Day 3 – A Menagerie of Menageries

20,587 steps taken – 13.47 km travelled

Three zoos in one day may sound absolutely crazy, but that’s what we attempted to do today! After waking up stupidly early again this morning, I was able to get a bit of work done and managed to get out and headed to our destination from our buffet breakfast by about 8.30. We were heading to a complex of zoos which consists of River Safari, Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. To get there we took two trains and a bus, which was our first real taste of the train lines, and we were at the gates about an hour later.

We started off at the River Safari. We were informed at the gate that they were performing maintenance on the River Safari Adventure, which is a boat ride through the animal exhibits, allowing you to get close to the animals on show. This is a bit of a blow considering that was probably the thing I had been most keen to view, but we headed through, determined not to let it get us down. We saw so many wonderful creatures here, including manatee, otters, capybara and pandas! While walking through the park, we stumbled across a voice booming from a small stage area with only a few people watching as it was still quite early in the day. There was a keeper here putting on a show with a few of the animals popping in from various areas of the stage. The animals were all so well trained, which was a little unsettling at first, but she explained that the training was to keep them stimulated and also assist with vet checks.

The panda house was one of the last things we did at the River Safari, which ended up probably being my favourite attraction of the park. I spent some time with the red panda at the entrance, battling her stubbornness for photos. She would wander around quite quickly, and stop for but a moment, look me dead in the eye and then move to the next branch, playing a game of ‘tiggy’.

We headed off to Singapore Zoo and walked passed an area that called Monkey Islands (or something similar). There were three different islands in the middle of the path that were home to a variety of different primates. The only problem was that we could not find a single one! We ended up just walking by and making out way into the main zoo area. It was getting really hot and muggy and it was an appropriate time to get some lunch, so we chowed down on two different types of chicken rice.

From the restaurant we could see the zoo tram and jumped on for a tour of the zoo. This tram stopped at four different locations around the zoo, with each location being themed. With the tour concluded we made our way through the different areas, watching a show about forrest conservation and then an elephant exhibition. Drew answered a question correctly and got to feed an elephant as well which was pretty cool. We spent the rest of the day just wandering the zoo which meant there were a lot of photos taken. I loved the white tigers the most and could have spent hours standing there taking photographs. The zoo started to close up so it was time for dinner and then jumping in queue for the Night Safari.

The Zoo and River Safari closed up shop at 6 o’clock, but our tickets to get into Night Safari weren’t until 7.15, so we decided to grab a bite to eat, and watch a couple of fire dancers perform while we waited! 7.15 came and we headed in and straight to a Creatures Of The Night show, which was similar to the one we stumbled across earlier in River Safari, where they had some animals perform with an underlying conservation message. There was a little bit where Bubbles and Bailey showed us all how to separate and recycle. The two otter brothers came bounding out and showed us just how clever they were separating their aluminium, plastic and paper products.

Next up we jumped on one of the trams that regularly take groups through the park. There’s something magical albeit a little off-putting driving around a zoo at night, hearing all of the rustling, chirping, grunting and deep throaty roars of the creatures surrounding you in the shadows. There were many enclosures with carnivores that we drove passed, but a few open range areas where you could reach out and touch a deer they were so close!

We walked through a few of the trails after the tram ride, but at this point it was edging passed 9.30, and we needed to head towards the bus terminal. We’ve only been in this country for 2 full days, and I can’t believe how much we’ve seen already! Tomorrow is Drew’s 30th birthday, and we’re heading across to Sentosa Island to celebrate! It’ll be another full day, but I’m excited to see it all!