Tattoos and Travel...: April 2014

I arrived in Singapore sad to leave Melbourne, eager to explore and excited at the prospect of seeing my parents soon. The hotel wasn’t quite as incredible as the Amari Atrium in Thailand but Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel was certainly fancy.

View from my hotel room

My first day I wanted to explore. I’d already had a browse on tripadvisor and had a general idea of some of the things I wanted to see. I thought Orchard Road, an infamous shopping district would be a good place to start!

Mall on Orchard Road

It was busy and there seemed to be people everywhere. I was surrounded by shops like Gucci and Prada, and it really instilled Singapore’s upmarket image. On my walk I went past a tourist information centre, I went in and gathered a mass of leaflets for various attractions and began to plan the rest of my time.

Later that day I went to the Singapore Botanical Gardens.

Terrapins

Cute Squirrel I spotted

I was surprised to find upon my arrival that the National Orchid Garden, which I’d also wanted to go to, was attached to the Botanical Gardens. I decided it made sense to do them both at the same time and I believe I only had to pay a small fee to go from one to the other.

Whilst the Botanical Gardens and the Orchid Garden were both really beautiful and full of things to look at, it didn’t take me long to make it all the way around, despite quite a leisurely walk.

After mapping the distance to the Singapore National Museum and realising it was only a short journey away, I thought that should be my next stop!

To be honest, despite the building being beautiful, the museum itself I found quite dull. On the way in I was given a headset which had a recorded tour for each room on it. I listened to barely any of it and was bored to tears. For such a big and grand looking building, I really didn’t find much to look at.

I returned back to the hotel and had dinner before heading to Singapore Night Safari. When I arrived I could not believe the amount of people that were queuing, it seemed to go on forever! When I finally made it to the front of the queue, we all piled into a safari truck. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but it turned out to be better than I thought it would be. It was really cool to see all the nocturnal animals when they are most active and the tour guide seemed well informed. Most of the safari was in the truck but at the end of the trail the truck ride finished and we were all able to wander around on our own and watch the animals more closely. As the animals were all nocturnal, no flash photos were allowed and due to being quite dark, I didn’t take any photos at all. I think the most memorable parts of the night safari for me were seeing the hyenas eating and walking through a big flying fox enclosure and seeing them fly around above you. It reminded me a lot of a grander version of the Livingstone Fruit Bat enclosure at Bristol Zoo.

The next day I headed back to the same location but this time next door to Singapore Zoo.

Elephant Sculptures at the Entrance

Pygmy Hippo Underwater

Crested Macaque

Chimpanzees taking shelter from the sudden downpour

Chimpanzee and her baby running for...something...in the rain

Cotton-top Tamarin

Doug Langers

False Garvial

Feeding the Giraffes

Gibbon

Gila Monster

Giraffe

Greater Mouse Deer

Green Tree Python

Jaguars having an afternoon snooze

Juvenile Komodo Dragon

Adult Komodo Dragon

Leopard

Lionesses

Lion

Malaysian Sun Bear

Malaysian Tapirs

Malaysian Tapir

Manatee

Mandrill looking 'grumpy' in the rain

Orangutan

Orangutans

Oriental Whip Snakes

Pelicans

Proboscis Monkey

White Rhino

White Rhinos

White Tiger

Zebras

While at the zoo, I went to the 'Elephants at Work and Play' show. It was a good balance of things elephants would naturally do like moving objects with their trunks and informative as far as some of the tasks elephants are given when working in Asia.

The only part of the show I didn't like was the 'grand finale'...horrible and unnatural...It was just a shame that a good show ended with a ridiculous display of 'tricks'...

After the show there was a chance for the public to buy food to feed the elephants...that was just too good an opportunity to give up!

I’d read on the internet Singapore Zoo was good, and according to some, one of the best zoos in the world but despite this, my expectations weren’t that high if truth be told. Having been to a range of animal collections over the years, whilst expecting it to be on the upper end but that was about it really. Well….what can I say, I was beyond impressed. I would even go as far as to say that Singapore Zoo is the best animal collection I have ever seen. And the Hymandras Baboon enclosure could be the single best enclosure I have seen, it was just humungous and looked naturalistic. I also loved that you could tell that there were several separate troops that had come together around feeding time, which again is a very good simulation of what happens in the wild.

Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia - Entrance to Hymandras Baboon Enclosure

Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia - Entrance to Hymandras Baboon Enclosure

Towards the end of my visit I went to see the ‘Rainforest Fights Back’ show. Being someone with a zoological background I’m always a little sceptical of whether I will enjoy these shows as they usually tend me a combination of basic and boring information (obviously not to the general public) and sometimes animals performing ‘tricks’. Of course, in keeping with the greatness of the rest of the zoo, the show told a story about deforestation and animals being forced to flee from the forest (as acted out by the animals) and how in the end a woman cares enough to try and change the loggers mind...

...Eventually all the animals chase him off...

They filled it with funny moments, both animal and human and it was packed full of important environmental messages. It was really refreshing and it was nice to see so many children getting excited and involved in shouting at the bad man responsible for chopping down the forest! They also included a native tribe and their traditional dance, showing the contrast of their attitude towards the environment around them.

After the show you were even able to join the ‘natives’ on stage and hold a constrictor.

What made me smile more though was whilst queuing to get on to the stage, a naughty little orangutan was playing above us refusing to go backstage with the staff!

On my way out of the zoo I passed the docks where Singapore Zoo's boats go from. I decided to catch the last one around the zoo before making my way back to the hotel. It didn't last long, and it was quite overcast but it was a nice little trip and certainly reminded me that Singapore is an island...

After being wowed by Singapore Zoo, and not being a massive bird fan I wasn’t expecting much from Jurong Bird Park but the next day I decided to give it a go.

Being part of the same umbrella group as Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari gave it some appeal…and if I was honest and really thought about it, I’m sure I’d think of a lot of bird species I am fond of but in the scheme of things bird species don’t tend to feature when thinking of my favourite animals.

The collection was quite varied but there was nothing that really excited me if I'm honest...

African Penguins

Black-Masked Lovebirds

Blue-Fronted Amazon Parrot

Caribbean Flamingos

Boobook Owl

Cattle Egret

Barn Owl

Duck Pond

Great Grey Owl

Emu

Hyacinth Macaws

Hyacinth Macaw

Hyacinth Macaws and Cockatoos

King Penguins

Oriental White-Eye

Malay or Fish-Eye Owl

Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Peacock

Palm Cockatoo

Pelicans

Penguins

Red-Crested Pochard

Saffron Finch

Silver-Beaked Tanager

Snowy Owl

Unknown Duck Species

White-Bellied Caique and a Panama Amazon

….But two impressed me greatly.

One was the ‘African Waterfall Aviary’ which did indeed feature a lovely waterfall in its centre and lots of surrounding greenery. What I loved about this aviary was that it was just like being in the wild somewhere. There were lots of paths leading upwards towards different levels of the waterfall and everywhere you looked was forest.

It all seemed very natural and peaceful and I did spend a substantial amount of time just led down on a bench looking at the birds that settled nearby.

Superb Starling

I did find a couple of ‘bird tables’ as it were where they were clearly fed to bring them out into view but even when I quietly approached some of the birds scattered, which was nice to see. I guess a lot of visitors would find that odd or frustrating but to me, a natural fear of humans is just one more thing that shows they have a very wild lifestyle and goes to show how great the exhibit really is.

Sun Conure and Saffron Finches

Pinon Imperial Pigeon and Black-Headed Munia

Superb Starling

The other exhibit I really liked was ‘Lory Loft’. When you first walked in you realised you were on a platform and looking down into a mass of trees and bridges. On the platform you were able to buy food and feed the rainbow lorikeets.

When the food ran out, you were able to make your way through the aviary and across the various bridges to different platforms. Whilst being called ‘Lori Loft’ there were a number of different species including cockatoos and other parrots.

Later I went to watch the ‘Kings of the Skies’ show. I really enjoyed the show and it was great to not only see such a variety of predatory birds but also see them displaying natural behaviours. The speakers were really clear and informative too.

I then made my way back to the hotel to have one last sleep before making the long journey back home…

Tattoos and Travel...

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Singapore Singapore Singapore!