Singapore Part Two

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So, next stop was the Night Safari (technically a different place top Singapore Zoo but right next door). This was a brilliant trip and something that I've never seen advertised anywhere else in the world we've been - not even in Florida! The concept is simple - it is a zoo for nocturnal animals - all those creatures that you would never get to see normally when walking around a zoo because they prefer to hang out when you've gone home. We arrived at the night safari to see a group of people dancing with and eating fire. Against the dark night sky it was incredibly eye-catching. Then we were all loaded onto a train that took us through the park and the guide pointed out all the incredible animals in the fields around us - hyenas (spotted and striped), tigers, lions, numerous kinds of deer, rhinos (my favourite), hippos, bearded pigs and elephants.

As we passed the female elephant enclosure, the guide told us to look out for a huge bull elephant on the right - well, we couldn't believe the size of him. He was massive. I mean enourmous. The land he was on was slighly raised anyway and he seemed the size of a double-decker bus. Magnificent! So the big animals were of course very impressive, but equally amazing were all the small animals we saw. About half-way round the train stops and visitors can disembark to follow a trail past some enclosures for smaller animals. This included badgers, otters, glyders, flying foxes and one of the highlights for Chris and I - the bats. The bat enclosure is like a big aviary and you walk through it. Most of the bats were still asleep and suspended from the roof of the enclosure. but a couple were on low branches and eating. We were standing watching these when two flying bats swooped past withing inches of our faces. It was a bit of a shock but also one of the coolest things I've ever experienced at a zoo. We both wanted to see more fly but alas, they were too sleepy.

The evening culminated in a fantastic demonstration in a little outdoor amphitheatre. The women doing the presenting was fantastic - she oozed enthusiasm. The show included a barn owl swooping overhead, a hyena appearing on a rock, racoons, a python and otters, amongst lots of other animals. We were told a lot about them, and also a lot about the need to protect them as many species are under threat. The big message was of course about conservation and it couldn't have been delivered better. Definitely a "must see" if you ever go to Singapore.

As you can imagine, after such an action packed day we needed a good night's sleep. Unfortunately this meant we rose quite late the following morning. We made our way down to the river, wasted a lot of time looking for food, finally had lunch and boarded a little wooden boat for a cruise down the river. This was excellent and we saw a lot of things we would have otherwise missed. The recorded commentary was very cheesy, but also informative and had a big emphasis on how much Singaporeans had achieved in creating their city over the last few decades. Well cruising down that river, looking at the beautiful buildings, the impressive high-rise towers and the extremely well restored historic buildings, you can't help but agree. We definitely want to go back.

We finally left the boat, walked briskly through Fort Canning Park, which was green and lush and a welcome break from the urban landscape, checked out the remains of the fort there and headed back to our hotel. From there it was a crazy dash to the airport to embark on the next leg of our journey... Australia.

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