Exciting wild trails - Night Safari

Jes , 4 Comments


Price: $39 for adults, $25 for kids
Opening hours: 730pm to 12mn

Included in my 4D3N family itinerary

Night Safari is the world's first safari park for nocturnal animals and I was dying to see it long ago! The steep entrance fee at $39 for adults will scare locals off but since it's once a in a blue moon visit, I decided to pair it with River Safari tickets (Park Hopper) to get a better deal.

You really have to be there to experience it as no photos can do them justice. I tried taking some pictures and it turned out like this:
Can't take many pictures at night.. =(

What is unforgettable

I like the sanctuary, the loud cricket noises, the wild life experience and trekking along the trails. I walked the whole 4 trails namely the Fishing Cat, Leopard, East Lodge and Wallaby trails. Each takes around 20 minutes. My suggestions is to walk all the trails first then travel by the trams. The trams are very crowded from 7 to 830pm and to avoid wasting at least 45 minutes of your time, explore the trails first! Kids will utterly love this night time wild expedition.

The crazy lines for these tram rides
I like how up close some of the animals are, like the tiger and bears being so close that I took a step back haha.

I like the pleasant voice and tone of the tram tour guides. It is soothing yet with an enthusiastic voice about the animals. The tram goes to some places where the trail does not go so  the tram ride is not optional. We are left spellbound when the animal crawl around just beside us on the trams.

Creatures of the sea performance
The Creatures of the sea show is truly a good performance. I have been to other countries but none is as interactive and interesting. Catch it after you finished the trails at 730, 830, 930 (daily) and 1030 (Fri, Sat, eve of PH only).

My personal favourite is to see the bats, we don't really get to see these creatures anywhere. Thanks to Batman, everyone is curious to see them up close. They swoop around near you to feed on fruits.

I also like to watch how wallabies (similar to kangaroo) hop around unenclosed beside you. They are so cute and cuddly and don't seem to fear us..
Up close with the wallby! (Source: wikipedia)

What can be improved

I do not like repeated animals like civets, otters.. I keep seeing them at every turns.

I do not like that some animals remain elusive and I think the signs should include where we can spot them. Of course the fun is when we spot them on our own, but some of them are just so hard to spot! I am talking about the owls specifically and some enclosure where there is nothing around...

I do not like the long intervals on the trams without any animals to view. I know I am impatient but they should add more animals in between.

I absolutely abhor having to queue at least 45mins for the tram at the entrance. One good way is to walk all the trails first as mentioned above. The later it is, the thinner the crowds and tour groups will definitely take the trams at the earliest hour. Last tram is at 1130pm though.

Suggestions

More cartoon-ish signage like the River Safari, as blogged about previously.
Eye catching signs for easy absorption of info
Advise more people to walk the trails first and take the trams later. Most of the people do not realise that they can walk the trails.

Feeding of the lions is at 8 and 9 pm while the tigers are at 830 and 930 pm. I think the later timings should be pushed back half an hour to 930pm for lions and 10pm for tigers to reduce crowding before 830. Maybe the animals have to eat at those timings.. I am not sure.

I think they can include some spiders and more owls please. I have seen the owl sanctuary in Taipei and they are so cool! The owls will direct their gaze at you and they will keep staring as you walk past.. real interesting!

Have a kids map for them to do colouring or do a maze puzzle to create more interactive fun.

Some of the signs have no lights, making it hard to read. They should hold a volunteer walkabout groups every so often to spot these things, similar to what I have suggested for River Safari.

Jes

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4 comments:

  1. B18 Nov 2014, 07:54:00

    Hi Jes

    Another good review there.

    Night safari is the first dating place for me and my wife back then ad we thoroughly enjoyed it. We didnt manage to get on the trail walk as we are not sure whats the diffwrence between that and taking the ram and guess we were just lazy.

    Another improvement is probably the food there. I suspect because its late at night and the safari needa to charge extra overtime hours for employees there, they hv to jack up the price.

    And ohhh I love that hidden snake wink wink*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jes18 Nov 2014, 22:02:00

    Hi B,

    Thanks for being my only regular viewer :)

    Seems like you have been everywhere.. I will have to travel more and get to places that you have not been then! If you only take the tram, you will just spend 15 minutes in the night safari.. Trust me, you are totally missing out not going on the trails, it's the highlight of it! Take a look at the map here: http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/images/innova_images/NS_Map_New_30Sep09.jpg

    Yeah, I think the authorities should look into the overcharged food here after Sim Lim saga ends hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. B19 Nov 2014, 08:07:00

    Hi Jes

    Your posts are interesting. I have become your avid follower here ^^

    Ahh thats interesting to see the trails map. I guess I miss out a lot by not walking the trails. Second visit I will definitely do it next time :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jes19 Nov 2014, 09:23:00

    Hi B,

    Thank you for your high praises coming from a blogger who has so many interesting posts and followers.

    I think you are looking for ideas to bring your family.. a very good husband and father indeed!

    ReplyDelete

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