Following our trip to the DinoRobot Factory and the Natural History Museum, I decided to continue with the dinosaur theme for our next June holiday program.
16 lifelike dinosaurs are on display in the Singapore Zoo since November 2016. Since there is a June holiday promotion (click here for more promotions) going on (with 50% saving!), I bought the tickets for the kids to enter both the Zoo and the River Safari.
We reached the zoo at 10 am. That was the earliest possible for us given the logistic required at home. Having our breakfast there was certainly not a very smart choice for my wallet though.
Before going into details, I must mention that photos are taken using my Samsung Note 5. Thus there is a lot of photo quality compromised, not as if photos in my previous posts are splendid… but these may be worse, especially in the low lights areas. I simply refused to bring along my bulky DSLR camera as I also happened to be the porter for the 3 kids.
River Safari
We started off with the River Safari, a 12-hectare river-themed park officially opened in February 2014. Honestly, this is my first time visiting and my children’s as well.
The safari is organized by river zones, and 85% of the park’s collections can be viewed on foot as most of the animals are exhibited in aquariums. Nonetheless, I still bought the tickets for the Amazon Boat Ride ($5 for adults and $3 for kids) as missing out the ride is simply not fun.
Mississippi River
We were first greeted by the various species living on the Mississippi River such as the Alligator Snapping Turtle and Alligator Gar.
The Alligator Gar can grow up to 3m long and weigh over 100kg. Its alligator-like snout is lined with razor-sharp teeth.
Congo River
Next, the vibrant Congo River houses Tiger Fish, and other colourful fishes such as Giant Freshwater Puffer, Congo Tetra and Cichlid.
River Nile
Along the world’s longest river, we saw various species of catfish and Aowana.
Ganges River
The Indian Gharial behind me has an elongated snout and is definitely longer than me…
Mekong River
The Mekong giant catfish and the giant freshwater stingrays are housed in an exhibit as large as four double-decker buses.
Giant Panda Forest
There are 2 pandas housed in this climate controlled biodome, named Jia Jia and Kai Kai and gifted by China to Singapore. We only managed to see Jia Jia as Kai Kai chose to remain in his enclosed private space that day.
River Safari Cruise
We can opt for a ride to cruise along the River Safari for more scenic photo opportunities. We decided to give this ride a miss as we have plans for more fun stuffs later in the day. No time to waste!
Amazon River Quest
Nonetheless, we went for the Amazon boat ride instead of walking to fully immerse ourselves in this unique river tour experience. Do note that minimum height requirement for children is 1.06m.
We saw a number of animals along the river, including but not limited to the Brazilian tapir, jaguar, anteater and scarlet ibis.
Squirrel Monkey Forest
In the Squirrel Monkey Forest, we strolled side by side with the squirrel monkeys. This was not an easy feat for my daughter as the monkeys were roaming right beside her and at her eye level.
Amazon Flooded Forest
The Amazon Flooded Forest is interesting and is the world largest freshwater aquarium exhibit. In the South American rainforest, seasonal rains sweep across half-yearly and flood the land. As a result, the forest is submerged in over 10m of water and allows aquatic animals live amidst the trees until the water level decrease
The mega exhibit houses various types of fishes such as Manatees, Catfish, Pacu, Piranha, etc. We were certainly mesmerised by the majestic view in front of us and spent a good 15 minutes sitting there to admire and discover the various fish types.
Dinosaur Trails
We also found some dinosaur displays along the way.
By the time we completed River Safari, it was lunch time and we headed straight to KFC for lunch.
The Singapore Zoo
The children came to the zoo many times, either with the family or with their schools. In this trip, our focus was mainly the dinosaurs as well as visiting Rainforest Kidzworld.
Zoo-rassic Park
Rainforest Kidzworld
Needless to say, it is a kids’ wonderland in Rainforest Kidzworld. By the time we reached there, we didn’t have a lot of time left and headed straight to the water playground.
Suggested items to bring along:
Packets of milk
There are Hyflux water dispensers located in various parts of both sites.
Going there
We took a cab, not knowing that there are actually feeder buses going there. We can either opt for a Mandai Express coach pick-up from Khatib MRT for $1 per person, or pickup from other parts of Singapore such as Bedok MRT, Tampines or Sengkang for $3 per adult. Click here for details.
Other posts on fun things I did with my kids:
- We went Rock Climbing with the kids
- We went to the National Gallery
- What to do in Forest Ramble Playground
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Cool and fun.