Singapore Zoological Gardens & Night Safari, Singapore

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Singapore Zoo is one of the best open concept to be found anywhere and the world's first night safari is right next door.

It does make for a long day to do both of these attractions but it's well worth the effort.

Tip: It's more economical to buy yourself a 3 park pass which will get you to the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park.

I have added additional photos on a separate Singapore Travelogue.

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It’s a zoo with a difference. Animals are kept in their natural habitat and the plus point is that you can see them at night. It’s a different experience altogether. At night safari, they have created jungles as per different habitats/eco systems. For example, for animals from India they have created Jungle similar to those in India. Similarly for African, South American animals and so on......

You travel in jungle via train of carriage vehicles attach to each other. This train moves slowly at a speed of 10- 20km, hence you get enough time to see animals. Secondly, these vehicles are battery operated hence do not pollute the enviornment. A good eco friendly approach......

Guide is allocated to every group who gives information about animals and their habitat. Some animals come so close to the vehicle that you can actually touch them

(Warning – Please do not touch the animals or else you will *** their moods. They are not tamed and can retaliate back. Please let them live peacefully)

Watching tigers, lions, leopards, elephants, deers, etc, at night is something different that you don’t get to see in most of the zoos across the world.

There are different types of walking trails that you can follow. We followed the leopard trail and saw leopards and many other nocturnal animals. Whenever you take-up any trail, in actual sense, you are in the cage and animals are outside. You walk through a tunnel of cages. This way they have tried to keep animals in their natural environment.

At the main reception area there are lots of restaurants which offer a variety of cuisines viz Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Italian, Continental, etc. Hence at the end of the tour you can sip a chilled beer and have dinner before you head back to your hotel .There are also souvenir shops offering handicraft items mostly made up of wood. Some of them are really good……..

You can also get your pedicure done by Dr. fishes (Pedicure where they use fishes to clean up your feet. You have to submerge your feet in the tank and tiny black fishes do rest of the job). Its ticking when they get on to work……

Other than this there is a 20 mins show called “Creatures of Night” where many nocturnal animals put up their acts along with their trainers. It is followed by tribal dance. This show is held in the main area where most of the restaurants are located. They have 3-4 shows daily. Once at the reception, enquire about the show timings and plan your trails accordingly.

We went to the zoo and had breakfast with an Orangutan. I have to say it was different. The breakfast was a buffet in the open. We all ate (it was cold by the time we ate it) and then they brought the Orangutan (meaning Orang=wild, Utan=man - they say it O'rang OOTan, two words) to the area and he sat at a large tree stump and ate fruit and looked around at everyone. He was very gentle and really paid no attention to whomever was there, he just ate and looked around. We then went to the rest of the zoo and show. I had been here several times before, so I sort of lead them around. My grandmother took a picture of the polar bears. I took a movie of them swimming. They looked like men swimming in pajamas.

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The Singapore Zoo was another of the absolute highlights of my trip. The Zoo is seen as the second best in the whole world, after the zoo in San Diego and it for sure held up to my expectations.
My lovely girlfriend had booked us in on a breakfast among the animals, so at about 8.30 we were sitting next to a very nice orangutan and her baby having breakfast together.

Don't know who messed up most with the food, me or the orangutan...?

After that we spent almost six hours just wandering around in the zoo, seeing everything from tigers, lions, kangaroos and elephants to small and very cute monkeys.

One of my favourites were the polar bear, as I never had seen one in my entire life before. It sure is huge, and I sure don't want to meet one out in the free...

A visit here is a must if you have any feelings for animals. At this zoo they move around very freely, and they don't sit in cages as in other animal parks.
If you, like me, like to take photos of them, this is the moment to do so. Just don't use the flash as it will scare the animals.

The zoo has 2530 different animals, 315 different species, so there should be something to look for for everyone.

The zoo is open from 8.30am to 6pm. Entrance fee is S$16,50 (8,50 euro) for adults. Half price for kids (3-12 years).
There are restaurants both inside and outside the zoo, so take your time and enjoy it for the whole day!

You can take the tram around the whole place, but I'm still laughing at the smart asses who do that... The tram goes around so fast that you'll have no idea what you're actually looking at! Much better to walk around yourself and see the animals in the tempo you want. You will probably be quite tired in your legs afterwards, but it sure is worth it!

