By Sunday night, we were ready for some fun so we decided to go to the Night Safari. It opens around 7 at night and stays open until midnight. We got there a little early to watch the fire show that happens near the entrance. About two minutes before the show started, we sprayed the kids with bug spray and a minute later I smelled gasoline so strongly that I was concerned the package had been mislabeled and we had covered our kids in fuel. Then the show started and I understood. I was smelling whatever liquid the performers were using to swallow and blow fireballs.
Here are two videos I took of the performance that terrified Wyatt. The first one is longer (1.5 min) but worth it for the finale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ZRaRd6B0Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FmLv4eLdps
About ten minutes into the fire show, Wyatt decided we had had enough and he was right really so we headed into the actual park. We had heard about the show they put on called "Creatures of the Night" and headed straight for the amphitheater to watch that. You would not believe the mad rush for seats here. We couldn't figure out why the staff had corralled the crowd into four sections but I guess it was for crowd control. When the opened our rope (we were second to go) people literally took off running behind us. We were the first folks in this section and were nearly trampled. This one woman repeatedly rammed her stroller into the backs of Wyatt's legs trying to get him out of the way. A dirty look did nothing to dissuade her. We just let people run around us. We were all seated in the same section within a few rows of each other. Hope they felt like they accomplished something.
One of the park rules is no flash photography. We had come prepared with a fancy flash for the camera, forgetting that this might actually bother the animals. Anyway, we took some pictures without the flash and a few of them actually turned out.
Here is the one picture from the fire show that turned out. If you look closely, you will see a man blowing that big fireball. What surprised was the heat we felt each time this happened. Crazy.
Waiting for the show. No injuries from the stampede.
Inside the mangrove area with the fruit bats. I really had no idea how large they were. Bigger than rats, even Somerville rats. Can you see the guy hanging upside-down here? Wyatt kept calling it a vampire. "Look at that vampire! He is going to kill us!" He said this excitedly, not fearfully.
It was a cool experience being out in the jungle at night, even if we were inside a zoo. Actually probably especially because we were in a zoo. We walked along well marked, paved trails and the rest of the time rode along in tram. It was beautiful though.
Here you can see the leopard. He was behind glass, but most of the animals were just out in nature with only a small barrier (the usual moat feature) separating from us. At night, the moat is less noticeable and it feels like they could just jump on over and eat you right up.
An owl.
One of the cats.
The obligatory ice cream stop. At 10 PM.
We took the tram through the first half of the park after waiting in a queue for close to half an hour, then we got out at the mid-point station to walk around. Most of the pictures are from our walk. Taking pictures on a tram with no flash at night--even when the tram isn't moving--doesn't work out so well because it is always vibrating.
Once we got back on the tram for the second half, there was a lot of excitement. We saw elephants, hippos, giraffes, zebras, rhinos, huge animals! And they were really so close! Even cooler than that though, was the part of the ride when the animals were just roaming free. The tram poked along slowly so as not to hit anything. Tapirs were just cruising along beside us. We had to hold our hands in our laps to make sure we didn't touch them, they were that close! Deer of several varieties, water buffalo, and more were just hanging out walking along-side the tram. This was a very unique experience that made the already great night even better.
It's also kind of funny to think about the fact that the kids are their own exhibit. People at the Bird Park were fascinated by them and even more so last night at the Safari. I suppose it's because these places have more tourists from places where white-headed children aren't quite as common. Most of the time in Singapore, we are not that unusual I swear, but at the zoo we somehow get noticed. Wyatt is especially popular with the ladies and he eats it up, has gotten really good at talking to people because of this attention. Funny.
In hindsight, we would have skipped the fire show, watching it as we were waiting in line for the park. We also would have skipped the creature show. It was cute, but when it's 8 at night, time is pretty valuable. If you are heading to Singapore and visiting the Night Safari, skip those things and head straight into the park. In fact, skip the queue for the tram and walk the first half of the park. There is a lot to see here that you won't see on the tram and the queue will be quite long anyway. Walk the first half, including the Leopard Trail where you can see leopards (obviously), lions, tigers, owls, and all kinds of stuff. You can also go into an exhibit with free-flying fruit bats. I admit, I had no interest in going in but the girls were so excited I couldn't tell them I was scared. It was actually one of my favorite parts. There is another exhibit where you can walk among flying squirrels but sadly that was under renovation. Bummer, that would have been really cool to see. After you walk the Leopard Trail, there is a station where you can board the tram for the second-half tour. There is no line and there are always plenty of people getting off the tram at this point to walk the Leopard Trail.
It was after 11 when we got home but there was no whining at all. Only a few tears when Zoe and Wyatt collided when they were running down a trail in the pitch black and skinned their knees. And they slept in this morning! We are having a leisurely morning before we grab lunch by the pool and hopefully have naps.
Thanks for reading!
Wow. Sounds fantastic!
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