Ok, by now you must be wondering if the humidity in S'pore is getting to this guy. There is a point to this. Well, sort of, thank goodness that there are no refrigerators in either the S'pore Zoo or the Night Safari to put animals in 8-)
Back to the Night Safari. Its operating hours are from 7:30pm to midnight. Here's what the brochure has to say about it. "Night Safari is the first and only in the world. It covers an area of 40 hectares and is divided into the East and West loops. Over 1000 animals of about 100 species are displayed." Ok, enough free advertising. I have to admit the idea of Night Safari is very refreshing. Because of the hot and humid weather in S'pore, it's easier for the visitor to walk around the safari at night. Also some of the animals usually like to hide in the shades during the day and they tend to come out at night. And for those couples out there, if you find the animals too boring, there are many secluded areas in the zoo to fire up your own animalism 8-)
The Night Safari is situated in a fairly remote area of S'pore. Unless you have a car, it's not a convenient place to get to. Even some of the taxi driver refuses to go there. The price of entry is fairly steep. The normal price is for entry is S$15. They do have a discounted price of S$12 if you have special items like a POSBank COL card. For student the entry is only S$10. For all the prices mentioned above, you have to tag on another S$3 for the tram ride and all are exclusive of GST. The park is divided into 8 zones, Himalayan Foothills, Nepalese River Valley, Indian Subcontinent, Equatorial Africa, Indo Malayan Region, Asian Riverine Forest, South American Pampas and Burmese Hillside. To be honest, other than the animals, I really cannot tell the difference in the settings.
If you have read the review on the Straits Times, you will know that The walk and tram are complementary of each other. Both the tram and the walk cover about 75% of the viewing area. As an analogy, tram is equivalent to a package tour where the walk is to a free and easy trip. But you will only see some of the animals with either tram or trails. With tram ride, you will get a guide who treats you like school kids. No terms such as Loxodonta africana or Elephas maximus are allowed. A simple plain "cute" (in S'pore, it stands for ugly but adorable) elephant will suffice. They will also remind you to wave good bye to the animals when you leave the region. One suggestion is try to sit in the front of the tram because the guide has the tendency to describe the animals or objects near the front since that's where the guide is located. If you sit in the back, you tend to wonder what the guide is talking about until a few seconds later. The entire tram ride takes about 50 minutes and stop once at the East Lodge.
While in the leopard and lion regions, an eerie feeling came over me. If you are familiar with Japanese food, the latest fad, at least in S'pore, is those sushi trains, sushi on the conveyor belt or sushi boats. The idea is you can pick any dish you like and pay by the plates. Well, the tram ride is something similar to that except it's for the animals. From the leopard point of view, I guess they can consider the tourists to be different type of dishes....
If you have read the Straits Times review, you will also note that it mentioned that there are many inconsiderate people with camera and torch (or flash light for you and me). What people trying to catch with flash photograph at night is beyond me. I can see the pictures now. Nice tree branches with dark bleak background. Nice pretty shining railing with dark black spots. In my opinion, the only purpose the flash serves is to annoy the people and the animals.
If you prefer up front and close with the animals, then you will enjoy the walk trails. You will also get a more detail description of each animals with the plaques on the trails. Walk is strongly encouraged but it's not for everyone. It will take about 2 hours to finish the entire trail but you will see animals not available to the tram riders. You will see the Fishing Cat trying to catch the fish. You will see little deerpigs and porcupines running around. You will also see leopard pacing with only a glass between you. At the end, you will get to try the Bridge of suspense. The last part of the walk takes you through the rain forest atmosphere. As with the tram, you will always see these inconsiderate people taking flash photography and trying to feed the animals so they will get closer.
In summary, I do recommend a visit to the Night Safari. The price is a bit steep, but I guess it can be justified with the amount of electricity needed to run the place. Do remember to bring your discount items. And bring a camera with high speed film instead of low speed film with flash. And this last one is against my better judgement, do bring a flash light because some animals can be hidden and it's hard to look for them. But avoid shining the light on them for too long. The size of Night Safari is adequate considering its location. My only major complaint is the combination of its operating hours and the transportation. It's not a easy place to get to and from. Another reason to get a car in S'pore 8-(
26/05/94
