We had high hopes for River Safari, especially its fêted Amazon River Quest. The park was fine, the boat ride was underwhelming, to say the least.
So Mary signed up for this Learning Journey organized by River Safari for primary school teachers - a sales pitch for educators. I bought a ticket and tagged along. We were introduced to some of the activities with which students will be engaged. One of these involved them examining jars of freshly collected animal poo and playing little scatological Sherlocks - literally stirring, well, you know what.
Below: While snapping away at these bats near the auditorium where our introduction was held, I made a startling discovery. I realized I had brought my camera along sans memory card. The rest of the day I spent agonizing over how to maximize the 18 photographs I could take, by deciding which to keep and which to discard.
After that we were brought on a guided tour which we flitted in and out of like butterflies in a garden. I was the culprit, mostly. I'd always loved the zoo, and here was one which I was visiting for the very first time. Growing up, my parents would bring me to the zoo every year on my birthday, nurturing in me an enduring love of animals that somehow was never translated into either passion for or excellence in biology.
There were definitely some new animals I don't recall seeing before - the elusive Chinese giant salamander, two crocodilians bantamweights in the African dwarf crocodile and the Chinese alligator and a host of freshwater fishes whose names I don't remember (I'm a convinced landlubber).
Below: River Safari Portraits, from top, Chinese giant salamander, Chinese alligator, fish (there are many) and the Giant Panda (who can forget when everything is in black and white).
Below: Some animals were brought over from the zoo and housed in exhibits that were very creatively re-invented. The roomy Flooded Forest tank where the manatees now dallied, for instance, was a significant upgrade from their previously featureless pool at the zoo.
The crowning glory of this brand new park was the Amazon River Quest, which by artful advertising led us to the impression that it resembled a ride on a little Amazonian creek. With some imagination it lived up to its billing - the animals and birds were as close to visitors as safety permitted (think netting, moats and glass), and far closer than their much shyer cousins in the wild. Some of course behaved as they would have in their natural habitats. Cruising along past the jaguars enclosure, we glimpsed only hints of mottled rosettes as the cats slumbered under shade.
I like the river theme, particularly how the park manages successfully to weave both geographical and cultural tidbits with the standard zoological information on display. With so much water and glass it felt more like an aquarium than anything else. As ever with Wildlife Reserve Singapore projects, it'll be an enjoyable day out for the kids - I reckon the next time Mary and I return will be with bairns of our own.