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its small but beautiful, very recommend! And hope that will be not raining :) we took breakfast there too and only mistake we did took as a tour, never NEVER take a tour, go by yourselves, those 3h with group is just a pain and cant see anything properly, just run run from one place to other.
Breakfast was nice with monkeys :) kids love it! There is also play area for kids with water, so make sure you get extra clothes for them to change after they enjoy all at the park :)

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This is one of the best zoos that I've ever been to. The animals look so happy and healthy, they all have plenty of space (ok apart from the polar bear but they're very big and I'm sure they're working on it).

The Orang Utans swing from the trees overhead as you walk, there are small monkeys in the trees. There's a great indoor area (a bit like Eden in Cornwall) that you can walk through where the animals climb and fly right around you. There were butterflies in there that were bigger than my hand.

The biggest highlight for me was whilst looking for a place to sit down, we stumbled on a little hut and were completely dumbstruck by the sight of three elephants playing in the water in front of us. So close that we could almost touch them.

You can also have breakfast with an Orang Utan, good local buffet food and then you are invited up to have your picture taken with an Orang Utan (or if you're lucky like we were, a mother and her baby).

The most unusual thing about Singapore Zoo though is the Night Safari, yes the zoo is open at night. You can take a leisurely tram ride around the zoo, complete with local tour guide, all of whom I'm convinced are after a job as an actor, quite amusing. But the best way to see the zoo is to walk the trails, believe me this is scary. It's not for the faint hearted, thing is you know that all of the animals are in their habitats safely far enough away. But when you walk around a corner (and believe me it's dark) and you're suddenly almost face to muzzle with a hyena? Scary stuff, and wandering round the zoo at night, in the complete pitch black with very few lights in a tropical part of the world? With all of those snakes, spiders and other animals that are native to the area? Crazy, completely crazy, but I loved every minute!

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I found this attraction overhyped and not quite the "safari" experience promised. You can't get closer to the animals than you would in a normal zoo setting. The lack of light makes it difficult to spot the animals.

Singapore Zoo is one of the best Zoos in the world. Instead of the usual cages, you will see the animals mostly in natural surroundings. Not only kids will have fun. Make sure that you know the timings for the feedings and the shows.

You will definitely need a few hours to see it all.

Like in the Night Safari, Singapore Zoo also has a tram, which will take you around the Zoo.
The tram ride covers 2.2km with three stopovers. You have to pay an additional S$5.00 (Children up to 12 years S$2.50) for the tram.

Opening hours:
8.30am to 6.00pm daily

Entrance fees (admission only):
Adult S$18.00 / Child (3-12 years old) S$9.00

If you plan to visit the Night Safari and/or the Bird Park as well, you may wanna buy a Park Hoppers special (admissions only):
3-in-1: Zoo, Night Safari & BirdPark: Adult S$40.00 / Child (3-12 years old) S$20.00
2-in-1: Any 2 Parks: Adult S$30.00 / Child (3-12 years old) S$15.00

We really enjoyed our trip to the night safari....the whole place it entertaining even the bathrooms!!!
We caught the show out the front with the fire eatting and dancing it was brillant. The little trip around the park is great loved seeing the animals at night rather than during the day when they laze around.
Will be doing it again!!!! A Must see...sorry no pics

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Night Safari, A world's first in Singapore (they keep inventing up things to be able to increase tourist arrivals to rival Thailand as the no.1 tourist destination in South East Asia). It is the first park in the world built particularly to be seen at night. The park is illuminated with lights, which are enough to spot the animals but not to disturb or bother them. Singapore Night Safari is open for 5 hours every night. Singapore Night Safari is covered in two stretches. One stretch includes the walking trail and the other the tram rides. There are four Walking Trails in the Singapore Night Safari which you can follow after the tram ride like the Fishing Cat Trail, which houses fishing cats, barking deer and gharials. The Tiger Trail houses leopards, loris, tarsiers and owls. The third and the best trail is the Mangrove Trail where you can see various types of flying bats. The fourth is the Forest Giants Trail is walk through the rainforests where you can spot fling lemurs, bats and snakes. The forty minute long tram ride, which is a standard before walking on the trails, has a live commentary you will get to see animals like deer, hyena, tigers, lions, capybara, giant ant-eater and covers various species from Asia, Africa and South America. The Tran ends with an Animal Show.

Admission: Adult, S$ 22; Child, S$ 11