If you are staying in one of Singapore's major hotels, you will be picked up from your hotel at 0830h (08:30am) and taken in an air-conditioned vehicle to the Singapore Zoo, for an exciting wildlife adventure. If your hotel is not a pick-up point, then you should arrange to arrive at the assembly point at the Tourist and Transit Hub #01-05 at the Singapore Flyer 15 minutes before the tour starts.
The journey will take about 30 minutes and you can enjoy an onboard commentary, in English, on the way.
Singapore Zoo, one of the most beautiful in the world, lies in the north of the island at Mandai, by the tranquil Seletar Reservoir.
This tour option includes a ticket for the Zoo's tram system, which you can use to travel around the Open Zoo - a totally new concept in animal keeping with beautifully landscaped gardens and very few cages.
Other highlights of the Zoo include:
• The Orangutans: Among the star attractions are the orangutans. The Zoo has bred a large number of these highly endangered primates and houses the largest social colony of orangutans in the world.
• The Fragile Forest: A walk-through a rainforest environment with mighty trees, delicate ferns and stunning cascades. Here you can find free-ranging lesser mousedeer, ring-tailed lemurs, tree kangaroos, sloths and butterflies.
• Australian Outback: Interspersed with semi-arid and marginally fertile ground, this exhibit reflects the rugged beauty of Down Under. Visitors can come up close to Eastern grey kangaroos, agile wallabies and emus. Other highlights here include the inland taipan – the deadliest snake in the world with the most toxic venom, the cassowary, bearded dragon and carpet python.
• Orchid Garden: A great burst of colour greets visitors as this exhibit showcases both long and short stalked plants; orchids that grow up from the ground, those that hang from trees, and even those that wrap around rocks. Admire the fragrant vanilla and the tiger orchid – the world’s largest orchid.
• Reptile Garden: This is the place to see all things scaly – from giant Aldabra tortoises to the rhino iguanas to the Komodo dragons.
• Hamadryas Baboons – The Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia: This award-winning exhibit features a spectacular troop of about 80 baboons alongside Nubian ibexes, black-backed jackals, rock hyraxes and banded mongoose in a stunning landscape of massive rocks.
This option also includes admission to the ever-popular Splash Safari Show, which starts at 1100h (11:00am) and lasts approximately 30 minutes. The shows takes place at the Splash Amphitheatre and stars jackass penguins, Californian sea lions, Caribbean manatees and the pelicans. You can expect to receive nuggets of interesting information on the animals as you witness the spectacular display behaviors of these marine creatures.
Your visit to Zoo will end at approximately 1430h (2:30pm) and you will then be driven back to your hotel/starting point.