescued victims from death on the sea. Besides, in Silver Rocky Island there is also the whole abundant and diversified forest ecosystem with valuable primeval forest segments and vegetational covers. This is the marvellous and sketchy character which the nature only gave to Ca Mau province.

Moreover, this place is characterized by historical vestiges. In years of the anti-American resistance war, the enemy chose Silver Rocky Island to station 105mm gun platoon for controlling revolutionary base areas in Khanh Binh Tay and the coastal route in the west of Ca Mau. This is the place where CM12 investigation occurred – which defeated the trespass led by Le Quoc Tuy and Mai Van Hanh with the sabotage for overthrowing Socialist regime.

Besides the attraction of natural landscapes, Silver Rocky Island also attracts the tourists thanks to plentiful seafood source. Here, tourists can fish, squid, and shrimp or dive under the sea together with fishermans for catching oysters clinging to aquatic small caves … and then enjoy the rare flavour of specialities in the west sea region.

Tourists can come here by road or waterway. By waterway, departing from Ca Mau city, tourists will boat down along Tac Thu canal, then pass Hoi Dong Thanh canal towards the west, and continue to travel for 40km as well to Silver Rocky Island. By land, departing from Ca Mau city, tourists will travel toward Tac Thu – U Minh Ha national park; then keeping on Minh Ha farm and passing Coi Nam, tourists will arrive in Da Bac B hamlet, Khanh Binh Tay commune; from this place, you will go to Silver Rocky Island by the original bridge which links the land with Silver Rocky Island.

(Source: Nation and People – Viet Nam)

U Minh forest:

U Minh forest locates closely Gulf of Thailand, belonging to two provinces, Kien Giang and Ca Mau, with the form of very particular forest, and ranked as a unique and valuable forest in the world.

U Minh forest includes two parts, with the upper part is Upper U Minh and the lower part is Lower U Minh. Between Upper U Minh and Lower U Minh is Trem river and Cai Tau river. The natural scenes are very impressive and wild.

U Minh forest is considered as the place where has the highest biomass value in comparison with forest forms, with about 250 varieties of plants, mainly cajuputs grown everywhere, more than 180 bird species, and over 20 reptile species... The scenes of U Minh forest are also the location and the consequence of variation process from geologic and tectonic activities.

(Anh Phuong)