Wild Life Parks

WILD LIFE PARKS

Here are some of Singapore's best family friendly attractions. ...Have fun at Singapore's top wild life Parks.

Singapore Zoo

The Singapore Zoo is a beautiful place where animals move about in natural habitats.

 It's a little far from the city centre.  It took us almost 30 minutes by taxi for which we paid 

S$ 18/_.

A few tips:

• Have enough time at your disposal...there's lots to see. You may spend a full day or follow the half day itinerary as suggested in the zoo website. (We spent a full day).
• The park is open from 8.30 AM to 6 PM.
• Take a hat....it's hot...
• Keep the zoo map with you...its available at the entrance.
• There's also a guided tram tour at an additional cost that takes you round the zoo. 
• Enjoy a walking trail and take the tram when your feet are tired. 
• You can also join in the animal feeding sessions.
• Among the highlights is the jungle breakfast with the Orang Utans. 

We reached the zoo at 10 (since it was a week day it was not as crowded as week ends/holidays) in the morning, ex changed our e tickets at the counter and headed for the Splash Safari show of sea lions at 10.30. It's worth watching.

The elephants at work and play show was OK ...Coming from the south Indian State of Kerala....we didn't find anything new.

We walked around the place and enjoyed watching the animals.

Lunch was  at Ah Meng Restaurant.  The restaurant is named after the Orang Utan, a long time resident of the zoo who died of old age some time back.

After lunch we took the tram from station 3 which is near the restaurant and took a complete   tour of the zoo and alighted again at Tram Station 3.  

We took a second round of tram ride alighting at each station, going round the zones near by.....and hopping on to the next tram heading to the next station.  This way we realised we could cover more in less time.  

There are 11 zones including the Rainforest Kidz World which is a great place for children........kids can enjoy a pony ride.....have a splash at the wet play area ...watch the Animal Friends show ...they'll have multitude of activities  here.

Those who are interested in flaura fauna please make sure you visit the orchid garden at The "Tropical Crops and Orchid Garden".

Watch the Urang Utans climb the trees and swing from the tree tops.

I fell in love with the white tigers....the star attraction of the zoo.......

And the beautiful Pink Flamingoes....

Then there were the Baboons and the Ibex

...The zebras......the giraffes..

..........and much much more..........

My only disappointment was that I could not see the Meerkats.  I had seen them on TV in "Animal Kingdom " and when I came to know that Singapore Zoo had Meerkats I was eagerly waiting to see them.  

We followed the board that said "Meerkats"  and looked all around but could not find them.

Night Safari

It was a Friday evening.... Our first day in Singapore.  After freshening up  our group headed for the Night Safari with our tour guide Mr. Augustus.

The Night Safari is close to the Singapore Zoo.

The Singapore Night Safari claims to be the world's first Nocturnal Zoo.  This open air zoo is one of the most popular attractions of Singapore.

This was part of our tour package and hence we didnt have to queue up......our tour guide took care and we got in soon.   Very soon it started to rain  and visibility became poor.  We were to start our Night Safari tour with the Creatures of the Night Show.  But due to the rain the shows were cancelled.

The only thing we did was the 40 minutes tram ride. Our tickets were inclusive of the tram ride.

 Flash photography is prohibited inside the zoo.  The poor visibility made it next to impossible to get good pictures.... Then I realised that sometimes it's nice to sit back and enjoy......forget the camera.

 I'm posting some pictures that I managed to take....not clear though.

A few tips:

• Come early and explore the walking trails to see more of the animals.....with the 40 mins tram ride you won't be able to see all of it. But don't go too far...the place is huge .
• Keep a map of the place with you....its available at the entrance.
• Have your dinner before going for the Night Safari.
• The restaurants around are expensive.
• Opening hours 7.30 to midnight. 
• The main attractions:

- Thumbuakar Performance (a fire show)
- Creatures of the Night Show
- The 40 Minutes Tram ride around the zoo.

Will I go for the Night Safari on my next visit to Singapore?  I'm not sure.....


The River Safari is adjacent to the Singapore Zoo.

The River Safari we were told was not worth the time.  But I understand that the Amazon River Quest (additional fee applies) is interesting. However we skipped the River Safari.


Jurong Bird Park

A beautiful sanctuary with colourful birds.....a nice place for Bird lovers.

Jurong Bird Park

This trip was part of our tour package with Moonstone.  The Park is slightly far from the city and it took 45 minutes to reach, by the A/C coach arranged by our guide.

We drove through the Ayer Rajah express and our guide explained that the expressway extends from the Marina coastal expressway to Malaysia.  The drive through the expressway was really lovely.

We reached Jurong Bird Park at around 9.45 AM and started off with King's of the Skies show at the  Hawk Arena.

 Vultures feeding on a fake Buffalo carcass...(unfortunately I'm not able to download my video clip).

It was interesting to watch these huge birds fly above the our heads. ....How... they've been trained not to fly off far away!!!...The Way the birds follow the instructions is remarkable.

After the show we visited the Penquin Cove where we found penguins living inside an artificially  maintainted habitat.....a glass enclosure  which had a pool, some ice and rocks around.  Some were swimming and the others were standing on the rocks as if watching the others swim......and the way they walk .....it's super cute.....Watch them being fed.....

Wow!  Peep into the world of snowy owls in the world of darkness..

At the High Fliers Show there were two colourful parrots competing to drop ping pong balls into the tree trunk...It was amazing watching the parrots speak and count numbers in English.

Watch the colourful birds fly through the loops...

The grand finale of the high fliers show at Pools Amphitheatre was superb.......with the colourful birds swapping their wings....

At the end of the show people can take pictures with the birds.

Jurong Bird Park is a wonderful place to spend a wonderful day out. ....you find birds of all colours...all sizes.... All around the park.

View of a section of the park from the tram....

We had only two hours at hand as some of the members of our group had to catch earlier flights......so we had to return before we could  cover the entire park....but i must admit that what ever we saw was really mind boggling....Children will definitely fall in love with this place.

Combo tickets are available for entry into these Parks....4 in 1 hopper pass that covers the zoo, Bird Park, night safari and river safari.  3 in 1 and 2 in 1 passes are also available.  Combo tickets work out cheaper than buying individual tickets.
Watch out for my next post on..
Singapore at Night