Going wild in Singapore

When working for a newspaper, it’s pretty difficult to fit in a holiday in the last month of the year. So when I was informed about going on a trip to Singapore in the second week of December, you can imagine how surprised I was. For me, Christmas had come early!

My schedule was simple: On a four-day trip, I had two days to spend on my own and two days to spend at the Singapore Zoo and the Jurong Aviary Park. As soon as I landed, I stepped out for some exploration. Despite travel in Singapore being easy, I got lost when I took the metro and ended up walking around 17 kilometres!

The penguin enclosure

Day two had an early start. Our drive to the zoo was supposed to last an hour, but took us just half an hour. After a brief round of introductions, we were scheduled to have breakfast with the orangutans. It isn’t possible to tour the entire zoo in a day, since it covers several acres. But a buggy can help you cover good ground.

The zoo has interesting exhibits like the frozen tundra region where you can meet the only polar bear born in a tropical country, 26-year-old Inuka. Inuka spends most of his time under the sun, as opposed to his freezing cold enclosure. The Fragile Forest biodome is where you can learn about the different stratas of the rainforest whereas the Rivers of the World is a fun walk to know more about rivers. For those of you who like to buy souvenirs, the zoo has plenty of merchandise.

Lories in the Lory Loft

Day two saw us visiting the Jurong Aviary Park, the tour takes you to some interesting areas like the Window of Paradise, and my favourite the Lory Loft. Here, you carry small bowls of a sugary syrup and walk through the aviary as the tiny Lories descend and feed from the bowls. After we were done with the bird park, we had one last stop, the Singapore Zoo, where we were supposed to get ready for our Creatures of the Night Show, but rain played spoil-sport and we had to head to the Night Safari directly. Our tour guide took us in a buggy and the chill in the air was more than welcome after a hot day. You can also pay for a tram safari, where a recorded voice will explain all the enclosures you come across. In the night safari, there are sections where you come across free-ranging deers and other animals that are there in huge open enclosures. You will also get to meet the elephants where the latest entrant is baby Neha, an adorable elephant who sticks by her mother no matter what.

Inuka, the only polar bear born in a tropical country (Photo: Wildlife Reserves Singapore)

Singapore is a beautiful place where people don’t break rules and are very friendly. The only piece of advice I would like to give you is, to never visit Little India on a weekend, unless walking into swarming groups of people is your idea of relaxing!