How to make the most out of visiting the Singapore Zoo: Traveling to Singapore with kids (3)
Verdict: Absolutely worth the visit! See our tips on the sequence of your visit so as to maximize your visit and combine the River Safari with the Zoo
Living in Hong Kong where there is no zoo and traveling to Singapore with kids, visiting the Singapore Zoo for us is a no-brainer. Occupying 28-hectares of land on the northern side of Singapore, the zoo is around a 20 minutes drive from Orchard Road (the downtown of Singapore). A cab ride cost us around SG$15 from Orchard Road. We set out for the zoo at around 10:30 am and ended up spending six hours there! And it wasn't like we went to the River Safari and the Night Safari, (which we really really fancied going), just the zoo! See what we did and how we spent so much time just for the zoo and what NOT to do if you want to do the Zoo and the River Safari in one day.
The zoo featured a "zoo-rassic" display when we visited. Basically, it was a short trail featuring some "life-sized" dinosaurs. At the end, there was a T-rex head with its fearsome teeth sticking out from the bush. Through displaying extinct animals, the theme of this display was to call attention to many of the animals in the zoo that are now at the brink of extinction (e.g. tigers, elephants, rhinos, etc.).
Our plan was to take the path to the right, go all the way up north to the end of the zoo where the children's play area is located, and then go back down to exit the zoo. On the way, we saw a big polar bear in its ice cave. We passed by the African area where there are a few big rhinos, zebras, giraffes, leopard, lions, among others. I was quite impressed with how close we manage to get to the animals. There's no glass or cage separating visitors and most animals. After passing these, we arrived at the large kid's world where there's a wet area, playground, petting zone and carousel.
Here is my lesson to you if you are planning to combine the Zoo and River Safari visit in one day: a) visit the River Safari, then the Zoo, and leave the kid's area last if possible, b) don't tell your kids about the kid's play area before you got there. The reason for this is simple: the kid's play area and wet area is too AWESOME! Your kid will not want to focus on the animals anymore once they know there's a wet play area AND will not easily be convinced to leave once they start playing in it.
Anyway, our four-year-old was head-over-heels on the wet play area. It's understandable - it's a sophisticated structure complete with many water slides and water cannon. We ended up spending 2.5 hours there. We didn't bother to go to the other things like petting zone because we already had such a hard time convincing to leave (completely not moved by the prospect of seeing white tigers). In the end, we dragged him through to the rest of the zoo, made our way back down to the exit and passed by many awesome animals like the crocodiles (see the photo below. I love how the crocodile and the tortoise totally cozy up to each other and the crocodile rested its leg on the tortoise shell), orangutans (there's a free-ranging area where the orangutans roam free above your head), the white tigers, elephants, penguins, kangaroos, and some others. All in all, we felt the animals in the zoo seem really well-maintained, in very healthy size and overall look happy.
We left the zoo at 4:30pm and Benji slept on the cab. After our zoo visit, we spoke quickly with an older couple we met at our hotel and they said they spent 3 hours at the River Safari, did the Amazon River Quest and it was great fun. So if I were to plan this visit, I would totally do the River Safari first and then the Zoo. If you are thinking about the Night Safari, from what I've gathered from other people who have been there, it is best to do it on a separate day on a high energy level because you need to to be alert to spot the nocturnal animals. Honestly, I just do not know if it's suitable for children below six at all as it may get a bit late for them.
Have you done the River Safari/Night Safari + Singapore Zoo in a day? We'd love to hear your experiences on the Zoo!
