Singapore

Singapore — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

Nick Morris

Nick Morris

— 5 min read

A huge disappointment — I won’t be back

June 2015

One word can describe the Singapore Zoo Night Safari — con!

I can’t remember the last time something had been so hyped up, I had been charged so much, and I had felt so let down.

The entry fee in 2015 was $42 — that is Singapore dollar; so in 2015, $30 US; £20 UK. That seemed steep to me, so the expectation bar was high. It would have to be good for that price — sadly, it wasn’t.

Photo by Author — the entrance to Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — the entrance to Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

The queues to get in, and the queues for the tram ride around the park, were huge. I, therefore, decided to take the walking route. The trail was quite disappointing as all I could hear was the commentary from the tram, plus there was pounding music coming from somewhere. There was no peace.

Photo by Author — the walking trail — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — the walking trail — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

The first animal was a small forest deer.

Photo by Author — forest deer — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — forest deer — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

Then a cat.

Photo by Author — a cat — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — a cat — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

And then a crocodile.

Photo by Author — a crocodile — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — a crocodile — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

The paths were well lit, but the place was boring. It had nothing going for it. I would much rather go somewhere like the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Singapore.

There was also a lot of glass between the visitors and the animals. The glass caused terrible flashbacks on the camera focussing system, so it was pretty tricky to get shots of anything.

One nice thing was the wild bats flying around, which did add a little to the otherwise lacking atmosphere.

Photo by Author — night trail — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — night trail — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — sleeping animal — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — sleeping animal — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — sleeping animal — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — sleeping animal — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — an otter — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — an otter — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — wild bats — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — wild bats — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — a wild bird — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — a wild bird — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

The place also had a rat problem.

Photo by Author — a wild rat — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — a wild rat — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

One exhibit really annoyed me on the Singapore Zoo Night Safari as I spent a long time looking for the entrance (all I could see was the Exit as shown below), only to be told you had to enter via the exit.

Photo by Author — exit only, but you can enter this way — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — exit only, but you can enter this way — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

Having walked the entire zoo (see the map in the last photo), I took the trolley bus that accessed parts of the zoo you can’t get to on foot.

Photo by Author — trolley bus — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — trolley bus — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — view from the trolley bus — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — view from the trolley bus — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

On the bus, you do get some better views of the animals.

Photo by Author — tiger — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — tiger — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — flamingoes — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — flamingoes — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — giraffe — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — giraffe — Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

The tram ride lasted around 35-40 minutes, and it was not a good experience.

First, there was no legroom, so it is pretty uncomfortable if you are over 1.7 m. The tour guide on the tram, Alexandra Brown, delivered what I can only describe as a somewhat eccentric commentary which seemed to contain a lot of sarcasm. The commentary was also rather preachy about rainforest conservation, which was rich to hear in Singapore as most of the local rainforest has been destroyed. Also, rather oddly, as the experience was all about conservation, the tram was petrol-driven, which meant it was very noisy and spewed out some pretty ripe fumes as it went around the zoo. Why wasn’t it electric? If it were electric, there would be no noise or fumes disturbing the animals.

Photo by Author — a map of the Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore
Photo by Author — a map of the Singapore Zoo Night Safari, Singapore

As you can tell from the above, I was not impressed with the Singapore Zoo Night Safari. At the price, for what you got, I thought it was a rip-off. The experience wasn’t worth the price, as the place was too crowded and noisy.

My advice? Avoid it!

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