Singapore - Day 9 (Nighttime): Singapore Night Safari at the Zoo

Wednesday Night, June 13th

On the plane over here, Jenna spoke with a steward who said that the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo was one of the must-do things on the island.  Well he was certainly right and Jenna and I were able to see the safari tonight!  The Night Safari is essentially another park of the zoo but it is only open from 7:30pm-Midnight.  There are a couple of shows you can see, 4 park trails you can walk, and a tram tour that takes you up close and personal to the animals.  (Well not that close....but closer than you will ever be in your life.)  The Night Safari is the only one of it's kind so Jenna and I were so glad we go the opportunity to explore this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The park itself feels like a jungle.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous...not too hot out and a slight breeze here and there....what more could you ask for!!  Each trail that you walk in set back in the trees.  We saw almost every animal that was on the map and most of them were so close you could touch them if you really tried.  I have never been so close to zoo animals ever in my life.  Being at the park at night was slightly scary....when you are walking through trails where the tree tops cover you and you hear rustling....you start to walk a little faster!!

Since it is a night safari, flash photography wasn't allowed so some of the pictures are not good quality.  We started just taking pictures of the signs of each of the animals we saw.

We got to the park around 8:30 - 8:45 and immediately got a map to decide what we wanted to do and when.  We began our tour of the park by walking down the Fishing Cat trail and the Leopard trail.  Both of these trails had very interesting animals to see:

• Fishing Cat
• Asian Otter...which were hilarious by the way...I have a video of them begging for food and making this crazy high pitched squealing sound!
• Binturong
• Flying Fox
• Pelicans
• Eagle Owl
• Leopard
• Lion (far away view though)
• Spotted Mousedeer
• Flying Squirrels

The entrance to the flying squirrel cage kinda seemed Jurassic Park-ish...

Glad to know the prison system is giving back to the community....

After walking the shorter trails, we headed to the other side of the park to see the Creatures of the Night Show.  It was really entertaining.  We were fortunate enough to get third row seats so we could really see the animals.  The presenters were hilarious and really engaged the crowd.  In this show we got to see:

• Wolf
• Hyenas
• Raccoons (who knocked over a trash can and ate out of it)
• Otters (who sorted recycling into three groups)
• Red Cobra Snake
• And I'm sure many more that I can't remember

Waiting for the show to start!

Our show host. He was really funny!

Raccoon.

Beautiful wolf that howled most of the time! :)

Cute little bit with a volunteer kid.

One of the hyenas they have on site.

When the show ended, we hopped on the tram and toured the larger parts of the park.  It was so neat to be out with the wildlife.  Some animals were literally waling around and were right next to the tram when you drove by.  The other, more dangerous animals, were obviously further away and protected.  Still, in riding in the tram it was the closest I have ever been to animals of that kind.  Animals we saw on this leg of the tour were:

• Goats and rams
• Flamingos
• Native Asian Deer
• Striped Hyena
• Lions (who were chasing each other....so cute)
• Giraffes
• Zebras
• Sloth Bears
• Bat-Eared Fox
• Spotted Hyena 
• Buffalo
• Hippos
• Tapers (which were literally arms length away)
• Asian Elephants!!!!! (We got to see two females and a little one that was sooooooo cute!!!!! And a male with beautiful tusks.)
• Indian Wolves
• Rhinos
• And more deer

Excited for the tram tour!!

Male Asian elephant.

The females and the little baby elephant.

The tiger.

The tram ride was really neat and lasted a good deal of time.  The tram tour guide was great and told us some interesting facts about each animal we saw.  This tram tour really made it seem like you were watching the animals in their natural habitat.  (Which is true in some regards....the Singapore Zoo in general has tried to make each of their parks as natural as possible for all the animals....and it shows!)  Jenna and I kept joking through the tram ride that we were seeing the Planet Earth TV series come to life! :)

We hopped off the tram at about 11:30pm and started on the last walking trail which led through the middle of the park.  It was a steep climb, but very worth it.  We got to see more smaller cave animals, and the tiger a little closer.  But the most amazing thing we got to see up close was the Spotted Hyena.  I have never seen that animal that close before.  While you think hyenas resemble dogs, they are actually more closely related to the cat family.  This hyena in particular was huge! I always imagined them being scraggly little things that were as big as my dog.  The spotted hyena is larger than that....probably the size of a smaller leopard but a more squatty body.  Did you know that hyenas walk finn because their hind legs are shorter than the front legs?  When Jenna and I got to the observatory deck, the hyena was right there, almost giving us a stare down.  I have never thought of this animal as cute, but this little guy was!  He had big paws and  pretty spotted coat.  The pictures just don't do the site justice.

Crazy scorpion in the cave animals area.

Unbelievably close.

He's actually really cute in person!!!

We completed the entire map! :)

My experiences at the zoo tonight are really something that I will never forget, and frankly, have a hard time putting into words.  I am so glad that Jenna and I were able to go.  It was a great way to being wrapping up the end of our trip.

Tomorrow Jenna and I are going to venture into the city on our own via the MRT.  (Elliott might join us in our adventures tomorrow.)  We want to see a few last minutes things....mostly architecture and such in the city.

Can't believe it is about to be over! It has been one of the most fun experiences of my life!!!